MANILA (LiCAS News): The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines [CBCP] urged leaders in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao [BARMM] to protect human dignity, rights, and religious freedom following the parliamentary elections held on September 14.
“As the BARMM enters a new chapter, we appeal especially to its leaders: make the Bangsamoro a home for everyone,” the bishops said in a pastoral message.
“Let governance protect the dignity, rights, and religious freedom of every person and community,” they added.
The bishops described the elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region as another milestone in the region’s ongoing journey towards “lasting peace, justice, reconciliation, and genuine self-governance.”
As the BARMM enters a new chapter, we appeal especially to its leaders: make the Bangsamoro a home for everyone
CBCP
They congratulated all who participated peacefully in the elections and prayed for those entrusted with public office.
“May they govern not for personal or partisan interests, but for the common good of all—Muslims, Christians, Indigenous Peoples, and every community within the Bangsamoro,” the bishops’ conference said.
The CBCP also called for deeper cooperation among Muslim and Christian religious leaders, as well as Indigenous communities, highlighting Mindanao’s history of conflict, displacement, and injustice.
“Our history bears wounds of conflict, displacement, prejudice, and historical injustice,” the bishops said. “We must acknowledge and heal these wounds, but they need not determine our future.”
Citing the Document on Human Fraternity, signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the bishops emphasised that different religious traditions “should never divide us from our common humanity.”
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They said, “We therefore encourage Muslim and Christian religious leaders, together with Indigenous communities, to deepen dialogue and strengthen structures of cooperation for peace.”
Let governance protect the dignity, rights, and religious freedom of every person and community
CBCP
The statement also cited the experience of a CBCP delegation of five bishops and five priests who participated in a programme on interreligious dialogue and peaceful coexistence in Cairo from August 29 to September 7.
The programme was sponsored by Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments.
The delegates returned with what the statement described as a renewed conviction that “peace is neither a naïve hope nor merely the absence of war; instead, it is always possible as the fruit of justice and charity.”
The Church leaders said, “It requires that we know one another, respect one another, and learn to walk together.”
The bishops urged Mindanao communities to move beyond mere tolerance and to work together for the common good.
“May the peoples of Mindanao move forward together—not merely tolerating one another, but knowing one another, respecting one another, and working side by side for the common good,” they said.
Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of Lipa, president of the CBCP, signed the statement on behalf of the bishops’ conference.
