The Church of England apologized on Tuesday for past links with slavery to the Church Commissioners, an affiliated funding body now involved in a massive compensation process for communities affected by slavery, AFP and Agerpres reported.

“I am extremely sorry,” said Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the Church of England. “It is time to take action in response to this shameful past,” he emphasized.

The report, commissioned by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and published on Tuesday, was the result of findings in June 2022 that “Church Commissioners funding had historical links” to the transatlantic slave trade.

The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were set up in 1948, partly thanks to donations from Queen Anne’s fund, which began in 1704, and aimed to help the poorest members of the clergy.

The Anglican Church organization invested in the slave trade

The report reveals that this fund invested “large sums” in the South Sea Company, which traded in African slaves. He also received donations from people involved in the slave trade and plantation economy.

“The representatives of the Church deeply regret the connections of their predecessors with the transatlantic slave trade,” the organization said in a statement.

The organization has pledged £100m (€113.1m) over the next nine years to “a better and fairer future for all”.

The money will go specifically to “communities affected by slavery.” Part of the funds will be used to continue research on the links between the Church and slavery.

The deputy chairman of the Church Commissioners, the Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, said the organization now hopes to create “a lasting positive legacy that will serve the communities affected by slavery”.

The Church Trustees manage a £10.1bn (€11.4bn) investment fund to support church and clergy activities.

The Church of England acknowledges the “horror and shame” of which it was a part

“Nothing we do after hundreds of years will bring the enslaved back to life,” the organization wrote in the introduction to its report. “But we can and will acknowledge the horror and shame of the role the Church played in the slave trade, and through answers we will try to begin to right the wrongs that have been done,” the report said.

The Church of England has already apologized for its past links with slavery, while Britain grapples with the legacy of its colonial past.

In 2020, the church called it a “disgrace” that some of its members “actively profited” from slavery. The Church of England’s announcement two years ago came amid Black Lives Matter protests, during which several statues of slave traders in Britain were torn down or removed.

Last September, the prestigious University of Cambridge acknowledged its historical links to slavery, and in December the Dutch state apologized for its role in the slave trade.