STATUTES FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE COMMITTEE

DEPARTMENT OF MISSION AND DIALOGUE

CATHOLIC SECRETARIAT OF NIGERIA

STATUTES FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE COMMITTEE

Preamble

The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) is the administrative organ of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). The CSN has four departments of Church and Society; Pastoral Agents; Pastoral Affairs; Mission and Dialogue and a directorate of Social Communications. The department of mission and dialogue coordinates and facilitates activities of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in the areas of Mission, Ecumenism and Inter-religious Dialogue. The Inter-religious Dialogue Committee (IRDC) is in touch with world bodies and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID). IRDC has an Episcopal Chairman and a secretary who reports to the director of the department of Mission and Dialogue who works closely with the Secretary General of the CSN and the Episcopal Chairman of IRDC.

Article 1:        Name

1.1       The Episcopal Committee for Inter-religious dialogue (IRD) is a unit in the Department of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN).

Article 2:        Purpose

2.1  The Episcopal Committee for Inter-religious dialogue (IRD) coordinates and facilitates the activities of the CBCN with people of other religions (non Christians).  The committee animates the entire people of God about the teaching of the Church on dialogue through formation and information. This is to provide capacity  to the faithful in Nigeria to meaningfully engage in various forms of dialogue with people of other religions to promote peace, harmony and wellbeing of the country. 

2.2  The Mission Committee serves as an advisory organ to the CBCN on all matters specifically   relating to inter-religious dialogue in Nigeria and other countries. In union with the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious dialogue (PCID) and collaboration with Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA-CERAO); the committee strives to implement the Church’s teachings and directives on issues concerning IRD. The Committee of Mission work closely with the dialogue committee because of the close relationship between Dialogue and Proclamation (DP). These committees see to it that the relationship with other Churches is not neglected in Ecumenical dialogue and so are very involve in the Inter-faith directorate of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The aim is to promote Christian unity and religious peaceful co-existence which is a credible sign of Christ’s presence in the world.

2.3  The Committee of Mission liaises with all agencies within and outside the country that are specifically committed to the promotion of IRD. Consequently, dialogue is a key subject in missionary orientation programmes.

Article 3:        Authority:

3.1.The Department of Mission and Dialogue is headed by a Bishop Chairman appointed / elected by the CBCN.

3.2.The Committee for Inter-religious dialogue, which is a unit of the Department of Mission and Dialogue, is headed by a Bishop Chairman also appointed / elected by the CBCN.

3.3.The day to day running of the general affairs of the Mission and Dialogue Department within the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) is the responsibility of the Director of Mission and Dialogue.

3.4.The IRD secretary serves as the secretary for the Committee for IRD of the   Department of Mission and Dialogue of the CSN and works closely with the Episcopal Chairman in the running of the committee.

3.5.The IRD secretary represents the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) and coordinates the collaboration between the Episcopal committee of IRD and other institutions charged with the responsibility of dialogue within and outside the country.

3.6.The IRD secretary prepares the report of the dialogue activities for consideration in the departmental meeting before reporting to the  administrative board and the plenary of the  CBCN for approval

Article 4:        Members

The Committee of IRD shall be comprised of the following:

4.1  The Episcopal Chairman for IRD and the Bishop Advisors.

4.2  The Director of Mission and Dialogue Dept. of the CSN

4.3  The IRD secretary of the Department of Mission and Dialogue who serves as the secretary to the Committee.

4.5.Two Experts of Inter-religious dialogue (clerics, religious or lay – preferably one on Islam and one expert of ATR).

4.6.The members of the steering committee of the Think-tank which would normally have representatives

Article 5          Collaboration

The Episcopal Committee for IRD works closely with the following:

5.1.The other units of the Department of Mission and Dialogue (Mission and Ecumenism) and other related departments of the CSN (e.g. Church and Society, Directorate of Communication and Pastoral Agents).

5.2.The Diocesan Directors of IRD all over the country.

5.3.The Institutes of Consecrated Life (Male and Female) and Lay Organizations within the Nigerian Church.

5.4.Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC)

5.5.The Pontifical Council for Inter-religious dialogue (PCID).

