ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY REAFFIRMS £100M SLAVERY REPARATIONS FUND

Dame Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury, reaffirmed her commitment to a £100m fund supporting communities affected by the transatlantic slave trade during a visit to Cape Coast Castle in Ghana on Thursday. Mullally expressed "lament" for the Church of England's involvement in slavery and described the fund as embodying Christian belief in repentance. The visit marked her first pastoral tour of Africa since becoming the 106th head of the Church of England in March, and the only woman to hold the position.

At Cape Coast Castle, a 17th-century fortress that came under British control in the 1660s and held thousands of enslaved Africans before their transportation across the Atlantic, Mullally was shown the dungeons where enslaved people were confined and visited the "Door of No Return" through which they were forced onto ships. She also prayed in a chapel located above the dungeons, which she described as a "stark illustration" of the Church's involvement in slavery. The visit was part of a 10-day tour of Ghana and Cameroon undertaken at the invitation of Archbishop Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, head of the Anglican Church's West Africa province. Earlier in the tour, Mullally met Ghanaian President John Mahama and visited parishes in Accra.

The Church of England established the reparations fund three years ago following an audit that identified large investments in a company involved in slave trafficking. The fund is intended to support "a programme of investment, research and engagement" in communities affected by enslavement. The Church has previously acknowledged that its missionary arm operated slave-farmed plantations in the Caribbean, individual clergy members held enslaved people, and the institution received donations from slave traders. The fund has faced vocal opposition since its announcement.