The former senior Official of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Vatican City, has recently been ordained the Auxiliary Bishop of Onitsha Archdiocese. In an exclusive interview with our editor and other members of the crew, he shares his experiences as a Bishop, while also making clear the teachings of the Church on some confusing religious issues. Excerpts:

FOCUS: Good evening My Lord, please, may we know you better especially as regards your personality as a figure in inter-religious and conflict resolution matters?

BISHOP ISIZOH: My name is Denis Chidi Isizoh, Auxiliary Bishop of Onitsha. I studied and was ordained priest in Nigeria; then taught in All Hallows’ Seminary. In my fourth year as a Priest, Archbishop Stephen Ezeanya sent me Rome to study and also assist Cardinal Arinze. I studied Sacred Scriptures. I worked in the Vatican office for interreligious dialogue, heading the Section for dialogue with different religions in sub-Saharan Africa. Later, my area of work was enlarged to cover dialogue with indigenous religions in Asia and Americas. The nature of my work involved traveling and meeting/working with many people. I have been able to travel to many countries, about sixty. Then after that, here I am. 

FOCUS: So far as the Auxiliary Bishop of Onitsha Archdiocese, are there experiences you would wish to share with us?

BISHOP ISIZOH: I believe that I have experiences to share. But remember that I am just fresh at home. Let me settle down first.

FOCUS: From your interactions with the people within this short time, how can you describe the religious life of Christians in Nigeria, especially using Onitsha Archdiocese as a case study?

BISHOP ISIZOH: I tell you that each time I think of the life of the Church in this part of the world, I offer thanksgiving prayers to God. There are many reasons to thank God. For instance, come to think of it: the other day, we were out there for the “Christ the King’s procession”. Only five parishes came to the Basilica and the whole Square was filled up with people. What a joy to see living faith; people happy to dance before the Lord and to publicly profess their Catholic faith. When one finds oneself in such a faith-filled environment, one is very happy. Our Churches are full. The people make a lot of sacrifices to express their faith. But there are some exaggerations here and there. Isn’t that, afterall, part of our duty to instruct the people in the faith, to lead them to a deeper understanding of Christianity?

FOCUS: My Lord, within this faith manifested by our people, are there evidences of religious fanaticism, fundamentalism or any form of extremism that yield negative effects in the lives of the people?

BISHOP ISIZOH: I will not call it fanaticism or fundamentalism. What I am noticing is Pentecostalism.  Preaching Prosperity Gospel seems to be the popular way to announce the good news in our time. In some places, there is not much difference between what some Catholic priests and the Pentecostal ministers do. The way some of them preach and organize their sessions of worship appears aggressive and without deep theology. Before, people used to meditate, reflect, and pray in “spirit and truth”. And now they jump around, and shout. The way people greet, the way they pray, the songs they sing, are all tending towards Pentecostalism!

FOCUS: From your experience in interreligious matters, is there any specific means of finding an agreement among all religions of the world, at least the major ones?

BISHOP ISIZOH: Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has been promoting two forms of dialogue. The first is dialogue among Christians: Ecumenical dialogue. The aim of this dialogue is unity among Christians, in order to realize that prayer which our Lord said “that they may be one”. The second form is “interreligious”. It is dialogue between Catholics, by extension all Christians and the People who profess other religions. The aim of this dialogue is friendship, living together, working together.
There are certainly many ways of reaching agreement on how to live together in our world today. One basic consideration is understanding the common values we share. The Vatican II Council Declaration Nostra aetate listed such common values as unity of human nature, created by the same God, common quest for Truth, common destiny. God’s saving designs extends to all human being. We all face the same challenges of the unsolved riddles of the human condition. All express concern and work hard to solve these riddles of life.
When we understand that we have many common values, it is easy for us to reach out to one another and to strive to work together. When we emphasize what we share with others, we tend to agree and work together. But, it is necessary to underline also the areas we are different. It is on the basis of these differences that we can dialogue.
 
FOCUS: By implication, interreligious dialogue with all its dimensions is the secret of finding this agreement?

BISHOP ISIZOH: Yes, if by interreligious dialogue you mean understanding that, as religious believers, we are different but from the values which our religions have taught us, we collaborate, we work together to develop the society and walk together towards Truth.

FOCUS: Coming down to the Christianity and the Catholic Church precisely, My Lord, it is evident that the Catholic Church preaches religious tolerance. In what ways has she been able to achieve this practically?

BISHOP ISIZOH: Tolerance is one word which is not good to be used in this context. When you tolerate a person, you may not love the person; you may not care about the person. The Catholic Church teaches love. Your brother is a person you care for, the person you go out of your way to meet, the person you want to help and the person you want to hear his voice, the person you love. Love your God, love your neighbor. This is Christ’s summary of God’s commandments. Love is the key and that is what the Catholic Church teaches. Our Lord Jesus Christ died for love of us. He taught us that the greatest way to show love is to be ready and willing to die for our friends. Thanks to the teaching of the Church, Catholics show love in many ways. Parents and teachers do a lot to bring up their children. They express love. Many people are making huge sacrifices to help even those they may never meet. Some missionaries have sacrificed their lives in the course of spreading the Good News. The Church preaches love, not just tolerance.

