ASIA/PHILIPPINES – Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference: Peace, an essential good for the life and mission of the Church

Iligan City – “The mission of the Church in the southern Philippines, on the large island of Mindanao and the neighboring Sulu Islands, is confronted with a fundamental question that forms the basis and backdrop for all others: the question of peace,” said Fr. Edward Labadisos, Chancellor and Parish Priest of the Diocese of Iligan, a city on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, where the 18th Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference was held from October 20 to 24, bringing together bishops, priests, religious, lay people, and catechists from the 22 ecclesiastical districts of Mindanao and Sulu. Those present shared experiences and discussed pastoral challenges to define the guidelines for the Church’s work for the next three years. The conference, on the theme “Pilgrims of Hope, On the Path to a Synodal Conversion and New Evangelization,” also commemorated Saint Pedro Calungsod, the young Filipino catechist and martyr, whose feast day is celebrated on October 21 and who is considered a “model of missionary courage.”
Father Labadisos explains: “In the vast territory of Mindanao, there are some issues that concern all local Churches, such as the relationship between Catholics, Muslims, and Lumads . For this reason, one of the areas consistently addressed in pastoral care is interreligious dialogue as a path to peace and social harmony.” “We have experienced difficult times in various provinces in the past,” he affirms, recalling “the siege of Marawi in recent years, where jihadist groups professing allegiance to ISIS had established themselves, or the presence of radical and terrorist groups like Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.” “For several years now, we have been living in a period of relative peace, which has allowed the Church to flourish and continue to do good,” he says. “We must not forget that one of the greatest challenges in our region is poverty: this part of the country is the poorest, with a large percentage of people living below the poverty line, and the Church’s social commitment is also important to promote and support development,” he notes. “This is the context within which the work of evangelization takes place,” he concludes. The conference was also attended by the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Charles Brown, who praised the Church in Mindanao for its missionary work and called on Catholics to renew their commitment to evangelization. “Evangelization,” he emphasized, “is always a life-giving work that brings God’s grace to those in need.” “It is important to bring divine life, especially to the most remote places, the poorest areas, and the most neglected people, to offer them the wonderful gift of eternal life,” said Archbishop Brown, recalling the commitment of missionaries in Mindanao, a region where “the vitality of the Church is evident despite the challenges.” Bishop Jose Rapadas Iligan, referring to the Holy Year, emphasized that the Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference is “a moment of grace and renewal of hope for the local Church,” which is called “to walk in the spirit of synodality, so natural for the Church of Mindanao.” The conference was established in Davao City in 1971 with the goal of strengthening communion, participation, and mission within the Church of Mindanao, and today it reaps the fruits of that fifty-year commitment and journey.

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