5.6.Culture, Inter-religious Dialogue (Islam and Traditional African Religions) and Ecumenism Commission of RECOWA-CERAO.

5.7.Other organizations and institutions that promote IRD within and outside Nigeria (e.g UFUK dialogue foundation)

Article 6:        Meetings

6.1       The Committee holds two statutory meetings annually. Other meetings may be convened by the Episcopal Chairman of dialogue if the need arises.

Article 7:        NATIONAL THINK –TANK FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

7.1.      Definition:      The National Think-tank for IRD is set up by the CBCN as an advisory or operative arm of the Episcopal committee on IRD in the country. It is an action oriented Think Tank. Hence, it assists by proposing actions to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) to carry out solid, well-thought out principles of interacting with other believers, to build bridges, to cooperate in the promotion of good, and to cultivate the culture of respect for other people’s religions.

Article 8:        Members of the National Think-Tank

8.1.            The Following forms the National Think-Tank on IRD:

·         The Chairman of the CBCN Committee for IRD.

·         The Director of Mission and Dialogue department of the CSN.

·         The secretary of IRD and other unit secretaries of the dept. of Mission and Dialogue.

·         Provincial coordinators of IRD.

·         Representative of NCWR

·         Representative of CAMWODIF

·         Representative of the youths

·         Representative of CMO

·         Representative of the laity council

·         Representative of NCMR

·         Experts: one on Islamic studies, one in ATR

·         Catholic members of NIREC

Article 9:        General Purpose of the National Think-tank for IRD:

The Think Tank will network with other relevant bodies and will draw on the advice and insights of Catholics who are experts in the theory and practice of Inter-religious relations particularly here in Nigeria. Through sharing their research, information and suggestions these experts will help to draw up concrete and solid action plans. These action plans will be implemented through the various bodies which are represented in the National think-tank. Consequently the purpose of the Think Thank shall be:

9.1  Dissemination of the teachings of the Catholic Church on matters of IRD.

9.2  Formation of Catholics at all levels on the Church’s principles of IRD.

9.3  Monitoring and identifying potential hot spots for brewing religious intolerance and violence.

9.4  Preventing and managing Conflict.

9.5  Supporting people that are marginalized because of their religious identity through Advocacy and capacity building.

9.6  Advising and empowering for the provision of legal protection for those suffering from religiously motivated violence.

9.7  Investigating and reporting on religious tension

9.8  Working out strategies for collaboration in the support of human dignity and for the freedom of religion.

Article 10: Structure of the National think-tank on IRD

10.1     Steering Committee

The steering Committee will be having two statutory meetings annually or as the need arises. The members shall be: 

• Episcopal Chairman for IRD
• Director of Mission and Dialogue.
• Secretary for IRD in the dept. Of Mission and Dialogue and other unit secretaries.
• Representative of the Provincial coordinators of IRD.
• 2 lay persons chosen from any of the represented groups
• 2 experts on IRD.

10.2     Other committees may be put in place as the need arises.

10.3                 The National Think-tank on IRD holds three statutory meetings annually or as the need may arise. However, all the members of the think-tank must implement the decisions of the think-tank with the bodies they represent and also carry out the assignments allotted to them by the body.                                                                                                                   

   Article 11:   Provincial Think-Tank for IRD:

  Definition:    The Provincial Think-tank is a step down of the National Think-tank on IRD in the Ecclesiastical Provinces in the country. It performs the functions of the National Think-tank at the Provincial levels and reports to the Provincial Bishops Department of Mission and Dialogue and the National think-tank on IRD.

Article 13:                  Structure of the Provincial Think-tank of IRD

The structure and functions are as follows:

11.1     The Coordinator is appointed by the National think-tank of IRD and the Director of Mission and Dialogue in consultation with the Metropolitan Bishops.

11.2     The Provincial think-tank receives its mandate from the National think-tank for IRD through the Director of Mission and Dialogue of the CSN.

11.3The Provincial think-tank is responsible for coordinating IRD activities together with the Diocesan IRD Directors and other stakeholders in the province.

