25-Year Christian-Muslim Dialogue Garners Praise

By Ethan Cole, Christian Post Reporter Friday, August 31, 2007

African religious leaders praised the more than 25 years of dialogue between the Vatican and Muslim-dominated Libya during an interfaith meeting held in the Libyan capital of Tripoli this week.

Leaders from across the continent from seven major religions in Africa – Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Baha'i, Judaism, and African Traditional Religion – gathered Aug. 27-30 for the Interfaith Action for Peace in Africa meeting.

During the meeting, religious leaders held up the little known but long-standing Vatican-Libya dialogue as a model of good relations between Christianity and Islam.

"Given the global situation between Christians and Muslims which is understood to be very tense because of what happened on Sept. 11 [2001], I think this is a very good contribution," said the Rev. Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation to Ecumenical News International. Noko was the convener of the African interfaith meeting.

The population in the former Italian colony is 97 percent Sunni Muslim with a small Roman Catholic community, according to the CIA World Factbook.

The chairperson of the Muslim Councils for East, Central and Southern Africa, the Sheikh Saleh Habimana, said representatives from the Catholic Church and Tripoli hold discussions every year to build bridges across the two faiths.

"We meet yearly," said Habimana, who is also the Mufti of Rwanda, according to ENI. "One year in Tripoli and the other at the Vatican. We have been discussing how we can work together in areas of common interest, such as refugees and education."

Vatican and Libyan representatives are discussing the issue of Muslim students being taught in Christian schools.

"As you know most schools in Africa belong to churches and to some extent to Muslims," Habimana said. "We have been discussing the sensitivities in acquiring education in such schools."

The Rev. Maloba Wesoga, the administrative secretary of Nairobi's Catholic diocese, praised the dialogue as an "indispensable initiative" to promote unity in diversity.

Although in theory, Libya is governed by the people, its government has been criticized as an authoritarian state. Only two churches were allowed to remain open after the 1969 revolution brought Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi to power. However, one of the churches was confiscated a few years later.

In 1976, the Holy See organized an Islam-Christian congress held in Tripoli, which has since led to the annual dialogue.

The Interfaith Action for Peace in Africa meeting was organized by the Union of Muslim Councils for East, Central and Southern Africa.