This year, on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement we have launched the motto: … BACK TO GOD“. These three words are the last part of the initial inspiration of Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME living in a Muslim community, the message is “Dialogue starts from God and brings people back to God.” He started to answer the call to dialogue starting to be closer to the Muslim community in his mission in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte (Mindanao.) That was also the time of conflict and revolution in that area in 1977.
Because of the ongoing conflict that divided the Christian and the Muslim communities, Fr. D’Ambra decided to be closer to the Muslims and became a bridge of reconciliation among Christians and Muslims in the reality where he was.
The first step of this mission was to listen to the stories of the people helping them in all possible ways. His special desire was not only to be closer to the people, but also closer to God to understand more the will of God in that critical situation in his new mission of dialogue and peace. He was welcomed by the Muslims and he built a simple nipa house in a Muslim community.
In the silence of his house living in the Muslim community, he often reflected on the way to start a dialogue with the Muslims, asking God, in prayer: “What kind of dialogue I have to do in this context?” He was a young missionary who was inspired by the spirit of Vatican II to start a mission of Interreligious dialogue as a form of “new way of mission” as an expression of love for all. Mindanao was considered a land of conflict at that time. In addition, that was the time of Martial Law and the revolution of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
In that situation, Fr. D’Ambra, popularly known now as Fr. Seb started to be with the people in a poor area of the mission, in the Muslim community of Bucana, in the mission of Siocon. He started with a simple center for the children and the people called “Muslim Christian Brotherhood.”
That experience was full of surprises, not only in living with the Muslims, but also in discovering the deeper meaning of his mission of dialogue that he internalized and expressed to us as a spirituality of life-in-dialogue guided by the Culture of Dialogue with God, Self, Others and Creation.
Yes, he focuses his mission on this inspiring commitment for the Culture of Dialogue: Path to peace that he shared to us since the beginning and after that it was adapted as the vision and mission of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement. This vision was tested in many ways, first with an ambush against Fr. Seb. In that occasion, one of his staff was killed and he was forced to go back to Italy. That was his first “exile” to Italy and on that occasion, he studied Islam and Arabic in PISAI at Rome. During the studies, he continued to internalize his desire of promoting dialogue with the Muslims guided by the initial inspiration of “Dialogue Ssarts from God and brings people back to God.” To test more the determination of Fr. D’Ambra in his mission of dialogue in 1992, during the summer course, Fr. Salvatore Carzedda, PIME, a dear friend of Fr. D’Ambra was killed, and he was forced again to go back to Italy for safety reasons. This was his second “exile”.
Fr. D’Ambra came back from Italy a few years after and he wrote the book: “Call to a Dream” (see it in the website of Silsilah, www.silsilahdialogue.com). Fr. D’Ambra has also contributed for many years to the mission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) as Executive Secretary of the Commission on Interreligious Dialogue.
This introduction is a way for us to invite friends to reflect with us on the mission of Silsilah and the motto, “…BACK TO GOD.” The great challenge for us members and friends of Silsilah is how Silsilah has inspired us in our journey of life.
In the Harmony prayer, that Silsilah is promoting around the world we say: “O Lord, sustain my vision of peace following Your inspiration, You have many ways of revealing Your presence and love for humanity, but Your style is constant, You are in dialogue with all, You care for all…”
We hope that this Oasis News encourages many members and friends of Silsilah that along the years have been with us, to share their experiences of dialogue and spiritual journey.
Yes, now we are many, dreaming together and, from time to time, this year we will share in Oasis News the experience of other members and friends of Silsilah who have been touched by the dialogue that Silsilah promotes, sharing to us their reflection and personal spiritual journey.
We are collecting all the reflections that we will receive and after proper editing we will publish them in a book titled: ” DREAMING TOGETHER” (For more details, visit our website.)
Silsilah Dialogue Movement