Picking Mindanao for Youth Day is call to dialogue
The first-time choice of this archipelago a stronghold of Islamic extremists is also a call to dialogue.
Davao (AsiaNews/CBCP) The Filipino National Youth Day is set to be held in Mindanao for the first time, a move considered to be an invitation to moderate Muslims to dialogue. The choice of the archipelago, the battleground of inter-faith clashes and a stronghold of extremist Islamic organizations, to mark the youth celebration, was announced by the Filipino Episcopal Youth Commission. The bishops said they were "expecting at least 10,000 youth from across the country" to join the event (slated for 8 to 12 November) with the theme: "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" (Psalms 119:105).
Mgr Fernando Capalla, Davao archbishop (the diocese set to host the meeting), called on "priests, religious and all the community of worshippers to pray for the success of this meeting, key for youth, the greatest resource of the Church".
The decision to celebrate a National Youth Day in the Philippines was taken by the Filipino Bishops' Conference in 1986: in the message announcing the event, the bishops said the Filipino Church had decided to "create an apostolate dedicated to youth and to children, the hope of the world".
From 1987 to 1990, the meeting was held in Manila and from 1991 onwards, the bishops decided to choose a different diocese for each year. But Mindanao had never been chosen.
The decision to hold this event in the archipelago also aims to be "an invitation to dialogue and of reaching out to moderate Muslim groups, also the victims of fundamentalism rampant there".
.png)
