Georgetown University apologizes for its role in historical slave trade
The leader of the Catholic religious order that helped found Georgetown University sought forgiveness from descendants of slaves whose sale bolstered the school financially.
“Today the Society of Jesus, which helped to establish Georgetown University and whose leaders enslaved and mercilessly sold your ancestors, stands before you to say, We have greatly sinned, in our thoughts and in our words, in what we have done and in what we have failed to do,” said Timothy Kesicki, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
Georgetown recently acknowledged it benefited from the sale of more than 250 slaves in 1838 to pay off its debts. On April 18, it apologized for its role in the slave trade during a “liturgy of remembrance, contrition, and hope.”
