Pope Francis has appointed Rev. Fr Joseph Ogundipe of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo as an adviser on relations between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.
Fr Ogundipe is one of six new persons that will be advising the Pontiff.
Director of Social Communications in the Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Rev Sr. Eunice Ikufisile, announced the appointment in a statement on Tuesday.
Ikufisile said that Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo received the message on March 9 from the Vatican City and conveyed the appointment to Fr Ogundipe same day.
The statement said Fr Ogundipe would serve with the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCDI) based at the Vatican.
The statement also quoted Badejo to have said that the appointment of Ogundipe as a ‘consultor’ to the Commission for Relations with Muslims was for a period of five years.
“As you know, the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonuson the Roman Curia (1988) makes provision for this Commission within the ambit of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue,” he said.
The statement quoted the letter saying: “The Commission meets once a year and the agenda provides for communications from individual Consultors on the situation of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations in their respective countries.
“The principal purpose of the Commission is to provide time for reflection on the church’s relations with Muslims.”
Badejo also congratulated Ogundipe for the commitment and initiative with which he had served Oyo Diocese, especially, in the field of interreligious relations.
He urged Ogundipe to do more to justify the confidence which Pope Francis had reposed in him that led to the appointment.
Ogundipe was ordained a priest in 2007 by Bishop Emeritus Julius Babatunde Adelakun of Oyo Diocese and has worked in several parishes in the diocese.
