By Rev. Fr. Vincent Karatunga

In his comments during the National Prayer Breakfast, on October 8, 2023, on the eve of the 61^st Independence anniversary, His Excellency the President, made critical observations on the urgent need for collaboration among religious groups in Uganda.

He advised that insisting on identity as has always been the case, is to be part of the problem of Uganda’s backwardness while promoting interests is part of the solution on Uganda’s journey towards socio-economic transformation.

Interests consolidate unity and benefits all while identity is exclusive and alienates groups one against the other.

While the President highlighted the importance of Ecumenical engagement, he was actually talking about interreligious dialogue as is the case in the context of Interreligious Council of Uganda.

While Ecumenism is limited only to those who subscribe to Jesus and the bible, like it is in the case of the Uganda Joint Christian Council, UJCC, interreligious dialogue is broader and brings every faith group in board, thus the President’s wise advice to be more inclusive when preparing national events like the National Prayer Breakfast. It involves other religions outside the Christian realm and have the golden rule of “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” underlined by the President in his address.  

As a scholar and promoter of interreligious dialogue for sustainable peace and harmonious co-existence, I would like to underline some of the observations hinted on by the President.

In his comment, His Excellency castigated the politics of identity and emphasised the politics of interest, rightly so. As history has it, religions in Uganda are vulnerable to falling into the latter and, therefore, undermine their primary responsibility of being agents of unity and love.  

 The President appreciated the role of the Interreligious Council of Uganda in spearheading the seemingly existing Unity between and among religions in the country and as a forum for engagement. While this looks a positive aspect of the Council, there is still some homework to be done in as far as promoting genuine collaboration through interreligious dialogue.

 While the concept of “Interreligious Dialogue” is easy to appreciate, it can be very complex and challenging to embrace and yet we cannot dream of building national unity among religious groups in the country without it. Far from converting others, interreligious dialogue aims at listening to the faith perspective of the other in order to understand them.

The outcome of this listening is to promote respect and mutual understanding. Actually, interreligious dialogue refers to the ability and interest to listen to the faith perspective of the “Other” in order to appreciate and respect his/her belief system and values, convinced that God communicates to humanity in their own faith, and religion is a means of this faith.

It is those who listen with an open heart that are enriched by the faith perspective of those different from their own and in the long run, enrich the “Other” too. Diversity in terms of religion, therefore, is not something to be afraid of but rather, an opportunity to listen to God who communicates to His people.

The Catholic Church highlights four forms of dialogue: Dialogue of Life, Dialogue of Action, Dialogue of Religious Experience and Dialogue of Theological Exchange. In one way or the other, we are all involved in one of the four forms. Because of time and space, I cannot delve into all of them.

Simply to explain the first common two; Dialogue of Life refers the day-to-day sharing of the joys and sorrows of life regardless of the religious affiliation. Dialogue of Action is about coming together to make a contribution to a common cause affecting humanity in a given context.

 In his concluding remarks, the President stressed the importance of “Unity in Diversity”. In support of the President’s remarks, Cardinal Miguel Ayuso advises that we should “stop using religions to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism, and refrain from using the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism and oppression. God did not create men and women to be killed or to fight one another, nor to be tortured or humiliated in their lives and circumstances, God “does not want His name to be used to terrorize people.”

The President further stressed the importance of the New Commandment, commonly known as the Golden Rule; “Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul; and love your neighbour as you love yourself” (Mk.12:30-31). This is the treasure of all genuine religions of the world. It is supposed to be engrained in the human conscience. It is on this imperative upon which interreligious dialogue as a concept is founded. Emphasising the importance of this great commandment Pope Francis guides us thus;

“There is no alternative: either we will build the future together or there will be no future. Religions in particular cannot renounce the urgent task of building bridges between peoples and cultures. The time has come when religions should more actively exert themselves, with courage and audacity, and without pretense, to help the human family deepen the capacity for reconciliation, the vision of hope and the concrete paths of peace.” This put into perspective of The Interreligious Council of Uganda, interreligious dialogue as a critical component of sustainable peace and social transformation of Uganda, is something that cannot be underestimated in all its forms.

In the context of globalisation where individuals and communities have been disempowered and left with no option about who one’s neighbour can be, the only way to survive is to learn to live larger than our own small world-view thus accepting them as they are, with their religions and cultures.

Thinking that it is my own religion, my own culture that matters, is being naïve and a liability the social transformation process of our country and the world as a global village at large.

As individuals are on the move, religions and cultures are constantly interacting with each other.  Survival depends a lot on how open we are to receive and accept the others as they are and be able to learn from one another. Exclusivism has no place in the modern society.

Respect and tolerance with each other are the only sure deal to build a peaceful and secure environment for all of us. “In view of a pluralistic world and a globalised society, there cannot be reconciliation between East and West, between north and south unless we begin from a common point: the condemnation and rejection of any kind of violence or war as a solution to differences” (Cardinal Miguel Ayuso).

In conclusion, about the critical role of the Interreligious Council of Uganda, while it has done great in bringing and assembling the senior religious leaders together at functions like that one of the National Prayer Breakfast, it is equally important to think of reaching out to the local person at the grassroots. It is only through Interreligious Dialogue that communities are mobilised and transformed. 

Interreligious dialogue is an art which transforms the mindset, imparts knowledge and skills, enhances respect for others, and develops the art of listening to understand the faith perspective of others. This way, peaceful and harmonious co-existence of societies are consolidated.

In all these, the values of unity in diversity, such as tolerance which later develops into acceptance, respect and appreciation of differences, are engrained into the conscience of society.

Differences cease to be a liability to human growth and development and become assets for cohesion and social transformation for humanity. Given its critical role in galvanising society, therefore, interreligious dialogue ceases to be an option, but becomes an imperative for all of us.

In the words of Prof. John Hick (2005),

 “Why does all this matter! Does it really matter! Well, yes it does matter a very great deal. We live as part of the world community that is at war with itself. In many places men, women and even children are killing and are being killed in conflicts that are both validated and emotionally intensified by religion. This is possible because each religion has traditionally made its own absolute claims to be the one only true faith. Absolutes can justify anything. Today, to insist on the unique superiority of our own faith is to be part of the problem. How can there be peace between rival absolutes...there will be no real peace among the world religions so long as each thinks of itself as uniquely superior to all others. Dialogue between the faiths must continue on an increasing scale but the only stable and enduring basis for peace will come about when dialogue leads to a mutual acceptance of world the religions as different but with equally valid relationship to the ultimate reality.”

The writer is Rev. Fr. Vincent Karatunga

Executive Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue at

Uganda Episcopal Conference,

Catholic Secretariat

Nsambya, Kampala.

Email: karatunga.ird@yahoo.com