Oasis News

On October 8, 2012 Marilou Diaz Abaya, the famous film director passed away living the legacy of a leader able to dream peace and work for peace. She is well known for her famous films, but especially for “ Bagong Buwan” a film with Cesar Montano as major actor presenting the tragic effects of the

Since 1984 Silsilah has been in the front line of promoting “Dialogue with Creation”.  It is one of the pillars of Dialogue that Silsilah has been promoting since the beginning, together with the Dialogue with God, Dialogue with the Self and Dialogue with Others as part of its spirituality, vision and mission. This attention to

Jolo has a long history.  It is in the Southern part of the Philippines along the Sulu Sea going toward Borneo and Indonesia. It was in that area that Islam   arrived in 1380 and Jolo was the center of the first Sultanate organized in the peninsula before the arrival of the Spaniards in the sixteenth

On September 9, 2013 Zamboanga people were taken by surprise. A siege, provoked by a group of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Zamboanga City, Mindanao, started from a central part of the city. It lasted for nineteen days destroying almost ten thousand (10,000) houses and displacing almost one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) people

The Marawi siege   will be remembered in the history as  a  sad  experience  of  violence   in Mindanao. The seeds  of violence come from other countries  in  the name of  ideologies of violence   using religion as  a cover up of some  geo-political plans  and strategies entered  in  a more visible way in the nineties in Mindanao

The Silsilah Dialogue Movement welcomes the new Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and invites all to face this new agreement with the proper spirit in the respect and rights of all in Mindanao. A lot has been said and more will be shared to understand this new BOL and its implementations. We in Silsilah take this

“Peace where are you?” This is the title of a famous play that was performed in Mindanao in the eighties. It presents a story of love in the context of traditions, powerful groups and people. Today I often repeat to myself the same question:  Peace where are you?” A few days ago a military of the

There is a great need to remind all in our society the need to become people of dialogue in the midst of divisions and conflicts. Often dialogue is presented as a strategy, but if we go to a deeper level of the spiritual experience of dialogue it becomes an expression of LOVE. Thus, dialoguer is

The Silsilah Dialogue Movement along the years has formed thousands of Muslims and Christians through different Silsilah Summer Courses and trainings and always the focal point of the formation is the Culture of Dialogue, Path to Peace. Along the years, we have been exploring how to make this understanding of the Culture of Dialogue to

This message comes from Mindanao, Philippines and it is the voice of a Movement that in 1984 started to invite, especially Muslims and Christians, but also people of other living faiths, to build together a “chain”/”link” (Silsilah) of love convinced that all of us are part of the same human family, created by the same

On May 9, 2018, we celebrate the 34th Anniversary of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement. It is our desire to give a special attention to this occasion to strengthen the many links/chains (Silsilah) that the Movement has initiated along the years. Those who ask us if the situation is improving in the area of dialogue and

The link of Silsilah with the Subanon tribal groups of Zamboanga Peninsula started in 1977 when Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME, founder of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement, arrived in Siocon, Zamboanga Del Norte for his first mission in Mindanao. The death of Timuay Bakil Gumandao last April 13, 2018 is a great loss for all of

During a recent visit to Marawi with a group of friends of Silsilah and some of the Ateneo Xavier University   I realized, once again, that  the future peace in Mindanao will be a long journey. I am convinced of this and with patience I have moved   along the years  from, 1984 up to now, with

The celebration of the World Interfaith Harmony Week (WIHW) this year in Zamboanga was blessed with many activities organized and sponsored by different partners   of the United Nations Interfaith Harmony Partners- Zamboanga (UNI-HP-Z). The partners this year are 35   who represent most of the government and private sectors of education and different institutions who joined 

I was invited by the city Jail of Zamboanga last December 19, 2017 to give a message as founder of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement in a graduation program of a group of ninety six (96) prisoners, men and women, who have completed six months formation training of Silsilah on the “CULTURE OF DIALOGUE, ITS ROLE

Following the annual tradition of Silsilah to send a message to Christians on the occasion of Advent and Christmas time and to the Muslims on the month of Ramadhan, Silsilah   focuses this message now to the Christians in this special time and to the Muslims who journey together with the Christians, especially in Mindanao. This

  Last September 29, 2017, Silsilah launched the Dialogue with Creation Partners Movement as part of the ongoing effort to promote the four pillars of its spirituality of life in dialogue: Dialogue with God, Dialogue with the Self, with Others and with Creation. Last September 29, 2017, Silsilah launched the Dialogue with Creation Partners Movement

I stand before you to express my gratitude to you all, for the countless blessings that God – the Creator has allowed me to experience. Indeed, the Silsilah Dialogue Movement (SDM) is a gift to my life as a Filipino Marist priest. It has opened me a space and opportunity to understand and experience what

The holy month of Ramadan for the Muslim Ummah is a special time of fasting, prayer and solidarity. Following the tradition of Silsilah Dialogue Movement to address every year a message to the Christians during the Advent and Christmas seasons and to the Muslims on the occasion of the month of Ramadan, we focus this

Marawi is a beautiful area in Mindanao with the beautiful lake populated by Maranao people, most of them Muslims. I recall a play of many years ago presented by a Maranao group with the title “Kalilintad, anda ka?” (Peace where are you?). It was a great presentation on the Maranao culture and conflicts among tribes