My Pilgrimage in Mission Michael Louis Fitzgerald, M.Afr. he pilgrimage to Assisi has taught us anew to be and at the age of twelve I insisted on leaving the local grammar “T aware of the common origin and common destiny of school and going to junior seminary, first in Scotland and then in humankind. Let us see in it an anticipation of what God would the south of England. like the developing history of humanity to be: a fraternal journey The thoughts of all of us at junior seminary, both boys and in which we accompany one another toward the transcendent teachers, were focused on “Black Africa” and the conversion of goal which he sets for us.” These words were spoken by Pope the Africans. There was hardly any mention of Islam, and indeed John Paul II at the conclusion of the Day of Prayer for Peace, most felt that the apostolate among the Muslims was a waste of which was held in Assisi on October 27, 1986. I and my fellow time. In those days before Vatican II, dialogue as a dimension of Missionaries of Africa had seen some of the events on television, the church’s evangelizing mission was not part of the common but little did I realize that this event was marking a watershed in vision. my own life. It was only during my study of philosophy in the senior seminary that I heard stories of contacts with Arabs from one of Early Missionary Training the staff members who had done his studies in Tunisia. Intrigued by these stories, I volunteered to go to Algiers for my novitiate I was born on August 17, 1937, in Walsall, a town in the West but was somewhat disappointed to be sent to Holland instead. To Midlands of England. My parents were Catholic but sent me to my delight, however, in the following year I was chosen to go for non-Catholic schools. They arranged for a teacher at the Catholic theological studies in Carthage. There I started learning Arabic parish school, Miss Quigley, to come once a week to teach me the and acquired some rudimentary knowledge of Islam. We used catechism. It was perhaps from her that I first heard about the little booklets prepared by George Letellier, a French White missionary work of the church in Africa and read books such as Father who was director of the Manouba, a training center for Wopsy: The Adventures of a Guardian Angel, which told exciting missionaries where Arabic was taught as a key to understanding tales about life in Africa. From very early on I wished to be a priest Islam. We also had visits from our senior confreres working in and indeed a missionary. Some boys from the parish had gone to Tunisia, such as André Demeerseman, who had a deep knowl- join the Missionaries of Africa (also known as the White Fathers), edge of Tunisian culture. We students admired his example of inculturation (although the term was not yet used at that time), Michael Louis Fitzgerald, M.Afr., Archbishop and President of the Pontifical but we were sometimes exasperated by his prudence with regard Council for Interreligious Dialogue, is the author of Signs of Dialogue: Christian to the explicit preaching of the Christian Gospel. The White Encounter with Muslims (with Robert Caspar; 1992), Interfaith Dialogue: A Father tradition in North Africa, initiated by founder Cardinal Catholic View (with John Borelli; forthcoming), and numerous articles in Concilium, Lavigerie (1825–92) and later developed into a missionary theory Islamochristiana, Pro Dialogo, and Spiritus. by Henri Marchal (1875–1957), advocated a persevering pres- 88 I NTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH, Vol. 30, No. 2 ence of missionaries and efforts to change the milieu rather than reserve the more religious topics for himself and leave me with working for individual conversions. the history of Islam. In fact, he let me do whatever I liked and At the end of senior seminary I volunteered to work among made no attempt to control my teaching. This openness and trust Muslims in Nigeria or Tunisia. But after ordination to the priest- was immensely encouraging. It impressed me then and has hood in 1961, I was sent to Rome for further studies in theology. always remained with me as an example of interreligious rela- It was the exciting time of the Vatican Council. Though the tions. It led, though, to the strange situation of a Catholic priest courses at the university hardly reflected the new thinking teaching Islam to Muslim students. The majority of these stu- coming out of the council, I had the opportunity to attend special dents were Ismailis, followers of the Aga Khan, who knew little lectures given by Karl Rahner, Yves Congar, and others. We about Sunni Islam, which I had studied. I never hid the fact that knew, too, that our superior general and the superiors general of I was a