The news of the death of Archbishop Fernando Capalla on January 6 , 2024, who died at the age of 89 is a time of sorrow for all of us and for me also an occasion to remember him as a good friend who contributed a lot for the promotion of interreligious dialogue in Mindanao and on the national and international level.
When I started the Silsilah Dialogue Movement in 1984, he was happy of this new beginning to the point that when he was elected as chairperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for the Commission on Interreligious Dialogue he asked me to be the executive secretary and allow me to have the office in Zamboanga near the office of Silsilah.
This great sign of trust and friendship helped me a lot to be challenged more in the mission that I started in dialogue with the Muslims in Zamboanga and along the years in Mindanao and on the national level.
Silsilah invited Archbishop Capalla in Zamboanga for some seminars and for the summer course. He was also with us the day that Fr. Salvatore Carzedda, PIME was killed in Zamboanga City on May 20, 1992. I can also recall a critical moment when in Davao I was rushed to the hospital and he helped me in many ways.
I believe many of us can say many things about the goodness and generosity of archbishop Capalla. I think he is well known for starting the Bishops Ulama Forum that after a few years was renamed as Bishops’ – Ulama Conference. I was at his side as executive secretary of the CBCP for the Commission on Interreligious Dialogue. I remember the first gathering in Cebu in 1996 and the many other gatherings in the different parts of Mindanao and Manila. For two occasions we also did the gathering of the Bishops-Ulama Conference in Harmony Village, Zamboanga City.
Our friendship was expressed in many ways and he was an honorary member of the Board of Trustee of Silsilah, he encouraged me to continue the dream to start the Emmaus Dialogue Community in Zamboanga. In that occasion as chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Interreligious Dialogue of the CBCP he wrote:
“The diocesan Bishop is advised by the new Code of Canon Law: ”to discern the new gifts of the consecrated life which the Holy Spirit entrusted to the Church (C.605). The Emmaus Dialogue Community is a new form of consecrated life in the local church.
I believe that this new community is a gift and a blessing to the local Church and to the Church at large. With dialogue as its primary objective it answers a long-felt need in this Church’s Ministry.”
Guided by this spirit and friendship with the new Emmaus Dialogue Community that after was renamed Emmaus Dialogue Movement opening the charism to all in the Church, Archbishop Capalla volunteered to be the patron bishop of this new reality of Emmaus in the Church and was very happy when during one of my visits in Davao I shared to him that Emmaus Dialogue Movement is ground on and we opened an Emmaus College of Theology, major on Interreligious Dialogue.
Many other things can be said about the passion and determination of Archbishop Capalla to promote many forms of dialogue at all levels. He was instrumental in starting the Prelature in Marawi, he also encouraged in the Bishops-Ulama Conference to promote the Mindanao Week of Peace that was initially stated in Zamboanga by Peace Advocate Zamboanga (PAZ). He was also member of the Pontifical Commission for Interreligious Dialogue of the Vatican and on national level instrumental for the peace process between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that now have an official agreement with the government.
Today the Church in the spirit of synodality is inviting us to continue the mission of Archbishop Capalla. There are good signs in this right direction in many places and dioceses.
It is my desire that all of us continue to remember the legacy of Archbishop Capalla and continue the mission of dialogue and peace with courage and determination.
Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME
Founder of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement