“Ecumenism in Historical Tracks: Towards a Hopeful Account of Anglican-Roman Catholic Relations in Nigeria”

Okpaleke, Ikenna Paschal
(2022) Quid Retribuam Domino: Festschrift in Honour of the 70th Birthday Anniversary of Bishop Donatus Edet Akpan — ISBN: [978-978-989-663-9], p. 221-240, published

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In reconstructing a historical account of the relationship between the Anglicans and Roman Catholics starting from the time of the missionary expedition, I shall focus greater attention on southern Nigeria, particularly the area designated as the lower Niger, that comprises of the present day South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria where the missionary activities of Anglicans and Roman Catholics gained wider acceptance. I acknowledge that there were other missionary groups that thrived in southern Nigeria, yet the dominance of the Anglicans and Roman Catholics remain incontestable. Such dominance equally implies some level of contacts or interactions, some of which were either positive or negative, cordial or antagonistic. In reviewing this relationship up from the mission fields to contemporary ecumenical dialogue, I shall examine the historical account of the interaction between both churches under the following sub-sets: a) initial hospitality, b) vociferous rivalry, c) difficulties in mutual learning, d) the impact of the Nigeria-Biafra war, and e) contemporary dialogical engagement. From a historical perspective, these sub-sets follow chronologically and therefore reveal, in a way, the transformation that may have occurred in the communal identities of both Anglicans and Roman Catholics. One might argue that the transformations are historically induced, yet the fact that they led to dialogue could become a locus to argue that dialogue stands in the middle of transformation, between the before and the after.
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Okpaleke, I. P. (2022). “Ecumenism in Historical Tracks: Towards a Hopeful Account of Anglican-Roman Catholic Relations in Nigeria”. In Patrick Edet Bassey, Humphrey Uche Udechukwu, Jude Ashibekong Ishiekwen (ed.), Quid Retribuam Domino: Festschrift in Honour of the 70th Birthday Anniversary of Bishop Donatus Edet Akpan (p. p. 221-240).