1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION
 
          Relations between Christianity and other Religions in Africa began long before the Second Vatican Council. In most countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Christianity arrived in the last two or three hundred years. Already African Traditional Religion (ATR) was followed by most Africans from time immemorial. Islam has been present in this region since about 10th century AD. Other religions with a good number of followers found in Africa today include Hinduism, Buddhism and Baha’i. Of these religions, the Secretariat for Non-Christians (later renamed Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, henceforth to be referred to as PCID) has on-going contact with only ATR, Islam and Buddhism. Hinduism is mainly practised by Asian immigrants (some of whom have become citizens over the years) in Africa. The followers of other religions are so few in number that they constitute no real dialogue partners.
          It is well known that the early Christian missionaries in sub-Saharan Africa from the onset did not  promote dialogue (as understood today) with followers of other religions. With reference to African Traditional Religion, the adherents were in most cases open to other religious expressions. Christians found them potential members and were, therefore, not interested in engaging them in normal dialogue (as already defined in many documents by the PCID). Early efforts to know African Traditional Religion were mainly geared towards its elimination or displacement, or adaptation of aspects of it. The main focus of interest was the conversion of adherents of ATR.
         The same desire by Christians to convert ATR followers is witnessed by adherents of Traditional Religions in other parts of the world. These religions are referred to in Asia as “Tribal Religion”, in Oceania as “Indigenous Religion”, and “Native Religion” in Americas where they often take specific forms as Candomblé, Umbanda, Santeria, Voodoo, etc.
          In some countries, Muslims embed their religion in African culture(s) such that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the basic culture of the people from the Islamic super-imposition.
          Hindus generally live in their own “enclosed world” in Africa. They are not missionaries  in orientation.
          Both Buddhism and Baha’i are new in Africa. The PCID has some minimum contact with followers of both religions in Africa.
 

2. PCID ACTIVITIES IN DIALOGUE WITH SPECIFIC RELIGIONS
 
2.1. TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS[1]
          As a department of the Secretariat for Non-Christians, the Section for Traditional Religions was established in 1972 following the express request by the Consultors at a meeting held in Paris in September 1971. This does not mean that interest in Traditional Religions began only then. Indeed right from the beginning of the Secretariat, ATR was on the list of the religions to be engaged in dialogue with. ATR earned this premier recognition because some African scholars had made some advances in providing much information about the religion soon after the Second Vatican Council. The establishment of Centre d’Etudes des Religions Africaines (CERA) in Kinshasa in 1967 as a resource centre for the study of ATR played an important role. This is evident from the several exchanges of communication between the Secretariat and CERA and from the number of visits by the officials of the dicastery to Kinshasa during the early years of the Secretariat.
          In the letter announcing to the Bishops’ Conferences in Africa the setting up of the Section for Traditional Religions, the aim of the new department in the Secretariat was given as promoting: 1) study of Traditional Religions, 2) dialogue between Christianity and Traditional Religions and 3) monitoring the reactions of the Traditional Religions to the modern world. The department was to become, as was also the function of the Secretariat,  “a centre of reference for information, suggestions, instruments of work, orientations, answers to problems already studied; a centre which, respecting the principle of subsidiary structure, stimulates, poses questions, offers guidance”. [2]
          It was decided that the Section for Traditional Religions would start its activities with ATR but not end with it. Traditional Religions in other parts of the world would be considered subsequently.[3] As will be shown down this report, efforts have been made to reach out to followers of Tribal Religions in Asia and Traditional Religions in the Americas and Oceania.
         The first major colloquium organized by the PCID on Traditional Religions took place at Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire from 29 July to 3 August, 1996. The theme was “The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Encounter with Traditional Religions. It was, as explained by Cardinal Arinze, a gathering of theologians “to reflect on what Christianity has to say to people of the Traditional Religions, especially those of them who have become Christians”. The participants (Catholics, almost all of them from traditional religious background) came from Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America.
 

2.1.1. African Traditional Religion
          The activities of the PCID in dialogue with ATR will be examined under three headings: Enquiry, Engagement and Encouragement.
 
