Desmond Tutu tells Vegas group that people appreciate goodness

LAS VEGAS - South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu told a crowd of 17,000 on Sunday that people have a profound appreciation for goodness, a trait he sees in many of today's heroes.

''We are made for goodness,'' said the advocate for nonviolence and interracial reconciliation in South Africa's struggle against apartheid.

As keynote speaker for those attending the Society For Human Resource Management convention, Tutu offered the crowd examples of humble heroes, men and women capable of ''great goodness.''

People like Mother Teresa.

''You could call her anything, but macho she wasn't,'' said Tutu, 69. ''Yet in her presence, your knees went to water because she was good, not belligerent, aggressive or successful. She was small in physical stature, but she was an enormous giant in moral stature.''

And Princess Diana. And the Chinese student who stood before advancing tanks in Tiananmen Square.

''You and I, we have an instinct for goodness. When we see the good, our hearts recognize it and are thrilled,'' Tutu said.

Tutu was the first black to be Anglican dean of Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1975 and the first black archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, in 1986 - making him the head of the country's 1.6 million-member Anglican church. He earned the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize because of his unifying leadership in the campaign to end apartheid in South Africa.

His appearance at the Las Vegas Convention Center came a day after he spoke in Reno, where he called for abolition of the death penalty. Tutu was at the University of Nevada, Reno, to accept an honorary doctorate.

Tutu retires this summer after two years as a visiting professor of theology at Emory University in Atlanta.