Catholic Peace-building & Interfaith Dialogue
Catholic peace-building and interfaith dialogue are two important areas of the mission of the Church today, particularly in war-torn and violent areas of the world. Recently, after decades of fighting between the Philippine government and Muslim insurgents in the southern part of the country, There is an historic opportunity for an agreement of lasting peace in the South Philippines around the corner. To bring about this, missionaries, interreligious organisms, associations of civil society are intensifying the work of sensitization on all levels. Fr. Angel Calvo, Claretian missionary in Mindanao for 40 years (South Philippines), engaged in the Interreligious Solidarity Movement for Peace which today has organized a seminar in Zamboanga City, with representatives of the government and the Islamic guerilla movement MILF (“Moro Islamic Liberation Front”), to examine thoroughly the possibilities and consequences of the “Declaration of Principles” in 10 points, initiated by the government and the rebels during the past weeks.
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| The banner reads: Peace and justice in Minadano |
A big part of the reason why this is the case is through the efforts of the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) which is a dialogue forum, established in 1996, composed of Catholic Mindanao bishops, Muslim ulama or imams, and Protestant bishops who, in a spirit of interreligious dialogue, affirm their commitment to the peace process. Currently, the BUC includes 24 Catholic bishops who are also members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, 26 Ulama and Ustadz, members of the Ulama League of the Philippines, and 18 Protestant bishops and pastors who are members of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines. Official observers are the officers of Panagtagbo, a Confederation of the 18 Indigenous Peoples of Mindanao, and bishops of the Philippine Conference of Evangelical Churches.
Over the last several decades, various attempts have been made by representatives of religious “parties” to initiate dialogue aimed at improving understanding between Muslims and Christians. Since the late 1960s, religious leaders have held “many serious formal dialogues” to “analyze the problem [of mistrust and misunderstanding between Christians and Muslims].”Annual dialogues in which many Muslim and Christian leaders participate were held from 1967 until the late 1990s, including seminars on Islam and topics such as the problems of Moros and their role in a Christian-dominated society. During the late 1970s and 1980s, the Protestant National Council of Churches of The Philippines (NCCP) implemented a program known as Program to Assist Christians in Education about Muslims (PACEM), with the goal of increasing Christian understanding of the Moro minority. Members of the NCCP as well as Catholics joined in Duyog Ramadan (participating in Ramadan) a program that facilitated young Christians celebrating Ramadan while temporarily living in Muslim communities. During the Marcos years, PACEM, and similar programs of the Catholic Church developed a focus on human rights, including those of the oppressed Moros. However, as Bishop Gomez explains: “When Marcos was overthrown in 1986, the NCCP program for better Christian-Muslim understanding lost its steam, as it was anchored on the militant stance against martial law. It missed the important point that dialogues for a just and lasting peace is beyond fighting for human rights.”
Other notable dialogue efforts include the program for Muslim-Christian dialogue of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement based in Zamboanga City, and the Inter-Seminary Christian-Muslim Dialogue and Exposure Program of NCCP-related seminaries, which ran from 1978 to 1988, and facilitated Protestant seminarians living and participating in community life among poor Moro and Christian communities during summer breaks.
It is often assumed that religion is a cause of violence rather than a force for peace. There is no denying that, in many conflicts, religion is used and abused for nefarious purposes. But that is only a part of the picture. The Catholic Church, often working with those of other faiths, has been a force for peace in many conflicts at a local level, nationally, and internationally. Here, we cover the theology, doctrine, methodology, and experiences of faithful efforts to promote justice and build peace in our troubled world.
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