Christopher Akongnwi

Christopher Akongnwi’s idea of interreligious dialogue stems from his early childhood stories about other religions such as Islam, Buddhism and Judaism that he kept hearing within his religious community in Cameroon. When he joined the seminary, it was for the first time that Christopher lived in a multicultural community and went to school with people of different denominations who come from various ethnic and national backgrounds. His thirst to carry out research in the field of interreligious dialogue began during his missionary activities which brought him to South East Asia. In the Philippines and Thailand, he encountered the Buddhist culture, taught English and Civic Education to the Buddhist Burmese migrants in both countries, and closely worked with some Muslim populations. Upon graduating from the Higher Teachers Training College in Cameroon, Christopher started to teach in colleges with mixed faiths where he saw an urgent need for interreligious dialogue which is not taught in seminaries in Cameroon, whereas there exist mistrust and tensions between the Christian and Muslim communities.

Upon completion of his Fellowship and the S.T.L. program at the Angelicum, Christopher will continue with his studies pursuing a Doctorate degree and hopes to return and teach interreligious dialogue in seminaries in Cameroon. In the future, he hopes to launch a campaign to call the attention of Cameroonians on the importance of living together in peace and tolerance.

Educational background includes: MS in Education, Higher Teachers Training College, University of Yaoundé, Cameroon, 2019; BTh, Catholic University of Central Africa (and Pontifical Gregorian University in 2015-2017), Cameroon/Italy, 2018; BPhil, Catholic University of Central Africa, Cameroon, 2015; BPhil, Institute of Philosophy Saint Joseph Mukasa Yaoundé (affiliated with the Pontifical University Salesiano), Cameroon, 2012.