The U.S.-based branch of the Jesuits has unveiled ambitious plans for a 鈥渢ruth and reconciliation鈥� initiative in partnership with descendants of people once enslaved by the Roman Catholic order. The Jesuits pledge to raise $100 million within five years with a broader goal of reaching $1 billion from an array of donors in pursuit of racial justice and racial healing.
Even the smaller amount represents the largest financial pledge thus far from a U.S. religious institution, as a variety of them nationwide seek to make amends for their past involvement in slavery and racial oppression.
Partnering with the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States in the initiative is the GU272 Descendants Association, which represents the descendants of 272 enslaved men, women and children sold by the Jesuit owners of Georgetown University to plantation owners in Louisiana in 1838.
Together, the two parties have formed the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation to oversee fundraising and allocate grants. Already, the Jesuits have placed $15 million in a trust that will finance the effort.
The foundation鈥檚 acting president is Joe Stewart, one of more than 1,000 descendants of Isaac Hawkins, an enslaved man who was among those sold in 1838.
Stewart said many Americans understand the wrongs of slavery and segregation yet are divided over approaches to reconciliation and reparations.
鈥淲e hope what we鈥檝e created here is an offer to join us in a peaceful and loving approach to removing your shame,鈥� Stewart said Tuesday. 鈥淭here are a lot of people who want to be a part of change 鈥� we hope we鈥檙e providing the answer to, 鈥榃hat do I do?鈥欌��
The foundation鈥檚 plan calls for the Jesuits to raise $100 million through their own fundraising network, and the $1 billion figure would be attained with support from corporations, foundations and the general public, Stewart said.
Atoning for its slaveholding past has been a recurring issue at Georgetown. The Washington, D.C., university's administration and student body both took steps in 2019 to extend financial support to descendants of the people sent to Louisiana.
Three years earlier, the president of the Jesuits鈥� conference, the Rev. Tim Kesicki, had an initial meeting with Stewart to discuss a possible reconciliation project.
鈥淗earing what it felt like, that the church that baptized him had held his ancestors as slaves 鈥� it鈥檚 a life-changing feeling,鈥� Kesicki said. 鈥淵ou can walk away, which is what we鈥檝e done as a country, or you can embrace it.鈥�
That reckoning requires organizations and institutions examine their histories pertaining to slavery and acknowledge how their current status is built on that history.
Details on how the funds will be spent remain to be worked out. But Stewart said roughly half of the grant money would go to organizations and initiatives seeking to promote racial justice and reconciliation. Some other funds would provide scholarships and other educational support for descendants of the 272.
鈥淲e will have programs in three to five years,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淏ut that will never be as important as what we do over the long run, the next 50 to 100 years.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about dismantling the continuing legacy of slavery,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he way to get there is bring the whole nation along and face the truth about that history.鈥�
Stewart said he and other leaders of the initiative do not consider it to be a form of reparations 鈥� a topic that has created conflict.
鈥淲e鈥檙e taking a positive approach not based on individual stipends,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 transformative rather than payback.鈥�
Several other religious organizations in the U.S. have launched similar initiatives in the past two years, notably on the part of long-established Protestant churches that were active in the era of slavery.
The Episcopal Church has been the most active major denomination, and others, including the United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, are urging congregations to consider similar steps.
The Minnesota Council of Churches cited a host of injustices, from mid-19th century atrocities against Native Americans to police killings of Black people, in launching a 鈥渢ruth and reparations鈥� initiative last year engaging its 25 member denominations.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has not embraced the term 鈥渞eparations鈥� in its official policies. The word never appears in a 2018 pastoral letter condemning 鈥渢he ugly cancer鈥� of racism, though the document encourages support for programs 鈥渢hat help repair the damages caused by racial discrimination.鈥�
Shannen Dee Williams, a history professor at Villanova University, is among several Black Catholics who have been urging the U.S. church to participate in reparations rather than leaving decisions on such actions up to individual Catholic institutions.
鈥淚 pray other religious orders of men and women, the U.S. bishops, and the Vatican will be moved to follow the U.S. Jesuits鈥� example,鈥� she said via email. 鈥淭he Church must formally acknowledge and apologize for its histories of slavery, segregation, and racial exclusion, and institutionalize the teaching of Black and Black Catholic history in all areas of church life.鈥�
Nkechi Taifa, a human rights attorney who serves on the National African American Reparations Commission, welcomed the Jesuits鈥� announcement, but characterized it as a partial step.
鈥淣o amount of material resources will ever compensate for the horror that was done of ripping people from their families and literally selling them down the river to Louisiana,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he harm was multifaceted; the remedy must be multifaceted as well.鈥�
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
David Crary, The Associated Press
