A Roman Catholic Church priest has been awarded a PhD reconciling Christianity and Islam through the interreligious dialogue for a peaceful and harmonious coexistence.
Rev. Fr. Dr. Richard Ooko Airo, a parish priest at St. Joseph the Worker, Tudor, was among eight graduates awarded a PhD on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at Pwani University’s 12th graduation ceremony.
He attained a Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies, having specialized in Islam/Arabic and Christianity on matters of interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding.
His thesis, Interreligious Dialogue and Social Cohesion: The Pastoral Approach of the Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Mombasa (1983-2023), sheds light on how the Catholic Church has pastorally approached interreligious dialogue.
“Being a person who grew up in Mombasa and saw the Kaya Bombo, and how political classes use interfaith as a way of causing discrimination and hatred, I felt it was time for me to also engage in PhD, and that is when, through the permission of my Archbishop Martin Kivuva, I started my studies in Pwani University,” said Fr. Airo.
He is the National advisor to the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops’s Commission of Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism and also heads the Archdiocese of Mombasa’s Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism.
Fr. Airo says Mombasa County and the coastal region have made big strides regarding interfaith dialogue.
“If you read this thesis, you will see that Mombasa is far ahead regarding interfaith dialogue. The way we live at the coast itself is a dialogue of life. For example, in Swahili houses, where people usually share bathrooms and toilets, you find tenants of different religions. When there is a death or a wedding, they come together,” said Fr. Airo.
“Several times as a parish priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tudor, I see burials attended by Muslims. Christians also attend Muslim burials. This is as a result of interfaith dialogue,” he added.
As a member of the Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics (CICC), Fr. Airo said the county government has also contributed to interfaith dialogue through programs like the Christmas tree lighting.
Interreligious dialogue also helps combat stereotypes associated with different religions and is a major tool in combatting extremism.
“Kenyans should understand that we are not there to compete as religious groups. Interreligious dialogue is removing suspicions, stereotypes, and hatred. It is teaching us that we need to be together as one family,” said Rev. Fr. Dr. Richard Ooko Airo.
Education Background
Fr. Airo has two Bachelor of Arts Degrees under his belt (a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and a Bachelor of Arts in Sacred Theology from Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome, Italy).
The Technical University of Mombasa lecturer says the push to further his studies after attaining two Bachelor of Arts degrees came from his Parish Priest, the late Fr. John Kizito Mbondo, who tragically passed away in a road crash in August 2015, a year before Fr. Richard attained his Master’s at Pwani University.
“He was one of my favourite parish priests. He told me, the university is just here; why don’t you register? When I went to Pwani University for registration, their sacred courses were mainly religious studies. So, with my background of B.A in Sacred Theology, I enrolled for the Masters of Religious Studies class,” said Rev. Fr. Dr. Airo.
He studied for his Certificate in Arabic and Islamic Studies (Institute for Interreligious Dialogue and Islamic Studies) at Tangaza University and graduated in 2020.
