A statement from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee commemorated the quad-centennial of the forced transatlantic voyage of enslaved African peoples from Angola to Jamestown, Virginia (USA).

"The policy and practice of enslaving African people laid the foundations for the systematic disenfranchisement and disempowering of people of African descent for 400 years in the United States and around the world,” reads the statement.

The statement also affirms the timely relevance and significance of related ecumenical work, and invites WCC member churches to find opportunities to commemorate this historic moment in their churches.

The WCC “celebrates the spiritual resistance of African Peoples throughout these 400 years, the statement continues, “and affirms the historic partnership the US churches and ecumenical organizations in the US share with WCC in addressing racism globally.”

The WCC Executive Committee statement, 27 May 2019