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Church senior cleric calls for slavery apology
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Church senior cleric calls for slavery apology
The second most senior cleric in the Church of England called on the government to make a formal apology for the slave trade as celebrations take place to mark the anniversary of its abolition in the British Empire. Earlier this month Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was ?sorry? for Britain?s role in the trade and expressed ?deep sorrow? for slavery which was abolished by parliament exactly 200 years ago on March 25, 1807. However Archbishop of York John Sentamu said Blair needed to go further. ?A nation of this quality should have the sense of saying we are very sorry and we have to put the record straight,? he told the BBC. ?This community was involved in a very terrible trade, Africans were involved in a very terrible trade, the Church was involved in a very terrible trade ... it?s important that we all own up to what was collectively done.? Blair was to send a recorded message of regret for Britain?s role to celebrations yesterday in Ghana ? a source of many of the slaves ? marking the bicentenary of the abolition.
Sentamu joined about 3,600 others in marches through London on Saturday as part of a series of events in Britain to mark the anniversary of the abolition of the trade. ?The easiest thing in the world is to look back 200 years and say we wouldn?t have made those mistakes,? Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said.
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