Sheikh Rashid Omar, left, and Cardinal John Onaiyekan at the religious leaders’ peace and security conference in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 23, 2018. (RNS photo by Fredrick Nzwili)
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) – As violence-torn Africa grows weary of solutions that haven’t worked, Nigerian Cardinal John Onaiyekan is proposing a controversial alternative: Negotiate with terrorists.
Onaiyekan, the archbishop of Abuja, has been backing talks with Boko Haram, the violent Islamist militant group operating in the northern parts of the country. Negotiating with terrorists is vehemently opposed by governments in Africa and around the world due to concerns that concessions could inspire more attacks.
Speaking at a recent Nairobi conference of religious leaders from Africa, Europe and Asia, Onaiyekan insisted interfaith dialogue is key to ending the deadly conflicts — even if it means sitting down with ruthless killers.
“My position is no matter how extremist a person is, there must be somebody who can talk to them and others,” Onaiyekan said. “Then eventually talking will start taking place. That will be an easier way of handling grievances than guns.”
Governments in the region have responded militarily to terror threats, but Onaiyekan said it’s time for a new approach.
“Let us admit that nobody does anything for nothing,” he said, “and there ought to be a forum where people can … explain why.”
On this episode of “Preach” for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C, Amirah Orozco joins host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to offer a woman’s perspective on the adulterous woman that draws insight from liberation theologies.
The altercation capped a month-long saga surrounding the Satanic group’s “black mass,” which founder Michael Stewart had sought to perform in the Capitol so that “God will fall and Kansas will be embraced by the black flame of Lucifer.”
Francis' willingness to be seen in all his infirmity serves as an example to young and old alike that fragility is part of the human condition—and should be embraced.