2.1.1.1.  Enquiry
          The Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate, makes allusion to Traditional Religions in the following words:  Throughout history even to the present day, there is found among different peoples a certain awareness of a hidden power, which lies behind the course of nature and the events of human life. At times there is present even a recognition of a supreme being, or still more of a Father. This awareness and recognition results in a way of life that is imbued with a deep religious sense.
          Pope Paul VI was the first Pontiff to visit sub-Saharan Africa. He first visited the continent as Cardinal Montini shortly before his election in the early 60’s. The memories of that visit were reflected in the positive appreciation of Africa expressed in Ecclesiam Suam (1964) in which are mentioned by name “followers of the great religions of Africa”[4] and in Africae Terrarum[5] of 1967 where some of the beautiful values found in African culture (which is heavily influenced by African Traditional Religion) are highlighted. In 1969 the Pontiff visited Uganda — as the first Pope to set foot on African soil. The papal writings and the visit helped to prepare the ground for a positive appreciation of Africa at the central offices of the Church in Rome.
          The first task of the PCID was to understand some of the religions whose followers the Catholic Church sought to engage in dialogue with. The officials embarked on research study and publication of information on the religions. This effort resulted in the publication in 1968 of Meeting African Religions.
          In order to understand how to forge ahead with relations with the followers of ATR it was considered necessary to find answers to  some basic questions:

• Is it possible to dialogue with the followers of African Traditional Religion?
• Who could be the dialogue partners on the side of followers of African Traditional Religion?
• What is the nature of dialogue with the followers of ATR?

 
          A seminar was organised in Nairobi, Kenya, from 5th to 7th August, 1974, to reflect on some of these questions. The participants affirmed the “possibility of religious dialogue with the religious traditions of Africa”. They observed that such dialogue “was strongly desired by the spokesmen for African Traditional Religions themselves” and it will “lead to an enrichment of Christianity”.
 
Dialogue partners were identified:

• “Spokesmen for authentic and living religious traditions, e.g. Priests, shrine-keepers, spirit-mediums, diviners, doctors and other religious specialists.
• “Great religious personalities of the past whose memory is well documented in oral tradition and cherished by people today….
• “Christians who feel an unresolved duality within themselves between their Christian and Traditional allegiances….
• “Members of independent Christian movements and neo-traditional religious movements that are non-Christian….
• “Persons with submerged traditional values and attitudes in modern socio-political situations.”[6]

 
          There were a number of important meetings in which officials of PCID participated or which they organised to deepen their knowledge of the religion and the region:

• 1973, a visit was paid to CERA.
• 1974, in Rome, many individual Bishops taking part in the General Synod were invited to the Secretariat to help the officials identify issues in ATR that needed urgent attention.
• 1975, in Rome, individual bishops taking part in the SECAM Plenary Assembly were again invited for consultation on many areas of interest in ATR.
• 1977, there was a colloquium on “Civilisation and Religion” in Lagos, Nigeria, in the context of the Second World Festival of Black African culture and arts.
• 1977, in Nairobi, workshop on “Evangelisation and Gabba (Group of nomads in Kenya) culture”
• 1978, Kinshasa, celebration of the 10th anniversary of CERA and international colloquium on “African Religions and Christianity”.
• 1980, in Abidjan, workshop on “Religious Experience and Interpersonal Relations” organised by ICAO.
• From 1982 to 1995, the PCID participated in the annual meetings of the CERAO Commission for Interreligious Dialogue.
• From 1996 till date, the PCID has always participated in the annual workshop of the AECAWA Interreligious dialogue Commission.

 
          The nature of the dialogue with the followers of ATR is twofold: ad extra (normal interreligious relations, as outlined in Dialogue and Mission) and ad intra (pastoral attention to converts from the ATR or those who live in a culture and worldview influenced by the religion).
 

2.1.1.2. Engagement
 
Dialogue with ATR does not mean only research on aspects of the religion and the religious expression of the followers. Contact with actual followers of the religion is of great importance.
 
The historical meeting of Pope John Paul II with the representatives of Voodoo religion in Benin on 4th February, 1993, remains the best example of direct contact at the highest level between the Catholic Church and followers of African Traditional Religion. On that occasion, the Holy Father, addressed them in the following words:
 
I am happy to have this opportunity to meet you, and I greet you most cordially…. You have a strong attachment to the traditions handed on by your ancestors.  It is legitimate to be grateful to your forebears who passed on this sense of the sacred, belief in a single God who is good, a sense of celebration, esteem for the moral life and for harmony in society.
 
