DePaul hosted Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama in a discussion with DePaul Professor Dr. Babacar Mbengue in the Student Center last Thursday. They led an open discussion with members of the DePaul community that was open to the public on Muslim-Catholic relations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Archbishop Kaigama is from Nigeria and was invited to DePaul through DePaul Professor Stan Chu Ilo, who is also from Nigeria. Kaigama is renowned for his work with Muslim-Catholic relations in Nigeria and the goal of the panel was to discuss finding peace in one of the most war-torn areas of the world.
The discussion was open to the public, and there were a variety of people in attendance. Several students from Professor Ilo’s Catholicism classes were there in addition to many members of the African community.
Each member of the panel was given twenty minutes to open by talking about their experience with Muslim-Catholic relations. Archbishop Kaigama opened by speaking of the importance of dialogue between people of Christian faith and Islamic faith.
“Inter-religious dialogue will contribute significantly to this peace we are looking for,” Kaigama said. “These two religions often collide for the ‘soul’ of Africa.”
The archbishop said both Catholics and Muslims need to abandon the idea of solidarity in order to achieve peace.
“It’s not possible for every culture to be the same religion. It’s not possible,” Kaigama said. “Religion means ‘to bind,’ to come together… religion is meant to build people together.”
Archbishop Kaigama’s church was bombed by a suicide bomber just a few weeks ago, and the importance of opening dialogue to begin the peace process is close to his heart.
“There are challenges, and these challenges need to be met,” he said.
The floor was then turned to Dr. Babacar Mbengue, a Professor at DePaul who teaches Islamic studies and history in DePaul’s Islamic World Studies, History and Religious Studies Departments.
Dr. Mbengue, who grew up in Senegal, a Western African country – shared the Archbishops ideas about peace in the region.
“(It is) ironic that even in peace studies the focus is on violence preventions rather than on peace,” he said.
After each panelist gave their opening remarks, people from the audience were welcomed to ask the panelists questions for a question and answer segment. Many members of the African community shared stories of their experience with this conflict in Africa.
Among the several topics discussed in the question and answer segment was whether or not there is something incompatible in the faiths that is the cause of the conflict between Muslims and Catholics, or whether or not the conflict is a social or ethnic one.
“Religion tends to be added to a conflict,” Professor Mbengue said. “We call it a religious conflict where in actuality it started as an ethnic conflict… There is no reason Muslims and Christians should fight purely on religious grounds.”
The archbishop shared Mbengue’s sentiment. “Are these religion incompatible? They shouldn’t be,” he said. “Unfortunately we engage in bitter conflict… and in the end we are losers.”
Archbishop Kaigama pointed out that there are regional differences in the conflict. Catholics are treated differently in southern Nigeria than they are in the north.
“(In the south) in every household you see Christians and Muslims coexisting peacefully… But in the north, where I come from, if you dare to convert your life is in danger.”
The event went from 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening, the question and answer section taking up most of that time.
Many of the people who asked questions expressed their gratitude for the archbishop coming to DePaul to speak and referred to him as “your excellency.”
The panel concluded with each panelists ideas for practical steps and both shared and continued their messages of peace. We “need to reach out and understand the other,” Dr. Mbengue said. He continued to say when we “treat each other the way you want to be treated… You create the conditions for peace.”
