Touched by an experience of conflict between Muslims and Christians in Mindanao and inspired by God’s dialogue with people of all cultures and religions, Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME, with a group of Muslim and Christian friends, officially started the Silsilah Dialogue Movement in Zamboanga City on May 9, 1984.
“Dialogue starts from God and brings people back to God…”
Guided by this inspiration, the Silsilah Dialogue Movement promotes the spirituality of life-in-dialogue with God, oneself, others and creation – and invites people to live and promote the Culture of Dialogue, Path to Peace, with special emphasis on dialogue of Muslims and Christians, and together, with people of other cultures and faiths.
In 1983 Fr. D’Ambra, then newly elected regional superior of the PIME in the Philippines, started meeting regularly with some Muslim and Christian friends in Zamboanga City and formed the “Islamo-Christian Silsilah Dialogue Movement.” A few years later the “Islamo-Christian” words were dropped to signify the openness of the movement to all religions, although special attention was given to Muslim and Christian dialogue.