WAR CRY WnRLD Church leaders visit slave castle

THE Archbishop of Canterbury stands with the leaders of the Anglican church provinces of West Africa and the West Indies in one of the cells of a 17th-century castle where Africans were held before being taken on British slave ships to the Americas.

The Most Rev Justin Welby visited the castle on Ghana’s Cape Coast with Archbishop Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith and Archbishop Howard Gregory before joining with them at a service of reflection and reconciliation at the nearby Christ Church Cathedral.

Commenting on the visit, he said: ‘It is to the Church of England’s eternal shame that it did not always follow Christ’s teaching to give life. It is a stain on the wider Church that some Christians did not see their brothers and sisters as created in the image of God but as objects to be exploited. Our response must begin on our knees in prayer and repentance. But our response does not end there. We are called to transform unjust structures, to pursue peace and reconciliation.’

The Church of England has made a commitment to invest in communities affected by the transatlantic slave trade.