By Ruben Mario Brodrick
Last week, the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) hosted a landmark event in honour of the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the historic declaration that reshaped the Catholic Church’s relationship with people of other religions.
Organised by the Mission and Dialogue Department of the CSN, with Fr. Lawrence Emehel as director, and joined by Caritas Nigeria along with our partners from Ufuk Dialogue and the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), we came together, Christians and Muslims alike, to celebrate the values of dialogue and mutual respect.
The event was a reaffirmation of a shared truth: that beyond our creeds and cultures, we are one human family, created by God and called to live in harmony. Nostra Aetate invites us to see the other not as a stranger or adversary, but as a fellow pilgrim in search of meaning and peace. In today’s world, this message is more urgent than ever.
Let us choose understanding over suspicion, friendship over fear. Let us honour the dignity of every human person. Let us work together for a Nigeria and a world where people of all faiths live side by side in peace.
Religion should never divide us. It should lead us to love. Yes, we are different, but not divided. There is only one humanity.
Source: Fr Michael Banjo
