Jesuit priests on Monday pledged to raise $ 100 million for the descendants of people enslaved by the Catholic order as part of a new racial reconciliation initiative in the United States, the New York Times reported for the first time.
Why does it matter: It is one of an institution’s biggest moves to atone for slavery and “the Roman Catholic Church’s biggest effort to repair the buying, selling and enslavement of blacks,” Church officials and historians told the NYT.
Driving the news: Protests against systemic racism last year prompted lawmakers and companies to make or consider reparations for slavery.
Details: In an “unprecedented partnership” between descendants of slaves and slaves, the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation was created by the Descendants Association GU272 and the Jesuits “in search of racial healing and justice”, by a declaration of the Catholic order.
- The foundation is “rooted in the events of 1838, when 272 enslaved men, women and children were sold by Jesuit owners of Georgetown University to plantation owners in Louisiana,” according to the statement.
- A New Orleans bank, later acquired by JPMorgan Chase, used these enslaved people as collateral. JPMorgan will be a co-curator and will provide services, including planning and consulting.
What to expect: The group aims to support the educational aspirations of descendants for future generations and to actively promote, promote and support programs and activities that “highlight the truth, accelerate racial healing and reconciliation and advance racial justice and equality in America,” according to the declaration.
- “The Foundation aims to develop a complete understanding and reconciliation with the countless higher education institutions and other entities that have profited from slavery,” added the statement.
Of importance: The promise is much less than the $ 1 billion demanded by leaders descended from the Catholic order.
- But Rev. Timothy P. Kesicki, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, and Joseph Stewart, the interim president of the foundation, told the Times that this remains the long-term goal.
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Go deeper: Cedric Richmond, Biden’s consultant, sees progress in first term in reparations