Church of England statues linked to slavery can “present a bar to faith and worship”, the chairman of its race commission has said.

Lord Boateng was appointed as head of the Archbishops’ Racial Justice Commission in July, leading a board of independent advisers to scrutinise Church policies and root out systematic racism.

The 70-year-old, who became the UK’s first black Cabinet minister when he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 2002, is leading a three-year review.

During a media briefing following the publication of General Synod papers on Friday morning, he said there was a “moral imperative” to review monuments and the extent to which people profited from “trading in the souls of others”.

He said the commission was looking at “questions around monuments and memorials [and] the extent to which they present a bar to faith and worship today”.

Lord Boateng added: “It also throws up questions around the wealth of the Church and how that wealth came into being and what we need to do today in order to heal some of the legacy of that monumental injustice that slavery represents and the importance of finding the resource to do that.”

He cited the example of Bristol Cathedral, saying: “When you go into the cathedral and you look at the contributions made by people who made their money by exploiting and trading in the souls and lives of others, you get a sense of just how complex the picture is. “

The Diocese of Bristol decided to remove dedications to Edward Colston, who was involved in the Atlantic slave trade, after a 19th-century statue of him in the city was toppled by protesters last June.