priest, and my respectful attitude to their religion helped other missionary congregations, were actively engaged in pre- to create a climate of mutual acceptance. paring a text expressing a missionary vision that would be Some years later, during a Christian-Muslim meeting in respectful of different cultures and even of different religions. Arusha, Tanzania, some Muslim participants from West Africa The documents of the council—Lumen gentium, on the nature of proposed that no non-Muslim should be allowed to teach Islam- the church; Gaudium et spes, on the role of the church in the ics. This idea was scotched by the Muslim cochair, Badru modern world; Ad gentes, on the church’s missionary task; Kateregga, at that time ambassador of Uganda to Saudi Arabia, Dignitatis humanae, on religious liberty; and Nostra aetate, on the who declared, “I had a Christian as a lecturer on Islam at relations of the church to other religions—formed the basis of my Makerere [referring to me]. He it was who encouraged me later theological work. to specialize in Islamics so that I eventually became a lecturer in this subject in Nairobi. And now I have trained a Christian lady Islamics Study and Teaching to take my place.” It seems to me that this mutual confidence and this cooperation in scholarship are essential ingredients in My mind turned toward teaching theology in seminaries for the Christian-Muslim relations. African clergy or for our own missionary candidates. To my surprise, just as I was finishing my doctorate, I was asked to join Christian-Muslim Dialogue the staff of the Pontifical Institute of Arabic Studies (known as IPEA from its title in French), which had recently had to transfer After two enjoyable years in Uganda I was brought back to Rome from Tunis to Rome. “Think about this carefully,” cautioned to resume teaching at the IPEA, now the Pontifical Institute for Leo Volker, the superior general, “because this will determine Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI, following its Italian title). the rest of your life.” I could hardly object, however, since this One year later I was appointed director, at a time when the insti- assignment was in line with what I had asked for at ordination. tute was expanding its programs to include English-speaking In order to prepare for this task, I moved in 1965 to the School students in order to address the needs of Christian-Muslim of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London University, relations in Africa and Asia. for a three-year undergraduate degree. The lecturers, whether We were lucky at the PISAI to be able to invite as guest Christians or Muslims, did not appear to be surprised that a lecturers such well-known Catholics as George Anawati, Louis missionary priest should be studying Arabic. I also enjoyed Gardet, and Roger Arnaldez, and Muslims such as Mohammed friendly contacts with the mosque in Regent’s Park, where from Arkoun, Abdelmajid Charfi, Ali Merad, and Abdelmajid Méziane. time to time I asked the help of the imam. I remember one day Their presence was, each time, the occasion for a public lecture the imam visited SOAS for a discussion in the common room, that brought various aspects of Christian-Muslim relations to a and he turned to me and said, “Father Michael, please explain the Trinity in five minutes.” This was a flattering request but not one that I responded to, because I knew already that the It led to the strange deep truths of our religions cannot be shared in such a superfi- cial way. situation of a Catholic England also provided contact with the Selly Oak Colleges priest teaching Islam in Birmingham, where John Taylor was lecturer in Islamics. I was invited to a seminar there on Preparatio Evangelica, an idea that the to Muslim students. Second Vatican Council had taken up from the Fathers of the church. This was my first exposure to theological reflection on interfaith dialogue. Robin Zaehner of Oxford was one of the wider audience. With the same end in view we started publish- participants. I would later make much use of his books At Sundry ing a periodical, Encounter: Documents for Christian-Muslim Under- Times and Mysticism: Sacred and Profane. standing, providing an article each month on some aspect of Islam After London, I returned to the IPEA in Rome to start and Christian-Muslim relations. A further innovation, launched teaching and to continue the study of the Qur’an. I attended the during these years, was the specialist journal Islamochristiana, classes of Robert Caspar, a sound scholar who showed great which publishes historical and contemporary material concern- sympathy for Islam. I would later follow his line when I had to ing dialogue and interaction between the two religions.