11.4The Provincial Coordinator convenes two statutory meetings or as may be necessary

Article 12:      Members of the Provincial Think-tank on IRD

• Provincial Coordinator of IRD appointed by the Director of Mission and Dialogue in consultation with the bishops of the Province.
• Diocesan Directors of IRD
• Representative of CWO
• Representative of CMO
• Representative of NCWR
• Representative of Male religious
• Representative of Youth
• Representative of laity Council

Article 13        General Purpose of Provincial Think-tank on IRD:

13.1  Facilitate information flow between the province, the Dept. of Mission and Dialogue and    the National think-tank on matters of IRD.

13.2  Formation of Catholics at all levels on the Church’s principles of IRD.

13.3  Monitoring and identifying potential hot spots for brewing religious intolerance and violence.

13.4  Preventing and managing Conflict.

13.5  Supporting people that are marginalized because of their religious identity through Advocacy and capacity building.

13.6  Advising and empowering for the provision of legal protection for those suffering from religiously motivated violence.

13.7  Investigating and reporting on religious tension

13.8  Working out strategies for collaboration in the support of human dignity and for the freedom of religion.

Article 14:            Diocesan Think-tank on IRD:

16.1     The Diocesan Think-tank on IRD is a step down of the Provincial Think-tank on IRD in all the ecclesiastical jurisdictions all over the country. It performs the functions of the National/Provincial think-tank at the diocesan levels and reports to the local ordinary and the National think-tank through its provincial representatives at the National think-tank. 

Article 17        Members of the Diocesan think-tank on IRD

• The Diocesan Director of IRD
• Representative of Institutes of Consecrated Life (one male and one female - appointed by their local Conferences/Superiors).
• Youth (one male and one female)
• Lay Persons (one male and one female)
• Lay Institute = 1
• I Knight of St. John and I Knight of St. Mulumba
• 2 Representatives of Catechists and School of Evangelization (if any)
• Diocesan Clergy Association = 1

Article 18        The Function of the Diocesan Think-tank on IRD:

18.1     Dissemination of the teachings of the Catholic Church on matters of IRD.

18.2Formation of Catholics at all levels on the Church’s principles of IRD.

18.3Establish good relationships with the leaders/adherents of other faiths in the diocese.

18.4Monitoring and identifying potential hot spots for brewing religious intolerance and violence.

18.5Preventing and managing Conflict.

18.6Engaging other religions in the area in on-going dialogue: dialogue of life, social-engagements, theological exchange etc.

18.7Supporting people that are marginalized because of their religious identity through Advocacy and capacity building.

18.8Advising and empowering for the provision of legal protection for those suffering from religiously motivated violence.

18.9Investigating and reporting on religious tension

18.10      Working out strategies for collaboration in the support of human dignity and for the freedom of religion.

Article 19:      Diocesan Director of IRD:

19.1     The diocesan directors of IRD is appointed by the diocesan bishop to represent him in facilitating all matters relating to Inter-religious Dialogue in the diocese. The mandate of the diocesan director of IRD is determined by the local bishop, but it is advised that it should not be less than three (3) years.

19.2 Functions of the Diocesan Director of IRD

The diocesan director shall:

·         Coordinate the activities of IRD in the diocese

·         Participate actively in the Provincial Think Tank

·         Identify those who are interested in dialogue in the diocese and work with them

·         Encourage the parishes to put in place dialogue committees

·          Give quarterly reports to the department of Mission and Dialogue

·         Represent the diocesan bishops in dialogue activities of the diocese.

TIME TO RE-WRITE OUR STORY

TIME TO RE-WRITE OUR STORY  

Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

The media is actually becoming a stage for inter-religious dialogue. Recently, I received a comment on my article, “Bad Christians and Bad Muslims” from Nuhu and Fatihullah. My response generated the theme of the reflection which I hereby present as a call to re-write our story by the way we express our faith in our actions.  

Nuhu: You should know that the wikiIslam, which you referred to in your write up is a website administered by non-Muslims, chiefly to dent the image of Islam. You should know that Muslims have many enemies. How can you gain any true knowledge of Islam from wilkiIslam.com? I wonder! Can you take your lesson of Christian knowledge from Jews who insult the Virgin Mary, calling her unprintable names and spitting on Christians?

