THE Diocese of Malaybalay celebrated Mindanao Week of Peace last November 30 to December 7, 2006 with activities aimed to bring a greater awareness among people of their responsibility in caring for the earth, and greater unity among Christians, Muslims and Lumads.
To kick off the week-long celebration, Fr. Robert Selecios led a group of bicycle riders and one employee from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to go to Dabong Dabong, Valencia City to nurture the trees planted there during the previous months.
Other activities included reading of the bishop’s pastoral letter and harmony prayer in the Mosque of Valencia.
A symposium with the theme “Care of the Earth” was also organized and held on December 2, 2006. The symposium which was participated by Christian, Muslim and Lumad leaders, tackled the theme from three different perspectives—that of Muslim, Lumad, and Christians as Shepherd.
Ustadz Alem Sanussi Pandapatan said that the earth’s resources were created by God for the benefit of all living beings. Datu Crispin Linsagan spoke of their beginning, their livelihood, their cultural practices and affinity with the earth. Sr. Nila Sajelan, MCM, speaking from the perspective of Christians as Shepherds and carers of creation, talked about the four pillars of peace; such as, truth, freedom, justice and charity.
Other pressing issues tackled in the forum included environmental degradation and pollution, illegal logging and mining, and land development.
The harmony prayer was aired on December 4 at station DXDB (the diocesan Catholic radio station) and also in the campuses of schools belonging to the Bukidnon Association of Catholic Schools (BUACS). In Valencia Cluster, the harmony prayer was aired at 5 am at the Mosque. It was the first time in the history of Bukidnon Silsilah Forum that such activities were initiated together by Christians, Muslims and Lumads.
It was also on this day, that the Valencia Cluster celebrated the Mindanao Week of Peace. Muslims, Christians and Lumads were all part of the celebration. The event started in the morning with the reading of the Holy Qur’an by Ustadz Abdul Fatah Mindalano. The grade school Christian and Muslim pupils of San Agustin Institute of Technology did an interpretative dance of the harmony prayer. Other activities included collage and poster-making contest on the theme’s celebration.
In his message during the event, Malaybalay bishop Honesto Ch. Pacana, SJ, explained the beginning of the Bishop’s Ulama Forum. He emphasized that the profound meaning of care for the earth is care for people. Inevitably, he said, when we care for people, we care for the earth. He challenged everyone to be a part of the continuing dialogue.
The Bishop-Ulama Conference was organized in 1984 as a means of helping solve the escalating discord between the Muslims and the Christians in Mindanao. But what was initially meant for Mindanao only has now spread all over the Philippines and abroad. The Christian-Muslim Dialogue eventually evolved to a Tri-People Forum which now includes the Lumads. One of the annual activities of this forum is the week of Peace which starts on the last Thursday of November.
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