The Holy Father, Pope Francis has
appointed Rev. Fr. Joseph Ola-
wale Ogundipe, a priest of the
Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Nigeria among
six new consultors to the Commission
for Religious Relations with Muslims at
the Pontifical Council for Interreligious
Dialogue (PCDI). Rev. Fr. Ogundipe,
until his appointment was the Director
of the Interreligious Dialogue Commis-
sion (IRDC) of Oyo diocese. The news
of the appointment was received on
March 9, 2020.
The appointment letter which was
joyfully delivered by Most Reverend
Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo, Bishop of
Oyo Diocese reads in part: “I have the
honour and pleasure to send you here
enclosed, the document by which you
are informed that the Holy Father has
appointed you, for a period of five years,
as Consultor to the Commission for Re-
lations with Muslims”.
“As you know, the Apostolic Constitu-
tion Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia
(1988) makes provision for this Com-
mission within the ambit of the Pontifi-
cal Council for Interreligious Dialogue,
under the guidance of the President of
that Council. The Commission nor-
mally meets once a year and the agenda
provides for communications from in-
dividual Consultors on the situation of
Islam and Christian-Muslim relations in
their respective countries. The principal
purpose of the Commission is to pro-
vide time for reflection on the Church’s
relations with Muslims”.
After delivering the letter of appoint-
ment to Fr. Ogundipe, Bishop Badejo
congratulated him for the commitment
and initiative with which he has so far
served in Oyo diocese especially in the
field of interreligious relations. He then
urged him to do more to justify the con-
fidence with which the Pope Francis has
appointed him to the exalted position.
Many priests of Oyo Diocese who were
present at the joyous moment rejoiced
with and prayed for Fr. Ogundipe that
he may be granted wisdom and humility
to give a good account of himself in the
new position.
Born on August 19, 1976, Rev Fr.
Ogundipe attended Baptist Prima-
ry School, Koso-Iseyin and St. Mary’s
Catholic Primary School, Isalu-Iseyin,
both in Oyo State, Nigeria. For his Sec-
ondary Education, he attended St. John’s
Grammar School, Isalu-Iseyin and St.
Theresa’s Minor Seminary, Oke-Are,
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. He had his
Priestly formation at St. Peter’s Spiritual
year Seminary, Eruku, Kwara State and
the Seminary of All Saints, Ekpoma, Edo
State. He was ordained on 11/ 08/2007
by Most Rev. Julius Babatunde Adelakun
(Emeritus Bishop of Oyo Diocese) and
has worked in a number of parishes in
Oyo Diocese, especially at St Theresa
Paish Ijio where he earned a community
award for his effort in interreligious har-
mony and conflict resolution. He holds
a B.A in Philosophy from the University
of Benin, Edo State, B.Th. from the Pon-
tifical Urban University, Rome: Diploma
in Arabic Studies from Dar Comboni,
Cairo, Egypt; and a Licentiate in Ar-
abic and Islamic Studies from PISAI,
Rome. He is currently the Chaplain of
St. Thomas Moore Catholic Chaplaincy,
Ladoke Akintola University of Technol-
ogy, Ogbomoso, Nigeria and will con-
tinue his assignment as Director of the
Ecumenical and Intereligious Dialogue
Commission for the Diocese of Oyo.
