The Church of England vowed Monday to step up efforts to compensate for its historic ties to slavery, after a new report called for a tenfold increase in funding to $1.27 billion.
In January 2023, the funding body of the Mother Church of Global Anglicanism pledged to support communities affected by slavery with an investment of £100 million ($127 million) over nine years.
That followed the church commissioners' admission that it was originally financed with investments in an 18th-century company involved in the African slave trade.
On Monday, experts who advised the church on the initiative concluded that the financial commitment was “insufficient” to achieve “true justice, restoration and healing.”
It recommended a new target of £1 billion.
“Our hope is that others will join us and invest alongside us, through our investments, through the co-investments of others and through the investment funds that grow from the proceeds,” said Gareth Mostyn, chief executive and secretary of the Church Commissioners , to a news channel. conference in response to the report.
“We hope that the fund will hopefully grow to a billion, and beyond, and create a lasting positive legacy.”
The Church Commissioners, who manage an investment fund of more than £10 billion to support the activities of the church and clergy, have committed to mobilizing the planned £100 million within five years, rather than nine.
The money will fund projects aimed at supporting underserved Black communities, as well as entrepreneurs, researchers, doctors, teachers and others.
The church will also encourage other British institutions with a history linked to a slave trading past to take responsibility.
“We recognize that the Church of England is deeply embedded at the core of this country's institutions,” said Bishop of Croydon Rosemarie Mallett.
“We recognize that it is our responsibility, which we have deliberately taken upon ourselves, to do what we can do, and we truly hope that by doing what we can do, others will look to us and see that as an example .”
The Church of England has already apologized for its historic ties to slavery, as Britain confronts the legacy of its colonial past.
In 2020, it described the fact that some of its members had “actively benefited” from slavery as a “source of shame”.
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