The Archdiocese of St. Louis will host “Forgive Us Our Trespasses,” a Maafa commemoration and procession on Saturday, June 18, in Downtown St. Louis.

Maafa, which is a Swahili word for “great disaster,” is a traditional procession to memorialize the lives of those lost during the Middle Passage, or transatlantic slave trade.

Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski and other faith leaders will begin the event at 9 a.m. with a prayer service at the Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France (Old Cathedral). The procession will include stops at sites related to the slave trade and local enslavement of Africans.

The event also will include a formal acknowledgement of the Archdiocese of St. Louis’ past involvement with the institution of slavery. The archdiocese has been researching its involvement in the slave trade as part of an effort called “Forgive Us Our Trespasses.”

For more information, contact Joyce Jones at joycejones@archstl.org or Eric Fair at ericfair@archstl.org.

https://www.archstl.org/maafa-procession-in-new-orleans-acknowledges-the-pain-of-the-slave-trade-archdiocese-of-st-louis-to-hold-similar-event-in-june-7440