Tambacounda, 15 October, 2022 / 5:49 pm (ACI Africa).
Religious leaders from different faith groups in Senegal have maintained a commitment to live in harmony with each other, a Catholic Bishop in the West African nation has said, adding that Muslim leaders in particular have expressed a commitment to resist the influence of extremism that is reining in the country’s neighbors.
In an interview with the information service of Propaganda Fide, Agenzia Fides, Bishop Paul Abel Mamba of Tambacounda Diocese in Senegal underlines the importance of daily relations to enable people of different faiths to live together peacefully.
“Senegal is a country with a strong Islamic majority,” Bishop Mamba says in the Wednesday, October 12 Agenzia Fides report.
He adds, “We strive to promote the spirit of dialogue in daily life, which we share with our brothers of the Islamic faith. It is not uncommon to see families in which different faiths coexist; members who adhere to the traditional faith alongside Muslims and Christians. In this context, we not only share daily life, but also celebrate holidays together and mourn together.”
The Senegalese Catholic Bishop told Agenzia Fides that Muslim leaders work with the state to maintain cohesion between the various Islamic brotherhoods and “prevent them from being influenced by extreme tendencies outside Senegal that could lead to divisions or violence.”