Archbishop of Canterbury committed to £100m slavery fund

The Archbishop of Canterbury has reaffirmed her commitment to a contentious £100 million fund addressing the Church of England's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.

During a visit to Ghana, Dame Sarah Mullally pledged her support for the fund. Speaking at Cape Coast Castle, a site where enslaved Africans were held before being transported to the Americas, she reflected on the atrocities committed by the institution she now leads.

"We played a part in the transatlantic slave trade. That is clear," she stated. "Part of the Christian belief in repentance is about action, so we are putting in place action to support those communities that feel the legacy of the slave trade."

The Archbishop expressed being "deeply moved" by her experiences in Ghana. This marks Dame Sarah's initial pastoral visit to Africa since her installation as head of the Church of England at Canterbury Cathedral in March. Reparative justice has been a central theme throughout the Ghanaian portion of her trip.

At Cape Coast Castle, which came under British control in the 1660s, Dame Sarah was shown the dungeons where enslaved people were confined and the infamous "door of no return" through which they were forced onto ships.

"You can't help but be deeply moved by the horrific conditions that people were kept in and the way that they were treated," the archbishop remarked. "It completely throws you off balance and brings home the evil that was transatlantic slavery."

She noted that a chapel situated above the dungeons served as a "stark illustration of the way the church was involved in the slave trade."

The Church of England has previously issued apologies for its connections to the slave trade. Its missionary arm operated slave-farmed plantations in the Caribbean to finance the spread of Anglicanism, individual clergy members owned slaves, and the Church received substantial donations from slave traders.

Three years ago, following an audit of its historical endowment fund that revealed significant investments in a company involved in slave trafficking, the Church decided to establish the fund for reparative justice work. The fund's objective is to finance "a programme of investment, research and engagement" in communities adversely affected by the enslavement of African people during the transatlantic slave trade.

However, the fund has since faced considerable opposition. Some critics have questioned the historical accuracy of reports detailing the Church's complicity, while others have raised legal and ideological objections.

Ghana has been leading a global initiative advocating for institutions and nations worldwide that profited from the slave trade to provide reparations. Ghana's foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, commended Dame Sarah's actions.

"What the Archbishop of Canterbury is doing in Ghana on her current visit will begin to send the right signals," he said. "And those who are either revisionists or who are obstructionists within the Church of England are going to start thinking twice."

He added, "The Christian religion which they brought to Ghana and Africa teaches us that without admission of sins, there can be no salvation. There can be no going to heaven."