When will Hinduism apologise for untouchability? Church of England apologises for West Indies slave trade
February 9, 2006 http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000004/000434.htm LONDON, England (AFP): The Church of England Wednesday apologised for its historical role in the slave trade, accepting it was directly implicated in it through its Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and the properties it owned overseas, notably in Barbados in the West Indies. At a meeting of the Church's synod in London it recognised "the damage done to those who are the heirs of those who were enslaved". It voted to apologise during a debate on the "dehumanising and shameful" consequences of slavery, abolished in Britain in 1807. The Reverend Simon Bessant, from Blackburn in northern England, recalled how slaves owned by the Church had the word "society" branded on their chests. He also recalled how when slaves were freed the only people to be compensated financially were their owners. The bishop of Exeter in western England and three business partners received an enormous sum, for the times, in exchange for the emancipation of the 665 slaves of whose servivces they were suddenly deprived. "We were at the heart of it, we were directly responsible for what happened," Bessant said. "In the sense of inheriting our history we can say we owned slaves, we branded slaves, that is why I believe we must actually recognise our history and offer an apology." -- This is ZESTGlobal. Post articles on international affairs to [email protected] If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTGlobal by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/join/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
