The Archbishops\u2019 Commission for Racial Justice has released the second of its biannual Racial Justice reports.<\/p>\n
Mandated to drive \u2018significant cultural and structural change on issues of racial justice within the Church of England\u2019, the Archbishops\u2019 Commission for Racial Justice (\u201cACRJ\u201d), headed by The Rt Hon Lord Paul Boateng, is charged with monitoring, holding to account and supporting the implementation of the forty-seven recommendations of the Archbishops\u2019 Anti-Racism Taskforce which were laid out in the Taskforce\u2019s comprehensive 2021 report From Lament to Action.<\/p>\n
In his foreword letter to the Second Report, Lord Boateng singles out for praise the Church Commissioners for their \u201cground-breaking work\u201d in the forensic audit undertaken on Queen Anne\u2019s Bounty and its links with transatlantic chattel slavery. The Commission welcomes the \u00a3100 million of funding to deliver a programme of investment, research and engagement over the next nine years, but caveats that there is much further work to be done as this is \u201cnot the end of the story\u201d [Slavery, p 23].<\/p>\n
Lord Boateng welcomes the arrival in December 2022 of the Director of the Racial Justice Unit, but expresses continued disappointment at the time it has taken to establish the Unit and comments: \u201cThis has inevitably impacted negatively upon our own work and on the progress made across the Church of England in delivering on the recommendations of From Lament to Action\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Second Report draws particular attention to the witness heard from representatives of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Christians about the \u201cindifference, neglect and outright hostility\u201d at the hands of both church and state. General Synod in 2019 urged dioceses to establish a chaplain to the communities. The Commission heard that twelve such chaplains have been appointed and calls for the remaining dioceses to do likewise in ensuring the GRT community receives pastoral, advocacy and educational activities. On the latter, the Church of England\u2019s \u201cLeaders like us\u201d programme will have a part to play and the programme will be scrutinized by the Commission over the course of its work… <\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n CoE Archbishops\u2019 Commission on Racial Justice releases Second Biannual Reporthttps:\/\/t.co\/lyT8Ngw1ha<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/xDOn5angEG<\/a><\/p>\n — Anglican Ink (@anglicanink) February 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n