英国国教会奴隶贸易参与新证据浮现，赔偿争议升温

英国国教会因其在历史奴隶贸易中的角色而面临赔偿辩论。新发现的数字化档案文献显示，45名国教会神职人员曾投资皇家非洲公司，该公司贩运的被奴役非洲人数量超过奴隶贸易史上任何其他单一机构1。坎特伯雷大主教莎拉·穆拉利视察了加纳海岸城堡的地牢，重申国教会对其在奴隶制中所扮角色的"悔恨之旅"1。

国教会的前身组织在巴巴多斯的考德林顿庄园曾奴役非洲人长达120多年，产生相当于今天每年500万英镑的收入1。英国国教会及至少96名神职人员在废奴后获得了数百万英镑的"财产损失"赔偿1。此外，1807年英国国教会批准的《奴隶圣经》是一部经过大幅编辑的圣经版本，删除了解放叙述，被种植园主用作社会控制工具1。

为应对这一遗产问题，国教会委员会于2023年推出Project Spire，一项价值1亿英镑的影响投资基金，用于支持受奴隶制遗产影响的社区1。2023年报告估计英国奴隶制债务总额达18.6万亿英镑1。

The Church of England confronts mounting evidence of its institutional participation in the transatlantic slave trade, prompting fresh scrutiny of its historical culpability and contemporary response. Newly digitized archival records reveal that 45 Church of England clergy invested in the Royal African Company, which trafficked more enslaved Africans than any other single entity throughout the history of the slave trade.1 The discovery underscores the depth of the church's entanglement with slavery's machinery, a role the institution has begun to acknowledge through both historical examination and financial commitment to redress.

The Church of England's predecessor organization enslaved Africans at Codrington Plantation in Barbados for over 120 years, generating income equivalent to approximately 5 million pounds annually in today's terms.1 Following emancipation, the church and at least 96 of its clergy members collected millions of pounds in "property loss" compensation.1 The institution also sanctioned the "Slave Bible," a heavily edited scripture that omitted liberation narratives and was deployed by plantation owners as a tool of social control.1 These historical practices prompted Canterbury Archbishop Sarah Mullaly to undertake what the church characterizes as a "journey of repentance," including visits to dungeons along Ghana's coast.1

In response to calls for reparations, the Church of England launched Project Spire in 2023, an impact investment fund valued at 100 million pounds designated for communities affected by slavery's legacy.1 Critics argue this falls short of meaningful recompense, particularly given a 2023 assessment that Britain's slave trade debt totals 18.6 trillion pounds.1 The church's efforts remain contested as inadequate to address the scale of historical harm.