Forty years of Christian-Muslim dialogue in Pakistan
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Fides News Agency
Illustrative image · Yassir Abbas · Pexels · Licence PexelsChristian-Muslim dialogue in Pakistan marks its fortieth anniversary, shaped by difficulties and concrete progress. According to Father James Channan, former executive secretary of the Rabita commission, interreligious harmony commissions have been set up at federal and provincial level, according to Fides News Agency.
The National Commission for Christian-Muslim Dialogue, known as the "Rabita", was established in 1985 within the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan. It is now called the Catholic Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism (CCIDE). Its creation responded to a request from Saint John Paul II after the ad limina visit of Pakistani bishops in 1984, and was in line with the Nostra Aetate declaration of the Second Vatican Council, according to the Fides agency.
According to Dominican Father James Channan, former executive secretary of the Rabita and director of the Peace Center in Lahore, dialogue has developed into a network. The government has set up commissions for interreligious harmony at federal and provincial levels, and the principles of harmony are included in school curricula.
A delegation from the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue of the Holy See is visiting Pakistan from 6 to 14 November 2026, with stops in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. It is led by Monsignor Indunil Janakaratne Kodithuwakku Kankanamalage, secretary of the dicastery, and includes Father Markus Solo Kewuta SVD, in charge of relations with Islam. The visit is held under the theme "Building bridges for harmony: forty years of the CCIDE and the future of interreligious dialogue in Pakistan".
