Cardinal Quevedo's message for Mindanao Week of Peace
Church • 06:56 AM Sat Dec 1, 2018
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By:
His Eminence Orlando B. Cardinal Quevedo, OMI, DD
Beloved People in the
Archdiocese of Cotabatoand
Greetings of Peace to one
ad all!
The Mindanao Week of Peace
has become a tradition in the whole of Mindanao ever since the Bishops Ulama
Forum, now Conference, established it. A Presidential decree recognized and
endorsed it.
The theme of this year’s
MWP is most necessary and relevant - Peace
through Dialogueand Our Common Destiny.
Dialogue is not mere
intellectual discussion. It is first of all listening humbly and respectfully
to the other, listening not only with one’s ears, but most importantly
listening with one’s heart. This kind of listening transforms hostility and
suspicion into understanding and trust. This was the internal process that the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government developed through
long years of patient dialogue for peace.
We are now in the
threshold of definitive peace as we look forward to the plebiscite on the
Bangsamoro Organic Law. The referendum in January 2019 could mean lasting peace
in Southern Mindanao or it could mean the failure of years of arduous negotiation
and the collapse of Bangsamoro dreams for self-determination and integral
development. Your choice of yes or no is crucial.
May the peace that only
the Almighty, Most Beneficent, and Most Merciful God can give descend gently
upon us and reign over us.
+Orlando B. Cardinal
Quevedo, O.M.I.
Apostolic Administrator Sede Vacante Archdiocese of Cotabato