Archbishop of Canterbury commits to £100m fund over Church of England’s historical role in transatlantic slave trade

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, has renewed the Church of England’s commitment to a controversial £100m fund for reparative justice during a pastoral visit to Cape Coast Castle in Ghana.

Speaking from the historic site where enslaved Africans were held before being trafficked to the Americas, Mullally stated that touring the castle’s dungeons and chapel reinforced the institution’s need to take active steps to support communities still experiencing the legacy of the slave trade.

The £100m investment and research fund was established following an audit of the Church’s historic endowment, which revealed extensive financial links to slave-trafficking operations, alongside missionary ownership of plantations in the Caribbean.

Despite facing vocal opposition from critics who question the fund’s legal grounds and historical accuracy, Mullally reaffirmed that repentance requires concrete action. Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa praised her stance, arguing that acknowledging past institutional complicity is essential for genuine reconciliation.