Former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu paid tribute Friday to former South African President Nelson Mandela who passed away Thursday night at his Johannesburg home in the company of his family after a long illness.

The Nobel Peace laureate prayed for the Mandela family and thanked them for sharing the anti-apartheid icon with South Africa and the world.

"We have lost our father," the Archbishop said. "So many of us addressed him as Tata, an affectionate term for father."

"But of course we don't want to linger and wallow in our abundant tears for we wonderfully are able to give great thanks to God for this one, who was denigrated for so long," he continued.