Browsing by Author "Jaime, Alvarez"

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    When Islam And Christianity Meet A Case Study: Sololo
    (Tangaza University College, 2003) Jaime, Alvarez
    In the year 2001, 1, together with a confrere of mine, spent two months in Marsabit, where we joined the religious community of the parish in their evangelising and pastoral work. One day before our departure, we went to bid farewell to some families that had been especially close to us during our stay. A mother of one of those families looked really sad. She pleaded with us to come back in the following words, "We really need people to encourage us to stand firm on our Christian faith. These days some Christians are giving in to external pressure and are becoming Muslims." On my way back to Nairobi, these woman's words kept on echoing in my mind. Sonic questions started, little by little, arising and made me take her request seriously. Flow can we, missionaries, strengthen the faith of the Christians when they constitute a minority amidst a successful and attractive Muslim majority? How can we, at the same time, promote dialogue and collaboration between Christians and Muslims? What makes Islam be so appealing in this area and how does the success of Islam in the region challenge the local church of Marsabit? These and other questions helped me realise the importance of this matter and I decided to use the writing of this Long Essay, required by Tangaza College, as an opportunity to deepen my understanding of this issue. Consequently, the local church of Marsabit has always been in my mind and heart in the course of the elaboration of this work and it is to her that I dedicate the fruit of my effort. As soon as I presented the theme of the essay to my moderator, he urged me to follow the "Pastoral Circle" in my undertaking. "There are four major "moments" that constitute the Pastoral Circle: Insertion, Social Analysis, Theological Reflection and Pastoral Planning for action." Thus, these have been the four steps that I have taken in the elaboration of this Long Essay on Muslim-Christian dialogue. Insertion. I spent one month (July 2002) in Sololo, a small town of the diocese of Marsabit, characterised by the predominance of Islam. Sololo became, therefore, the centre and focus of my study. There, besides joining the religious community of the parish in their pastoral work, I interviewed thirty persons,2 mainly Christians, on the issue of Muslim-Christian coexistence. Social Analysis. My personal experience in Sololo, the interviews I made and an extensive library research (carried out, especially, in the Kenya National Archives), have been the tools I have used in the working-out of the social analysis of Sololo and its religious plurality. This social analysis is particularly characterised by a historical approach. Theological Reflection. I have tried to show how Christian faith is linked to dialogue in the concrete context of Sololo. In this reflection I have based myself on the culture of the people of Sololo, the Word of God and the recent Catholic teaching on interreligious dialogue. Pastoral Planning for action. Finally, I have drawn up some pastoral suggestions, both at parish and diocesan level, which, I believe, are important in order to improve dialogue and collaboration between Christians and Muslims in the area. This process was concluded with the final writing of this essay, which consists of three chapters. The first one describes the geography, people and social challenges of Sololo. The second one presents the history of both Islam and Christianity in Sololo. And the last one deals with the current situation of Christian-Muslim coexistence in Sololo and proposes some pastoral guidelines based on the certainty that every Christian is called to be a minister of dialogue and collaboration. It is important to mention that this work has been done from a Christian and Catholic perspective. Nevertheless, I have tried, as much as possible, to take into account Protestant and Muslim positions on different matters. I would like to finish this introduction by recognising that I have only been one month in Sololo and three months, all together, in the diocese of Marsabit. Thus, despite exhaustive research, my knowledge of Sololo and its context is still limited. It is the task of church leaders and other Christians of Sololo and, generally, of the diocese of Marsabit, to confimi, purify and apply whatever helpful is found in this work.