Cornelius: Thanks a lot for your observation. We need to work together to correct the wrong views of the terrorists and bad people who are abusing our religions. I write so that the real Islamic and Christian scholars can give a counter narrative to what bad Christians and bad Muslims are doing. Kindly give me the websites of the orthodox Muslims. Finally, note that the presentation is not what true Islam is but how bad Muslims present Islam. 

Nuhu: Thank you very much for your kindness. I am happy you understand that wikiIslam is not Islam. If you look at the website you will see that just anyone can contribute to their own contents. It is like the website of wikipedia for example. Any one can contribute. And that is why wikipedia is not a proper academic material. You can’t cite it in your thesis for example. As for authentic websites, these are some: Islamiconlineuniversity.com, Muslimmatters.org, Suhaibwebb.com, Islamweb.net, Bilalphilips.com and en.islamtoday.net.

 

Cornelius: My brother, you are able to identify these “fake scholars” because of your spiritual and academic awareness. I went to the United Kingdom (UK) with some Nigerian Muslims for two weeks training and workshop. At a point, I said to myself, this Muslims are from the North and here we are in UK living like real brothers and sisters. They were determined to take the risk in giving a counter narrative. I have encountered many wonderful Muslims in life. It was a mallam from Kaduna who taught me how to pray in Arabic. The point is that the good Muslims and the good Christians must continue to wage intellectual war against the enemies of our respective religions. The actions of some Christians and Muslims contradict the true teaching of our religions. I invite you to confront the erroneous ideas of the terrorists. 

Nuhu: Sir, honestly I understand your predicament. You are confused yourself about the peaceful nature of Islam. But you still summoned the courage to stand by peace and reconciliation. I admire your stance. You are on the right path for indeed Islam is not the same as Muslims of today. In Islam (like in Christianity), only the Scholar can interpret the Quran, the Hadith, or the matters of Islamic Law in general. And our Scholars have been murdered by terrorists here in Nigeria. I’m sure you are aware. And they are still being hunted. There is no single scholar who has endorsed Boko Haram or Alqaeda or other terrorists. You mentioned Sheikh Yusuf Uyayri. Well, he’s no Sheikh or Scholar. He left for Afghanistan while a teenager and he has been fighting since then. Which school did he attend? Maybe he is a scholar to the terrorists the same way Boko Haram looks up to Shekau as a Scholar. None of them is a scholar if you dig deep enough. However, Nawawi is a Scholar. I don’t know how his statements were taken out of context. Without doubt, there is Jihad in Islam; but I will explain to you what I gather from our scholars.

The jihad of warfare can only be done under a government. Groups cannot conduct jihad. And it can either be defensive or offensive. Defensive Jihad is when a Muslim country is attacked, repelling the attack under a properly constituted government.  If the defence is not under a proper government, it’s not even called jihad. Offensive jihad is carried out by a government to attack a non-Muslim country if the world is in such a situation where conventionally, a nation will attack another, where it is the norm of the time. And if such nation to be attacked accepts Islam, or refuses to accept Islam but signs a peace treaty and agrees to pay a tax (Jizya), they are left alone with their religion. Therefore all those texts praising the Mujahideen are only and strictly in the light of the above. But you know the terrorists are ignorant bunch.

Cornelius: This is beautiful! Do I have your permission to use your input by citing you in my publications? I take cognisance of the comments of my readers in the print media before I post articles in my blog (www.omonokhua.blogspot.com) and the book I hope to publish very soon. I don’t want to publish in my book any article that has not received comments, criticism and correction from the public. My position is to preach and promote peace. But I am aware of my limitations in the field of Islam hence I rely much on my friends especially the Muslim scholars in the academia. My brother, we shall overcome by the grace of Almighty God!

