Episcopal Church of New York Apologizes For Participating In The Transatlantic Slave Trade, Pledges $1 Million Against Racism

The New York Episcopal Church is doing the right thing in acknowledging their participation in slavery.

CBS News reported that the Episcopal Diocese of New York is now apologizing for joining in on the slave trade. The church feels so bad that not only are they setting up a reparations commission, but they’re also pledging $1 million towards education and work in the community.

During a special service this past weekend, the Right Rev. Andrew M.L. Dietsche and bishop of the New York diocese, talked about how sorry they were for the transatlantic slave trade, as well as for being involved in the oppression and exploitation of enslaved people. “The apology being offered here today is offered by the Diocese of New York as an entity. Maybe as a family,” Dietsche said. “Make an apology for the things we did corporately to further the suffering of others under slavery.”

The bishop broke the process down into three steps – lamentations, apologies and reparations.

Dietsche mentioned that African-American slaves built churches in the city. Like many freed slaves, their families were denied equal access, even after emancipation. Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, who is the first Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church to hold that position, said that the apology was, according to Gothamist, “a sign of spiritual work that has been done.”

“Now some might say that apology is not enough, and to be sure, by itself it’s not,” Curry said. “But you have been engaged in the work of unearthing our history, unearthing our story, telling stories that had not been told, telling of pain that has been borne sometimes in silence.”

The Episcopal Diocese of New York has close to 50,000 members, with about 200 parishes across the tri-state area, including the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as Orange, Dutchess, and Westchester counties.