There have been two other occasions when the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has met representatives of African Traditional Religion: at Assisi in 1986 (Mr. Togbui Assenou from Togo, Mr. Amegawi Attiwoto Klousse of Togo and Komfo Kodwo Akom of Ghana) and in 2002 (Komfo Afua Mensah Serwah of Ghana and Chief Gasseto Aïnadou of Benin).
 
In 1994 the PCID and the Pontifical Council for Family organised a joint-workshop on “Marriage and the Family in Today’s World” to which people of different religions were invited.  From Ghana two Priests of ATR, Komfo Kofi Agyemang Munumkum and Komfo Afua Mensah Serwah, were invited and they reflected on “Marriage and Family life in ATR”.
 
Dialogue with followers of ATR is not a one-way traffic. A number of people of ATR had sought to initiate contact with the PCID. Among the leaders of Traditional Religion, the following were outstanding: Ogbuefi Mmadubueze Enemmoh,  High-Priest of Umuebedike of Nri in Nigeria, and Ameganvi Aveglui, Grand Prêtre de la Forêt Sacrée of Lome in Togo.
 
For some pastoral reasons, there is a general tendency on the part of many Christian leaders not to show enthusiasm in establishing dialogue with the followers of ATR. They try to avoid giving visibility to ATR. Instead, they wait in hope that the followers of ATR may eventually convert to Christianity. This is not always the case, as several Episcopal Conferences had acknowledged in the written replies to the Questionnaire in the Lineamenta  in preparation for the 1994 Special Synod of Bishops for Africa.
 
2.1.1.3. Encouragement
 
          The PCID has taken a number of steps to encourage dialogue with followers of ATR. In 1988, a letter was written by Cardinal Arinze to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar to explain the need for dialogue with ATR and pastoral attention to those who are now Christians but come from the background of ATR. The same letter encouraged various Catholic Institutions of higher learning to undertake studies on various aspects of ATR in view of promoting inculturation.
          In various addresses of the Presidents of PCID (especially, Cardinal Arinze) to Bishops’ Conferences of Africa and ecclesiastical institutions of learning on the continent, there were almost always references to the need to promote dialogue with ATR.
          The choice of venues for various colloquia, seminars and meetings in Africa shows a deliberate effort on the part of the PCID to involve Catholic universities, major seminaries and formation houses in the process of promoting interreligious dialogue especially with the followers of ATR.
          Occasionally the PCID has allowed its officials to give courses on ATR in some institutions of higher learning for some weeks.
 
 
2.1.2. Traditional Religions of the Americas
          As with ATR, the PCID encourages dialogue with followers of Traditional Religions in the Americas and in other places where they exist. It also promotes pastoral attention to those from the cultural milieu of Traditional Religions. Pope John Paul II had taken a lead in promoting this pastoral attention when he visited Phoenix, Arizona, on 14 September 1987, and said the following prayer over the Native Americans:
           O God, our Creator and Father, through all eternity you live in mystery and are know by many names by those who seek you out: gi Manitou, Wakantonka, Maheo. For centuries you blessed the Native peoples of the Americas with rich prayers, ceremonies, and dance to praise you, and instilled in them a great love and respect for Mother Earth. May your peoples share these gifts with all creation. May they always live in harmony and respect
          In 1989, Cardinal Arinze was in Fargo, North Dakota, to take part in the 50th anniversary of the Tekakwitha Conference. In his address on 3rd August 1989 to the participants in that Conference he said:
          As native peoples from many nations and tribes in the east, the south, the west and the north, you believe in and respect Creator and all his creation. Your prayers, your sacred ceremonies to renew all creation, your vision quests, your sweats, your fasting, your stories of love for the extended family, your appreciation and respect for the dignity and worth of every human being from conception right up to natural death, and your stewardship and care of mother earth, contribute not only to your identity but also to your unity as the peoples that you are. They form also a significant contribution to the patrimony of the entire human family.
          Four years after, in 1993, the same Cardinal Arinze wrote a letter to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences of the Americas, Asia and Oceania, to underline the need for dialogue with those who may still wish to follow Traditional Religions and for pastoral attention to those who would want to remain authentically Native Americans and truly Christians.
         Father Stan Maudlin has been an important source of information on Amerindian religions and culture. A Benedictine Monk  of Blue Cloud Abbey in the United States of America,[7] Father Maudlin has been working for over fifty years among the Amerindians in the Dakotas. He maintains an American Indian Culture Research Centre and is in regular contact with the PCID.
 
