African bishops seek end to slave trade; U.S. prelates endorse call

Published: 2003-10-07

GOREE, Senegal (CNS) -- Africans must recognize the role their own ancestors played in the slave trade and must commit themselves to stopping new forms of slavery, including the use of children as soldiers in civil conflicts, the continent's bishops said. On the island of Goree, which served as a depot for the shipment of African slaves to Europe and the Americas, African bishops prayed Oct. 5 for forgiveness and for a better future for all people of African descent. Three U.S. bishops participating in the general meeting of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar in Dakar, Senegal, also issued a statement on the significance of the Goree pilgrimage, a side trip from the symposium. The U.S. delegation included two African-American bishops: Bishops John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., and J. Terry Steib of Memphis, Tenn. Auxiliary Bishop Robert A. Brucato of New York also participated. The U.S. bishops, describing themselves as "descendants of Africa and members of a wounded humanity," joined with the African bishops in asking for "forgiveness and reconciliation for Africa's role in the dehumanization and death of her own children."

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