​Your Excellencies,
        The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sends greetings to this 14th Plenary Assembly and Study Session of AMECEA. The theme of your assembly, “Deeper Evangelisation in the third Millennium: A Challenge for AMECEA”, reflects Your Excellencies’ pastoral concern for the people of your region and your desire to follow the guidelines for deeper evangelisation given by the Holy Father Pope John Paul II in Ecclesia in Africa and in Tertio Millennio Ineunte. Our Council shares your concern and desire to deepen the faith of the Faithful in your region.
          Evangelisation, understood as the totality of the mission which our Lord Jesus Christ sent his disciples and, therefore, the Church to accomplish, includes the following aspects:  simple presence and living witness of the Christian life; concrete commitment to the service of mankind and all forms of activity for social development and the struggle against poverty and the structures which produce it; liturgical life, and also prayer and contemplation; dialogue in which Christians meet the followers of other religious traditions in order to walk together towards truth and to work together in projects of common concern; announcement and catechesis in which the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ is proclaimed and its consequences for life and culture are analysed.
          Interreligious Dialogue “is a part of the Church’s evangelising mission” (RM 55).  As Pope John Paul II explains: “Dialogue does not originate from tactical concerns or self-interest, but is an activity with its own guiding principles, requirements and dignity. It is demanded by deep respect for everything that has been brought about in human beings by the Spirit who blows where he wills (cf. RH 12).” (RM 56).
          As Your Excellencies may know, recent statistics show that there has been an increase in the percentage growth of the number of people of other religions in your region. Eastern Africa, with its pleasant weather and ecological environment, attracts many foreigners. Your people come in frequent contact with visitors of different nationalities, religions and traditions. Since your last Plenary Assembly, more mosques have been built and there has been a remarkable increase in Muslim activities in the region. You have more Hindus and Buddhists in your area than in other parts of Africa. You have still many followers of African Traditional Religion. The Catholic Church teaches that every human being has a right to religious freedom. This is not opposed to proclamation of the Good News of Christ. For, religion is proposed and never imposed.
          You know the importance of preparing the People of God to be true witnesses of Christ among followers of other religions. The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue is available to be of assistance to Your Excellencies.
          It is the view of our Council, based on our contacts with many individuals and organisations in Africa, that more could be done to educate our Priests, Religious Men and Women and Lay Faithful on how to be authentically Christians and still live happily with people of other religious traditions.
           In 1999 we organised a workshop to initiate some of those who promote interreligious dialogue in Africa. It was held in Nairobi. Some of the participants were sent by Your Excellencies. We are happy to note that some of those who took part in the workshop have continued to maintain contact with us to share with us their experiences in their places of work. Yet more needs to be done to keep up the momentum.
          Our Pontifical Council plans to return to your region next year for a Consultation with our African Members, Consultors and National Secretaries of the Commissions for Interreligious Dialogue. It is our hope that each Episcopal Conference here will send a representative. The meeting will take place here in Dar es Salaam in the last week of March 2003. We thank His Eminence, Cardinal Pengo, who has written to tell us that we are welcome to his archdiocese.
          Forming the formators is very important. Next month, at Abuja in Nigeria, a group of 15 experts will meet to draw an outline for teaching African Traditional Religion, Islam and Interreligious Dialogue in major Seminaries, Houses of Formation, Catholic Institutes and Universities in Africa. This is in response to the request which we received from Presidents of Episcopal Conferences and Rectors of major seminaries in francophone Africa during a Consultation held in Yaoundé last year in March. There is need to harmonise what is taught to our future Priests and missionaries in institutions for religious formation in Africa. We consulted Rectors and lecturers (ATR, Islam and Interreligious Dialogue) in Africa. They sent us their course outline. And now, we have invited 15 of them to harmonise what we received from the teachers.
          Our Council received a suggestion from our partners in Libya to organise a meeting of young Christians and Muslims, possibly in Uganda. We would welcome your opinion on this.
          It has already been suggested that it might be good to have a regional Christian-Muslim meeting. Our Council would be willing to facilitate this if it is thought worthwhile.
          We thank the Episcopal Conferences that have created a Commission for Interreligious Dialogue. There are some Religious Congregations and Societies that promote interreligious dialogue in your region. Our Pontifical Council expresses gratitude for their contributions.
          We do not wait until our house is on fire before we form a team of Fire Servicemen or buy a fire extinguisher. Recent events in our world make it necessary that we work closely with people of other religious traditions in order to build bridges of understanding and collaboration. We urge the Episcopal Conferences that have not yet a Commission for Interreligious Dialogue to reconsider their position. No place on earth is safe from violence and religious conflict. We must work together for justice and peace, for development and progress in Africa. Let us come close to other believers. Let us involve them.  Our ancestors have bequeathed to us these words of wisdom:

Tell me and I'll forget. 
Show me, and I may not remember. 
Involve me, and I'll understand.