“Here in Nigeria, Christians are being massacred”
These are therefore indeed organized massacres.
Yes, just since the start of the year, around 7,000 Christians have been killed (a figure corroborated by the NGO Intersociety, editor’s note), not to mention the many families who fled, losing their ancestral lands and property. The psychological damage is immense, not to mention the trauma linked to rape and other torture.
You are yourself a theologian specializing in Islamology.
How do you view the Muslims with whom you live on a daily basis?
Here, Muslims are Sunni, but also Shiite, without forgetting the presence of several Sufi brotherhoods. In fact, behind their apparent unity, there are as many divisions in Islam as among Christians. So they do not all pray together. And on television channels, we can see virulent insults uttered between imams.
You are a teacher and train catechists and future Catholic priests. What advice do you give them?
I invite them first to understand the values and virtues of dialogue, which is the only path to peaceful coexistence. But many of them are shocked by the ongoing violence in their region of origin, creating a lot of incomprehension. I try to remind them that this dialogue, from a Christian perspective, is not naive. It is an act of hope and faith. A courageous act, which aims to remind everyone of the need for mutual respect.
You are going to France when we commemorate the attacks of November 13, 2015…
I don’t have a good understanding of this drama. In France as in Nigeria, the urgency is to train peacemakers. Because peace, civil harmony, is built patiently. The survival of the democratic model is also at stake.
The Catholic Church also remembers the text Nostra aetate which, sixty years ago, opened the doors to ecumenical and interreligious encounter.
How do you see this anniversary?
This text is decisive and prophetic. While globalization makes our societies “large global villages”, it is an invitation to lucidity and active commitment to dialogue. With the encyclical Fratelli tutti (2020) , Pope Francis has even extended this attention to all the other creatures around us. This is not a utopia in the face of violent and self-confident movements. It’s about making things possible in the name of the Gospel.