FOCUS: The Catholic Church is widely regarded as the only true religion founded by Christ. How can we prove this with an eye to striking a balance or finding an agreement with others?

BISHOP ISIZOH: As our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us: God is spirit; those who truly worship him must do so in “spirit and truth.” This means that true religion must start from the inside. The place of the Church in the world is explained in The Catechism of the Catholic Church as “the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men.” Christ founded a Church. This Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church.
But the terms like “true religion”, “striking a balance” “finding an agreement with others”, which you have used, we try to avoid in interreligious relations. When we meet other believers in dialogue, it is not comparative study of religions that we do. It is not about who is right or wrong, true or false. It is not a debate. Interreligious dialogue does not begin with talking. It is just BEING together. This is the basic form of interreligious relations. We engage in dialogue of life where we live with a neighbor of another belief following the teaching of our religions: how to be a good companion, just, honest, philanthropist. We share the highest ideals of our religions. We want to work together to develop our society. We collaborate in projects of common concern. We promote justice and peace and so on.

FOCUS: Can we say that outside the Catholic Church, there is no salvation?

BISHOP ISIZOH: Answering this question requires long explanation. Let me make short statements as a way to answer the question. Pope Pius IX teaches that “We must hold as of the faith, that out of the Apostolic Roman Church there is no salvation; that she is the only ark of safety, and whosoever is not in her perishes in the deluge”. As I said earlier, the Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men. And the Vatican II document, Lumen Gentium (n. 16) explains that salvation is possible for those who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do God’s will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.
 
FOCUS: There is this belief that the Catholic Church does not welcome new ideas, neither does she update herself to the present situation. What have you to say about this My Lord?

BISHOP ISIZOH: One of the reasons why Pope John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council was aggiornamento, updating the Church, opening the windows to allow fresh air to come into the Church and, perhaps, bad air to go out. It is absurd to say that the Church does not welcome new ideas. Perhaps you are thinking of changing existing laws as acceptance of “new ideas”. It is important to distinguish God’s commandments (divine laws) from Ecclesiastical laws. In the Bible, we have the Ten Commandments which the Church did not make and cannot change. The Commandments are received from God and the Church cannot interfere with them.  But for Ecclesiastical laws, like how many years one stays in the seminary before ordination, the Church can modify. Abortion for instance is against God’s law (Do not kill). Will the Church welcome new ideas which involve breaking Divine laws? No. Attempting to change God’s laws is not updating the Church but breaking the Church!

FOCUS: Can one actually say that the Church is autocratic or democratic in her nature?

BISHOP ISIZOH: The Church is hierarchical, that is to say that there is order of precedence in the Church. Of course, the Church is democratic. In the election of Popes, for example, ballots are cast and the person with the highest vote is elected. Even before the announcement to the whole world, he is asked if he accepts. It is not imposed on him. Before the appointment of Bishops, people are consulted. Democracy does not mean free for all structure. We cast votes to determine the majority opinion. But there are cases where the majority does not win. There are things we do not have the power to agree on. Trying to vote on God’s commandments where we have no power to decide otherwise is recklessness. Insisting of keeping God’s commandments is not autocratic. As creatures, we are bound to obey God.

FOCUS: We found out that most Christians do express difficulty in living the Christian life. What is your advice to these Christians, especially those suffering persecution in different parts of the world?

BISHOP ISIZOH: Everybody wants something good. We want to be happy. We want a world where there is no difficulty, no pain, no sickness, where there is love and where people work together. But somehow, we have different things challenging us in life. These are the contradictions we see in life. Things are not always happening the way we want. When people are faced with such challenges in life, when people face suffering and pain, it does not mean they are bad people or not praying enough. When we look at these things, we begin to understand the symbolism of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is pain and joy. There is sickness and healing. There is Cross and crown. Christ was innocent yet suffered on the Cross. His passion and death and resurrection brought us salvation. Let the suffering Christians look up to the Cross. Let them not waste their tears, as somebody wrote. Let them pay attention to the graces coming from their suffering. Let them unite their pains to the suffering of Christ on the Cross. There on the Cross of Christ, we find the merit, the blessing, the salvation. We pray for justice and peace in the troubled parts of our world.

FOCUS: What about men and women of other religions, what should they do to help achieve this fraternity?

BISHOP ISIZOH: They are to do the same thing we are doing. They are to reach out to their brothers and sisters of different religions. Some are doing it, while others are not. There are many people of other religions making serious efforts to promote peace in the world. We must find such people of goodwill, call them together because with them we can promote peace and can work together to make the world a better place. And, as religious believers, we hope that one day we shall all be united in God’s presence.