Minister of Culture and Social Rehabilitation Dale Butler yesterday claimed the legacy of Anglican Bishop Ewen Ratteray would be "washed away" by his failure to introduce scholarships in compensation for the church's role in slavery.

Mr. Butler said he was "shocked" by the retiring Bishop's remarks, in which he said the Anglican Church in Bermuda would address the issue "in our own time and in our own way".

The Minister has joined the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE) in proposing the scholarships, which CURE addressed to the church in a letter last month.

In 2007 the church-affiliated with the Church of England, expressed regret for its role in the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade at a service to commemorate the 200th anniversary of its abolition. The same day, Mr. Butler asked the Anglican Church to go further and "come forward with some kind of compensation in terms of scholarship for youth".

However, in a letter to CURE last week, the Rt. Rev. Ratteray said: "It is our intention to fulfil the commitment we made last year in our own time and in our own way, regardless of suggestions from various sources outside the church.

"Our ongoing life as a church is a testament to our commitment to healing and reconciliation, for we are probably the most integrated of all the churches in Bermuda."

Yesterday, Mr. Butler said he was "disappointed" by an apparent lack of commitment by the Bishop, who retires at the end of March. He said that with less than a month to go before Bishop Ratteray's retirement, people were now questioning his legacy.

"Historians are asking now, 'What is your legacy Bishop?'. Yes, you gave an apology and we're grateful and I think it does lead to a lessening of pain," said Mr. Butler.

"But he is a leader in this country and should have taken it further. I am disappointed, as it (the apology) was a significant step for the Anglican Church.

"I'm disappointed because I thought that based on the sermons he had preached, about standing up and not giving up your principles, and having the courage of your convictions, he did not show the blacks of this country that he was prepared to stand up and say 'Yes, the Anglican Church that is cash rich in this country has members who will be asked what we can do in addition to this apology'.

"His legacy would have been cemented, and now it will be washed away."

Mr. Butler said: "In Bermuda we have not put a figure or tax on the Anglican Church. We are asking them to show this in good faith, in goodwill."

He also challenged this newspaper to support the call for black scholarships. "We challenge The Royal Gazette to take its Internet campaign 'Break The Chains' further," said Mr. Butler.

"The Royal Gazette's editor has said his newspaper is the 'social conscience' of this country. We challenge Bill Zuill to stand with us and say 'Yes, the Anglican Church should stand with us and issue some scholarships in this country'."

Mr. Zuill said yesterday that he had never claimed The Royal Gazette was the Island's social conscience, but other people outside of the newspaper had said it was.

"I hope I would never be so arrogant as to make that claim," he said.

Mr. Zuill said the Break the Chains campaign was aimed at publicising and helping to end modern day slavery as well as recognising the modern day effects of slavery in the past.

"I think that the Bishop should probably be taken at his word that the church plans to make redress for slavery in its own way, and I would imagine that it wants to choose something where the church feels it can do the most good as an institution.

"While I may think that scholarships would be an excellent method, I don't think it is the only one, and the church should probably be given the time to decide what it wants to do.

"Obviously, if it does nothing, then this newspaper would have every reason to ask why not, and why not scholarships?