Reuters/Mannie Garcia

Newly-ordained priest Mpho Tutu kisses her father, Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, after blessing him. Archbishop Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Alexandria, Va.

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against racial discrimination in South Africa, ordained his daughter, Mpho, as an Anglican priest Jan. 17 in Christ Church, a historic Episcopal church near Washington, D.C.

Ms. Tutu, 40, told reporters before the ordination that she resisted the idea of becoming a priest for many years, but the idea grew stronger.

Afterwards, she said, "It would have been an awesome moment regardless of who was the celebrant, but it was something particularly special, particularly wonderful to have my father there presiding at my ordinance."

Archbishop Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for opposing the apartheid system in his native country. Speaking with reporters after the service, he said that political activism is still essential. "There is so much we need to say to the world. People care about peace," he said.

Ms. Tutu earned a masters degree in divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. She and her husband, a sportswriter for the Boston Globe, have one daughter.

Both George Washington and Robert E. Lee have been among the worshippers at Christ Church in Alexandria.