Archbishop Sarah Mullally of Canterbury ended a 10-day visit to West and Central Africa on August 4, emphasizing calls for peace and healing in regions experiencing conflict and displacement. The trip included stops in Ghana from July 26-31 and Cameroon from July 31-August 4, marking Mullally’s first visit to Africa since her installation in March as the first woman to serve as archbishop of Canterbury.
A central focus of the tour involved the Church of England’s response to its historical involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. During the Ghana portion of her visit, Mullally toured Cape Coast Castle, a significant slave fort, where she defended the church’s 100 million pound reparations fund announced in January 2023. The fund followed an independent audit revealing that the church’s 18th-century Queen Anne’s Bounty endowment had invested heavily in slave-trading companies, while church missionaries operated slave plantations in the Caribbean and individual clergy members owned enslaved people. Mullally stated that witnessing the dungeons and conditions where enslaved Africans were held demonstrated the magnitude of historical evil involved.
The reparations fund is designated for distribution through 2032 to support investment, research and aid programs for affected communities, though specific details about beneficiary identification and fund allocation remain unclear. Some observers have questioned how recipients would be determined given the historical distance from the slave trade era. The fund has generated criticism in Britain from those disputing the church’s level of complicity or raising concerns about impacts on parish resources, though many in Africa welcomed the effort.
Some African religious leaders and theologians praised the acknowledgement but called the amount inadequate given the church’s documented involvement. An independent oversight group that conducted the original audit had recommended £1 billion or more. Commentators emphasized that genuine reparations required addressing ongoing structural injustices and economic disparities resulting from slavery and colonialism, not merely historical recognition.
Mullally’s peace messaging in Cameroon, where armed conflict persists, highlighted interfaith cooperation among Anglican, Catholic and other religious communities as essential for dialogue and reconciliation at all societal levels.
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