Fr. Sebastian D’Ambra, PIME, Founder of Silsilah Dialogue Movement.
MANILA, June 27, 2013— A movement for peace founded by a Catholic missionary in Southern Philippines wins an award previously held by some of the world’s known personalities.
The Silsilah won the 2013 Goi Peace Award for its contribution to promote peace and dialogue among Christians and Muslims in Mindanao.
The Goi Peace Award honors individuals and organizations in various fields that have made outstanding contributions to promote global peace.
Created in 2000, previous Goi Peace Award recipients include former Costa Rica President and Nobel Peace Prize Awardee Oscar Arias Sanchez, entrepreneur Bill Gates, self-help author Deepak Chopra, and environmentalist Lester Brown.
The Silsilah will receive the award at a ceremony during the Goi Peace Foundation Forum 2013 at the Nikkei Hall in Tokyo, Japan on November 27.
Italian priest Fr. Sebastian D’Ambra of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) founded the movement in 1986.
For more than 20 years, Silsilah has been offering projects and initiatives, such as Bishops-Ulama Forum and training courses for young Christians and Muslims.
In recent years, the movement has become a point of reference for the ongoing reconciliation between the Philippine government and Muslim rebels, which for more than four decades have fought a war that cost over thousands of lives.
For members of the Silsilah, the award is a “recognition” for their concerted effort to end the conflict and bring peace in the troubled region.
Silsilah is an Arabic word that means “chain” or “link” to emphasize being linked with those who have attained an experience of the Divine.
In the Philippines and other countries, the same root word is used to mean “genealogical tree” which implies a spiritual chain of humanity as created by the same God. (CBCPNews)