2.1.3. Tribal/Traditional Religions of Asia
          The PCID has good contact with the Tribals of India. In 1997, Cardinal Arinze and the official for Traditional Religions took part in a seminar organised in Ranchi, India, for the Tribals. There is a Catholic colloquium underway (in 2005) to reflect on the Resources for Peace in Tribal Religions of Asia and Traditional Religions in other parts of the world. The venue will be Rome and it will be sponsored by the PCID.
 
2.1.4. Traditional Religions of Oceania
          Contacts with followers of Traditional Religion in Oceania have been, so far, through Catholic theologians and missionaries working among the adherents of the religion. In 1996, Sr. Patricia Stowers took part in a theological colloquium organised by the PCID at Abidjan (mentioned above in n. 2.1.) and addressed the participants on the “Relation with the divine by the peoples of Oceania”. Since after that colloquium, the PCID has identified resource persons/institutes for relations with followers of traditional religion on the continent.
 
2.2. ISLAM
          Islam has been present in Africa for centuries. Most Muslims on the continent belong to the Sunnis of Qadiriyya, Tijaniyya, or Muridiyya brotherhoods.  There are also  Shiites and Ahmaddiyas.
          Islam came into sub-Saharan African from the Middle East through different points, notably, the Sahara desert and the Indian Ocean. In most countries of Africa, peoples of different religious traditions have peacefully lived together for centuries.[8]
          It is on record after the Second Vatican Council that it was in Africa, precisely Uganda on 14 August 1969, that Pope Paul VI “had his first public encounter with a large group of Muslims.” On that occasion, the Holy Father addressed them in the following words:
          Dignitaries and Representatives of Islam, How can we express our deep satisfaction in meeting you, and our gratitude to you, for granting our lively desire to greet, in your persons, the great Muslim communities spread through Africa? You thus enable us to manifest here our high respect for the faith you profess, and our hope that what we hold in common may serve to unite Christians and Muslims ever more closely, in true brotherhood…. Our pilgrimage to these holy places is not for purposes of prestige or power. It is a humble and ardent prayer for peace, through the intercession of the glorious protectors of Africa, who gave up their lives for love and for their belief. In recalling the Catholic and Anglican martyrs, we gladly recall also those confessors of the Muslim faith who were the first to suffer death, in 1848, for refusing to transgress the precepts of their religion. May the shining sun of peace and brotherly love rise over this land, bathed with their blood by generous sons of the Catholic, Christian and Muslim communities of Uganda, to illuminate all of Africa![9]
         Pope John Paul II has followed up this initial outreach by his predecessor. In all, Pope John Paul II has addressed Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa on 14 different occasions[10] to express the common spiritual bond between Christianity and Islam, and emphasize the demand on believers of both religions to work for justice and peace, human promotion, responsible management of natural resources.
 
2.2.1. Reaching out to Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa 
          Following the principle of subsidiarity, the PCID encourages the local Church to take the lead in interreligious dialogue in each geographical area. The Church in West Africa has been particularly active in promoting Christian-Muslim relations. Each country in this part of Africa has a Commission for Interreligious relations (especially, Christian-Muslim relations). The two regional bodies CERAO[11] (for the French-speaking countries) and AECAWA[12] (for English-speaking countries) that bring together the Episcopal Conferences in West Africa have Commissions for Interreligious Dialogue that meet annually to discuss interreligious issues. The PCID supports this regional initiatives by regularly sending its official to take part in such annual meetings.
          The PCID has occasionally had direct contact with Muslims in Africa. In 1991, for example, a meeting at Ibadan, Nigeria, was organised by the dicastery. Participants (Christians and Muslims) came from the Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The central theme to be studied was “Cooperation in Development”. But the discussion was not limited to this theme, it extended to wide-ranging and encompassing questions of differing concepts of democracy and religion-state relations, and attitudes towards Muslim-Christian marriages.
          Most of the official visits of the staff of the PCID often include meetings with representatives of Muslim communities. Usually the effort is two-pronged: meeting with Muslims and encouraging interreligious relations. For example, in Tanzania where much interest is shown in dialogue between Christians and Muslims, the visit of Archbishop Fitzgerald, the PCID President, in March 2003 to the islands of Unguja and Pemba, was an encouragement to the few Christians in the area. The visit facilitated the first formal meeting between Christians and Muslims in Zanzibar.
          The annual Ramadan Message sent to Muslims is now translated into some local languages spoken in Africa: Kiswahili, Hausa, Wolof and Yoruba.
          At some important events in Rome to which people of different religions are invited, there is always an attempt by the PCID to include in the list Muslims from sub-Saharan Africa. During the Day of Prayer in Assisi on 27 October 1986 the following Muslims were present: Shaban Bakari (Kenya), Ahmed Tidjane Ba (Côte d’Ivoire); and on 24 January, 2002 the participants included Sheikh Ahmed Khalifa Niasse (Senegal). For the 2000 Jubilee celebrations, Dr. Lateef Adegbite (Nigeria) was invited.
 
