The Jesuits, the prominent order of Catholic priests that had enslaved her ancestors, had vowed to raise $100 million to atone for participating in the American slave trade. But roughly half of the foundation’s annual budget would be allocated for racial reconciliation projects, not for descendants. No one had reached out to her or to her sister, Chanda Norton, or to the descendants they knew for input. “They wronged our ancestors,” said Ms. Thompson, whose forebears were enslaved by the Jesuits in Maryland. “It’s like the descendants are being wronged as well.”Last month, the Jesuit conference of priests announced its plan to raise money to benefit the descendants of the enslaved people the order once owned and to promote racial reconciliation projects.

Source: New York Times April 17, 2021 14:37 UTC