Ikenna Okafor

Mag. Dr. Ikenna U. Okafor

Academic Position:

University Lecturer for Intercultural Theology at the Department of Fundamental Theology, Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Vienna

Career:

2023: Habilitation in Intercultural Theology at the University of Vienna with the thesis The Crossroads: A Phenomenological Critique of Chinua Achebe’s Postcolonial Narrative in African Political Theology of Fraternity
2013-2024: University Lecturer for Intercultural Theology at the University of Vienna
2011: Doctorate in Fundamental Theology at the University of Vienna with the thesis “Ọ nụrụ Ube Nwanne Agbala Ọsọ: Toward an African Theology of Fraternal Solidarity”

Awards:

Other Activities:

Since 2003: Editor-in-Chief, Pan-African Theology and Pastoral Studies Series (PATPASS)

Most Important Publications:

Books

Monograph: Toward an African Theology of Fraternal Solidarity: Ube Nwanne, (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2014).
Edited: Fratelli Tutti. A Global Commentary, eds. (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2024)
Edited: Toward a Synodal Church in Africa: Echoes from an African Christian Palaver, eds. (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2024).
Edited: Envisioning a World Without Borders: African Commentary on Fratelli Tutti, (eds. (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 2023).
Edited: Journeying Together for a Synodal Church in Africa, eds. (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 2023).
Edited: Faith in Action Volume 2: Pastoral Renewal, Public Health and the Prophetic Mission of the Church in Africa Since the Two African Synods, eds. (Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2020).
Edited: Faith in Action Volume 3: Reimagining the Mission of the Church in Education, Politics, and Servant Leadership in Africa, eds. (Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2020).

Journal Articles

“Historicizing the Intractable and Random Conflicts between Christians and Muslims in the West African Sub-Region: A Critical Theological Perspective”, in The Heythrop Journal, HeyJ LV (2014), pp. 422-438. ISSN 0018-1196 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/heyj.12129)
“Fraternity and the Magisterium of Pope Francis” in Abuja Journal of Philosophy and Theology (APT) vol. 12, 2022, Civility, Fraternity, and Palaver, pp. 1-17. ISSN 2276-741X

Book Chapters (peer-reviewed)

“Fraternal Solidarity and the Ethics of Care and Compassion in Church and State in Africa: A Theological Re-reading of Things Fall Apart” (pp. 89-114) in Stan Chu Ilo et. al., ed., Faith in Action 2, (Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2020).
“Mission and Dialogue: Uzukwu on Inter-Faith, Inter-Denominational, and Inter-Cultural Dialogue in African Christianity, in Stan Chu Ilo & Caroline N. Mbonu, eds. Under the Palaver Tree (Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2023).
“Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God: A Postcolonial Theological Critique of Clericalism” in Journeying Together for a Synodal Church in Africa, eds. (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 2023).
“Der Verzweifelter Migrant” in Kurt Appel u. Jakob Helmut Deibl (Hg.) Barmherzigkeit und zärtliche Liebe, Das theologische Programm von Papst Franziskus (Wien: Herder, 2016).
“Towards a Listening and Accompanying Church” in Stan Chu Ilo & Leonida Katunge eds. Journeying Together in Hope: A Theological and Pastoral Field Manual for a Synodal Church in Africa. (Nairobi: Paulines, 2024).
“Islamic Extremism in West Africa: A Historical and Theological Analysis of the Crisis of Religious Brigandage in Islam” (pp. 101-121) in L.D. Lefebure (ed.), Religion, Authority, and the State, From Constantine to the Contemporary World, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-59990-2_5.

Research Focus: