Slaves' descendants challenge Georgetown to set up $1 billion foundation

September 09, 2016

Descendants of slaves who were sold by the Jesuit founders of Georgetown are asking the university to set up a $1 billion charitable foundation to promote reconciliation among the races in America.

The slaves’ descendants announced that they had raised $115,000 in seed money for the proposed institution, which would be set up in partnership with Georgetown. That sum matches the amount that the Jesuits received for the slaves they sold in 1838 to pay for the university’s expenses.

Writing in Crisis, Father Cornelius Buckley, SJ, observes that the Jesuit ownership of slaves in the 19th century was a clear violation of papal decrees condemning the practice. Thus he writes: “it is important to see that disobedience to papal teaching was the point of departure from which Georgetown and other Jesuit colleges in the United States plotted their course.”

 

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Further information:

• Descendants of slaves sold by Georgetown call for a $1 billion foundation for reconciliation (Washington Post)
• When Jesuits Ignore Papal Decrees (Crisis)