MANILA (RVA News): For the first time in years, the holy month of Ramadan and the Christian Lenten season began on the same day—February 18—offering Muslims and Christians a rare moment of shared sacred time.
In a pastoral reflection released on February 6, Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan in Mindanao, the Philippines, urged both communities to treat the convergence not as coincidence but as a call to shared responsibility, emphasising that peace must be lived and worked for, not merely prayed for.
“This shared beginning is a grace,” Bishop Bagaforo, said inviting believers “to slow down, to return to God, and to walk together in faith” at a time marked by violence, division, and ecological crisis.
Ramadan and Lent are seasons of prayer, fasting, repentance, and generosity. Both emphasise self-discipline and compassion for the poor.
Drawing from Christian and Islamic scriptures, the bishop’s message highlighted peace as a central value in both faiths, citing Jesus’ blessing of peacemakers and the Qur’an’s invitation to humanity to enter the “Home of Peace.”
Rather than framing peace as the absence of war, the letter described it as a right relationship—with God, with one another, and with creation.
Bishop Bagaforo, the chairperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Commission on Interreligious Dialogue, warned the environmental destruction fractures peace just as surely as armed conflict does. Referencing Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti by Pope Francis, the reflection linked care for the environment with social justice, noting that the suffering of the poor and the degradation of the Earth are inseparable. It also echoed Islamic teaching on humanity’s role as khalifa, or stewards of creation.
In the Philippine context, the bishop pointed to Alay Kapwa, the annual Lenten solidarity offering, as a concrete expression of interfaith values. More than an act of charity, Alay Kapwa was described as a way of recognizing the other as kapwa—a fellow human being whose dignity and future are shared.
“Through Alay Kapwa, prayer becomes service, and sacrifice becomes hope,” he said, particularly for communities affected by poverty, conflict, disasters, and environmental harm.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
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The reflection concluded with a call for Christians, Muslims, civil society groups, and interreligious dialogue desks to pray and work together—caring for the poor, protecting creation, educating for peace, and responding collectively to the wounds of the world.
“These are sacred tasks,” Bishop Bagaforo said. “These are works of peace.”
As Ramadan and Lent unfold side by side, faith leaders expressed hope that fasting and generosity might become a living prayer—spoken not only in words, but in shared action for a fractured world.