2.2.2. Sub-Saharan African Muslims’ relations with PCID
          Some Muslims have made effort to reach out to the PCID to express appreciation for the Ramadan Messages, to comment on issues of interest to them, or to seek collaboration with the dicastery. In recent times, among the Muslim organisations that have reached out to PCID are: Conseil Regional des Khojas (Madagascar), Council of Ulamau for Akan and Tuba Muslims (Ghana), and Jama’atu Nasril Islam (Nigeria).
          Muslim leaders from Africa have occasionally visited the PCID office to express their goodwill. Two significant visits are: Sheikh Ousman Badji from Senegal (1969)[13] and Dr. Hasan Tourabi of Sudan visited (1993).
  
3. PROJECTS

• Introduction of Guide for teaching ATR, Islam and Interreligious Dialogue in seminaries and catholic universities and institutes. The PCID plans to encourage publication of books based on the programme .  
• Youth formation in interreligious dialogue in Kaduna, Nigeria (October 2004). This is a joint project with World Islamic Call Society of Libya.

 
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[1] In today’s context, for the purpose of interreligious relations, Traditional Religions do not refer simply to those ancient/archaic religions before Christianity or Islam arrived. They are living religions still practised today. In some cases, aspects of these religions have been assimilated into other religions. They do not have founders, sometimes they are strictly linked with culture of a people. Some not-well-informed people or those who uncritically accepted terms, call the religion paganism, fetishism, etc. Followers of such religions are found in Africa, Asia and in the Americas. Generally, the people who practise forms of these Traditional Religions simply link them to their ethnic group. So, we can talk of Igbo religion, Yoruba religion, Kikuyu religion, etc.  Some have a more international character: Voodoo in Benin and Haiti, Shamman, Candomblé, etc.

[2] Cf. n.5 of the letter signed by P. Giuseppe Butturini, Bulletin 21 (1972) p.56.

[3] Ibid., cf. footnote n.1, p.54.

[4] Cf. Ecclesiam Suam, n.6

[5] Cf. Africa Terrarum,  nn. 7 – 14.

[6] Cf. Conference records.

[7] The PCID has received a number of documents on Native Americans: a report by ad hoc Committee by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on “Native American Catholics at the Millennium ” (2003), memo from Rhonda Robles Native American Sacred Sites Task Force, (2003) and from Catholic ministry with the Native American community of Los Angeles.

[8] However, there are exceptions where violence accompanied the introduction of Islam in some parts of Africa. Instances of violence motivated by religious beliefs, and mixed up with politics and ethnicity, have been noted in countries like Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and the Sudan.

[9] Cf. Recognize the Spiritual Bonds which Unite Us: 16 years of Christian-Muslim Dialogue, published by Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Vatican City, 1994,  p.9.

[10] Kenya (7 May, 1980), Ghana (8 May, 1980), Burkina Faso (10 May, 1980), Senegal (26 January, 1982), Nigeria (14 February, 1982), Cameroon (12 August, 1985), Mali (26 March, 1988), Tanzania (2 September, 1990), Senegal (22 February, 1992), Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone (9 July, 1992), Benin (4 February, 1993), Chad (27 June, 1994), Nigeria (22 March, 1998)

[11] Conférence Episcopale Régionale de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (francophone).

[12] Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa.

[13] The Sheikh led the first Muslim delegation from Africa to visit PCID.