Abstract
In the documents from the five years of preparation for the Synod of African Churches (the Synod took place in Rome in April and May 1994 and drew attention to the situation of the Church in Africa and its evangelizing mission toward the year 2000) interreligious dialogue played an important role, a dialogue not only with Christian Churches of other confessions, but also with Islam, with traditional African religion, and with the “new religious movements” which proliferate in Africa and which exercise considerable attraction for members of the other Churches. We now know why. Yet neither the Synod's final message nor the 64 propositions submitted to the Pope say a word about these “new Churches”. There is no more talk of dialogue; but there is an attempt to answer questions whose pertinence has been recognized by a renewed pastoral. Will this be enough? By the year 2000, the new religious movements will number 60 million faithful.