Making sense of the promises and pathologies of religion and faith in Africa
Date of Lecture: March 19, 2019
About the Speaker: Rev. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, S.J. is president of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar. A native of Nigeria, he was Provincial Superior of the Eastern Africa Province, which includes Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. He is author and editor of a number of books, most recently, "Religion and Faith in Africa: Confessions of an Animist” (Orbis, 2018).
About the Talk: Fr. Orobator takes a critical look at the contemporary African religious experience and the tension between ancient and modern religious traditions, beliefs and practices. He explains how the astronomical growth of Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa over the last century has been an obstacle to socioeconomic development, but he also points to key figures in contemporary African society who uphold authentic religious beliefs in the dignity of the human person and the care of creation.
His talk is one of the Deitchman Family Lectures on Religion and Modernity.