The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Reverend Sarah Mullally, has visited Cape Coast Castle, the former British slave trading post where thousands of enslaved Africans were held in appalling conditions before being transported to the Americas.
During the tour, the Archbishop walked through the underground dungeons where prisoners were kept, saw the women's cells, and viewed the place where enslaved men and women were branded.
She then passed through the "Door of No Return" – the final passage enslaved Africans walked before boarding ships – and turned back to pray in front of it.
"Being at Cape Coast Castle and seeing the horrific conditions that thousands of people were kept in, it is impossible not to feel the weight of the immense evil that drove the transatlantic slave trade," Archbishop Sarah said.
The Archbishop also prayed in a former Anglican chapel located directly above the dungeons where male prisoners were held in cramped, unsanitary conditions. The space now serves as an educational library and chapel, but stands as a painful symbol of the Church's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.
"We have a God who loves each one of us, who created each of us with an individual value and worth, and yet that was not recognised here," she said.
"I pray not only in lament for the Church's involvement in the slave trade, but also for hope – hope that the God of healing can bring justice and reconciliation to all who are still impacted by its legacy. In the name of Jesus Christ, who came to set people free, I pray that we have the courage to continue our journey of repentance, and to strive for a world in which all of God's children are treated with dignity."
The visit to Cape Coast Castle came during the Archbishop's first pastoral visit to Africa since her installation. Earlier in the week, she broke ground for a new pilgrim hostel that will welcome Africans from the diaspora visiting Ghana to learn about their heritage and visit slave sites. The project is being run by the Anglican Church of Ghana and supported by USPG.
The Archbishop will travel from Accra to Yaoundé on Friday, where she begins a five-day visit to Cameroon.
