Building peace, sharing life

By Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ
Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro

“RESPECT and Protect Life: A Celebration of the Filipino Spirit.”  With this theme the Bishops-Ulama Conference celebrates its 20^th anniversary during this Mindanao Week of Peace (Nov. 24 – Dec. 1).  In 1996, Catholic bishops and Muslim ulama in Mindanao formed the Bishops-Ulama dialogue forum in the aftermath of the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).  After more than forty dialogue meetings, the religious leaders today continue to work for a just and lasting peace based on the spiritual traditions of Islam and Christianity as religions of peace.

The BUC message cites these two quotations from the Koran and the Bible:

“And do not kill anyone whose killing Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause.” (Surah 17:33)

“Then Yahweh God formed Man, dust drawn from clay, and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and Man became alive with breath.” (Gen. 2:7)… “Do not kill.” (Exod. 20:13)

Respecting and protecting human life as sacred thus stems from God as creator and lord.  In this light both religious communities in Cagayan de Oro also join hands at this time in the Coalition for a Drug-Free Society.  We uphold the dignity of every human person, particularly the victims of substance abuse in need of rehabilitation.  And we condemn any form of summary killing that only leads to more un-peace and insecurity.

During this same week, on Nov. 24-26, the third International River Summit takes place in Cagayan de Oro – a reminder of how our city was ravaged by a river surge caused by Typhoon Sendong on Dec. 16-17, 2011.  The two earlier summits were held in Iloilo and Marikina, cities that had also been severely affected by Typhoons Frank and Ondoy.  With the theme, “Healthy Watersheds, Clean Rivers, Safe Communities,” the present summit highlights the need for environmental stewardship.

The archdiocese has helped form the Cagayan de Oro River Basin Management Council (CDORBMC), a multi-sectoral grouping of government agencies and civil society organizations.  Our common goal is to rehabilitate and conserve the ridge-toiver-toeef ecological system of Cagayan de Oro River, comprising 137,000 hectares of upland and lowland communities.  Climate change has become the new normal.  Our communities have to be engaged in mitigation and adaptation measures to forestall any future calamities.

Another form of stewardship is called for on the first Sunday of Advent on Nov. 27, with the launching of the “Year of Parishes as Communion of Communities.”  The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has encouraged the formation and growth of our Basic Ecclesial Communities as a new way of being Church.  BEC’s at the selda and kapilya levels constitute the parish as a communion of communities.  BEC’s are characterized by being centered on the Word of God and the Eucharist, guided by servant leaders with participative members, and called to social action with an option for the poor.

Let these auspicious beginnings then be our way of celebrating the Filipino spirit in sharing life – working for peace through interreligious dialogue; fighting against illegal drugs and criminality by helping transform lives; acting as stewards of the environment; and strengthening our communion of BECs and parishes as a new way of being Church.