Nuhu: It will be an honour to cite my little contribution in your book sir. You have my consent. And my full name is Barrister Mubarak Nuhu. When the book is published, I hope it will be available for us here in Kano. I suggest you talk to Zamani Bookshop. It is the most popular bookshop here.  Keep the good work sir. But I think you have to expose wikiIslam in your column. Many Christians will read it and will visit the site without knowing the real Islam expecting that the slanders and scandals are saying the truth about Muslims. This will only make Christians hate Muslims and the cycle continues. No matter what the extremists on both sides say or do, the future of a peaceful world lies in the hands of the ‘moderates’ on both sides.

More thoughts on your other article: “Is this the creed of the terrorists”? Like you noted, dialogue with, or educating the terrorists should go along side the military efforts. Educating them will work wonders, I tell you. Saudi Arabia has de-radicalised very many of them through education. I have an example of a very famous Sheikh of our time, Salman Awdah. When he was only a student, he was imprisoned many times by Saudi Government for openly supporting violence. Osama bin Laden used to quote Salman Awdah to justify himself in some issues. Now Salman Awdah has been rehabilitated, he is now a scholar and completely de-radicalised because of “deeper understanding of Islam” as he himself said. You can see his profile online and he has the website “en.islamtoday.net”.

Fatihullah: Dear Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua (Father), I am so happy to have the opportunity of reading your article: “Bad Christians and Bad Muslims” in Benin. I really appreciate your understanding of the exact situation in the country and in the world at large. I would like to corroborate your topic that Nigeria would have been greater and more peaceful than the current state if all the so called “believers” in Christianity and Islam actually follow the principles and teachings enjoined by the two holy books.  Nigeria is one of the countries that have the largest population of Christians and Muslims in the world and the same happens to have so many bad titles. Just to mention a few:  “One of the most corrupt nation in the world” and “One of the poorest nation in the world”. With all the natural resources endowed by God, “Diseases stricken nation (AIDS, Polio, Malaria, Cancer, Hypertension/Stroke, Hepatitis, etc) “Poor Security services on life and property”.

The truth of the current situation in the world at large and especially in Nigeria is that we have more Hypocrites in Islam and Christian than the believers in the two faiths. The Hypocrites carry out their evil self-desires daily and try to support them with Biblical or Quranic verses and when there is no way out they say it is the devil. A woman was caught in Lagos last week for kidnapping two (2) kids for ritual and on interrogation she confessed that it was her pastor that instructed her to get two kids to cleans her of spiritual problems. According to the media, on getting to the church more shocking revelation was discovered in the premise of the church. Anybody who understands Christianity very well will surely not blame the action of the women and her pastor on Christianity or the Bible. But where the issue is one sided in Nigeria is that if such situation involved some of these hypocrites that so much hate Islam (Islamophobias), they will use every media in their disposal to paint Islam black. The message of Islam is very clear and well detailed. 

The responses you got from some people claiming to have obtained information on some topics such as 'rape in Islam, ordered killing, deception of non-Muslims' from a website “Wikiislam” is nothing but the action of the enemy of God (Islamophobias). The text quoted on that site does not represent the content of the Quran which is the most authentic source of Islam. It is a deliberate attempt to paint Islam black. Why would anyone claim Islam support rape when the same verse deliberately misquoted by them clearly warns believers against committing fornication (Illegal Sexual Intercourse)? Why would a website that claims to be a source of information on Islam be open to edit and at the same time state in their policies and guidelines that pro-Islamic content are not accepted?

Indonesia is the country with largest population of Muslim where they practice Shariah as well as respect the right of other faiths and you hardly find any of the Scandals present in Nigeria there because they have more sincere believers. Therefore, the digression on the topic between the Bad Christians and Bad Muslims by these hypocrites that exist under many faiths, societies is uncalled for because if Nigerian Christians and Muslims can actually make simultaneous effort on educating these enemies of progress, they could change from their evil ways. Nigeria will progress to a greater height and be more peaceful. I will be glad to render any further clarification when needed.

Cornelius: In brief, this conversation reveals the need for Christians to close ranks with Muslims like Nuhu Mubarak and Fatihullah Pada who share the same desire of people of all faiths for a peaceful Nigeria. Sincere Muslims and Christians can do a thorough self criticism to re-write the good story that bad adherents have dented with their words and actions.  

Fr. Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja and Consultor of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims (C.R.R.M), Vatican City