The Philippines

CPN's engagement in the Philippines has been chiefly in the Mindanao region in the south of the country, an area that has experienced much conflict between Christians, Muslims, and indigenous peoples. CPN has provided and continues to provide strategic advice and other forms of accompaniment to the Church as it moves forward on advocacy and implementation mechanisms for peace agreements, as well as work for social cohesion, interreligious cooperation, and justice in mining. CPN engagement in the Philippines has included:

• With Catholic Relief Services, CPN helped organize a series of virtual workshops in 2021 for leaders of the Christians for Peace Movement, which was formed to address implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
• In 2018, CPN co-sponsored and participated in "Theology and Practice of Just Peace and Pluralism: Dialogue Among Religious Leaders, Youth and Women Peacebuilders," part of a series of Interreligious Dialogue Learning Conferences led by CRS-Philippines.
• in 2014, Catholic institutions in Mindanao launched a peacebuilding network modeled on CPN.
• CPN supported a series of training and strategy sessions on peacebuilding in the region. A two-day session with seventy bishops in 2009 was followed over the next three years by a series of four sets of workshops for bishops, priests and diocesan staff of dioceses in Mindanao.
• The second annual international CPN conference on peacebuilding was held in Davao City in Mindanao in 2005.

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Events

"Catholic Peacebuilding and Mining: Integral Peace, Development, and Ecology"
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
September 5, 2019

Many countries around the world are turning to mining as a source of development. This can impact conflict in many ways, including funneling resources to illegal armed actors, damaging the environment, causing new or increased tensions among groups, being intertwined with drug cartels and other illegal activities, or by creating confrontations between companies and populations that might resist mining projects. In these circumstances, the Catholic Church's institutional capacity and grassroots presence give it a unique ability to help reduce conflict, build peace, and promote integral human development. This panel discussion examined the linkages between mining and issues of conflict, human rights, sustainable development, governance, and environmental justice, featuring speakers from Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Philippines.

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Theology and Practice of Just Peace and Pluralism
Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines
August 6-8, 2018

"Theology and Practice of Just Peace and Pluralism: Dialogue Among Religious Leaders, Youth and Women Peacebuilders" was the title of the most recent in a series of Interreligious Dialogue Learning Conferences led by Catholic Relief Services in the Philippines. This year's conference was co-sponsored by Catholic Peacebuilding Network, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. It was attended by around 80 religious and spiritual leaders, dialogue practitioners, youth and women peacebuilders from different regions in Mindanao. The conference aimed to help galvanize faith-based approaches in peacebuilding and nonviolence. It also sought to affirm the shared values and commitment of religious peacebuilders to demand justice, foster solidarity and sustain peace amidst the continuing challenges of conflicts and violence in the region.

 

Learning Document-Theology and Practice of Just Peace and Pluralism

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