Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
“Dialogue with other religions is part of the evangelizing mission of the church,” Fr. Innocent Maganya Director of the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue and Islamic Studies (IRDIS) at a Kenya-based Institute of higher learning, Tangaza University College (TUC) told participants encouraging them to reflect on the relationship between dialogue and proclamation.
He noted that “we are living in a pluralistic world in which more and more Christians are coming into contact with followers of other religions,” hence the need for the Church to rethink about her mission and attitude towards people of other religions.
The three-day training from 26 to 29 October at St Patrick’s Pastoral Centre, Kabula, Bungoma Diocese was convened by the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (KCCB) Commission for Inter-Religious Dialogue and Ecumenism (CIRDE) and saw other participant from the Religious Superiors Conference of Kenya (RSCK) and Association of Sisterhoods of Kenya (AOSK) benefit from the training.
Referring to Church documents such as Ecclesiam Suam, Lumen Gentium, Gaudium et Spes, Nostra Aetate, Dignitatis Humanae, Africa Terrarum, Dialogue and Mission, Redemptoris Missio, Dialogue and Proclamation, and Fratelli Tutti, Fr. Maganya a member of the of the Society of Missionaries of Africa and a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo highlighted that “Since Vatican II Council, the Church has acknowledged the presence of positive values not only in religious life of individuals but also in the religious traditions to which they belong.”
He disclosed that the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples together with the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue produced emphasizing on “inter-religious dialogue, the necessity to proclaim Jesus to the world and proclamation and inter-religious dialogue for a double commitment of the church.”
According to , Fr. Maganya, the document was released at a time when “people were hesitant in regard to dialogue and were uncertain about the necessity of proclamation.”
Fr. Maganya who heads an institution that aims to foster cooperation between religions and the study of Islam in an East African context underscored during the training that there are various forms of dialogue that help promote cooperation.
There is dialogue of life where “people strive to live in an open and neighbourly spirit sharing their joys and sorrows,” , Fr. Maganya continued.
Speaking as he officially opened the training, the Apostolic Administrator of Bungoma Diocese Bishop Joseph Obanyi Sagwe of Kakamega Diocese urged Diocesan Coordinators to develop structures that allows interreligious dialogue and ecumenism to be practiced within the Archdiocese.
Sharing on the benefit of the training to Kisumu Archdiocese, Fr. Samuel Nyattaya Director of CIRDE, and Caritas Kisumu noted that “Kisumu being a region that suffers a lot of violence particularly those related to politics, cooperation between different churches and faiths has been one of our strengths.”
“This training has also been a blessing to the department of Caritas/CJPD in the Archdiocese of Kisumu as it will strengthen the engagement we have been having with the leaders of other Christian denominations and religions like the Muslim and Hindu communities in the Archdiocese.”