LEADERS of the British Baptist Union will arrive in Jamaica today to make a public apology to their Jamaican colleagues for the transatlantic slave trade.

The Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU), in a press release, said it apology which was crafted last year to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade, acknowledged that the group shared in and benefitted from their nation’s participation in the transatlantic slave trade.

The apology, said the JBU, described the consequences of the slave trade as “appalling” and apologised to God and to the descendants of slaves, recognising that while ended, it continued to perpetuate the hurt which originated from the horror.

While in Jamaica the group will tour several Baptist churches and other Baptist institutions such as Calabar and William Knibb Memorial High Schools and Baptist-run homes for children and the elderly.

On Sunday, they will participate in two worship services at the Mount Carey Baptist in St James and the William Knibb Memorial Baptist Church in Trelawny.