DON BOSCO CENTER OF STUDIES

An Affiliate of the Salesian Pontifical University – Rome

THE CHURCH MILITANT:

The Catholic Church on Terrorism

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Course
BPM28: Seminar on Pastoral Issues

by
REV. JOHN QUINCY CABALLO, SDB
BR. JEROME HERMOSADA, CSS

Paranaque City
March 2019
 2

I. INTRODUCTION

Conflict in Mindanao is one of the country's major issues that dates back decades, tracing

its roots to disputes over land and religion. Our Muslim brethren, faced with land grabbing

of their ancestral lands, have been fighting for what their say is rightfully theirs. The Moro

National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) turned

to violence and demanded for a separate state. Past administrations attempted to attain

peace through negotiations, but none have succeeded. The Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)

or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) is the latest of the government's efforts to quell

the conflict in Mindanao. However, not so long after the first plebiscite (January 21, 2019)

was held to ratify the BBL, bombs killed almost 30 lives inside and around the vicinity of

the Cathedral in Sulu, Sunday morning 27th of March, 2019. And so what really is the root

of these attacks?

• Is this about faith and religion?

• Is this an Islamic movement?

• Or there is something more to this?

II. ATTENDING1

I am so fortunate that I was able to experience Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Zamboanga

City organized by the Silsilah.2 The experience would help us in understanding these crises

in different parts of Mindanao. I stayed there for about a month. I brought all my biases

1
One of the reporters, Bro Jerome Hermosada, CSS, speaks on a first-person basis given his personal
encounter and experience with the topic at hand.
2
Silsilah is a non-government organization promoting peace through inter-religious dialogue
founded by Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME in Zamboanga City on May 9, 1984.
 3

and prejudices about our Muslim brethren. Of course a typical Christian with all the

influence of the news on TV would brand a Muslim as a terrorist. It so happened that it

was part of the program that we (Christian participants) have to stay in a Muslim home for

3 days and 2 nights, that is, from Friday after lunch to Sunday after breakfast. And for the

Muslim participants they will also have their foster Christian family. Mondays to

Thursdays are meant for Christian and Islamic teachings.

I was able to stay under a Muslim roof for three times. But I will only share the family that

said something “meaty” regarding the issue of terrorism. It was the second family. The

family of Mr. Walkie Sappari were very accommodating. They are from the Sta. Catalina.

This was the ground zero during the Zamboanga siege on September 9-28, 2013. By this

time I asked Kuya Walkie and his brother how was the experience then. Of course it was

so horrible. But the most intriguing thing was that when they shared the things behind that

siege. They said that those bandits as they name them, most of them were actually farmers

in Bazilan, a nearby island to Zamboanga. They were promised a pay for a rally in

Zamboanga City. But when they arrived in the city they were shocked because instead of

placards and tarpaulins they were given guns. And shortly after that, the Zamboanga siege

began. They do not know what to do but to defend their lives. And then ridiculously, the

army troops deployed there were not from Zamboanga but from Gingoog City and other

cities. The crisis in Zamboanga also happened when Pork Barrel scam was then a very hot

issue in the senate. It was even the late Sen. Miriam Santiago who accused Sen. Enrile

(involved in the scam) the person behind the Zamboanga siege to divert the focus of the

media and the news. In short, my foster father would say that there is a powerful man

behind this. It was not about religion.

 4

Another sharing from one of my Muslim co-participant, Mr. Marvin Alam, form Sulu

would say something very related to the former story above. He said that in Sulu gun shots

are so normal. But the very sad thing was that when the govern troops are hungry, a chopper

would come down and dispatch food. However, when the Abusayafs got hungry, another

chopper would come down for their food. He said, “Brother, wala namang ibang

nagmamay-ari ng helicopter kundi and gobyerno lang.” They are just fooling us. In short,

there is someone, again a powerful figure behind these things.

Further, Ms. Jamila-Aisha P. Sanguila, a historian professor from Mindanao State

University (MSU) Marawi shared another thought regarding the five-month-long war that

happened in Marawi which started on May 23, 2017. She was invited by the Silsilah to talk

about the History of Islam in the Philippines. In one of the sessions she shared to us that

some of the Maute members were her former students. She never thought that they can do

such things. They were participative in the class. She thought of one reason that these

student Muslims were so eager and dauntless in doing such things, that is, the manner of

teaching the history. She said that some of the historian professors in Marawi (not only in

the MSU) but even outside Marawi taught history in a different way or angle. It is like

teaching a perspective of history that can provoke the Muslims to fight for their so called

“right” of the land. They always claim that long before the Christians came in Mindanao

Muslims were already living civilly. Those are the times that Muslims own land in the

plane, but now they are in the mountains. Ms. Jamila would say that parts of it are true but

not the whole thing. Yes Muslims came before the Christians but long before the Muslim

came native Filipinos or native people are already tilling the lands. This part is very crucial

because it would create war. It would instigate fire.

 5

III. ASSERTING

After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and during the war in

Afghanistan, Pope John Paul II strongly opposed the idea of a clash of civilizations and

religions.3 He is against with this exploitation of religious faith for political or military

goal, which is also happening in the Muslim areas in Mindanao for so many decades. This

is not a war between religions and even land. There is something behind this conflict. And

base on these raw data, one could say that it is political.

Early on in his message, Pope (Saint) John Paul II pointed to the reality of mysterium

iniquitatis, the reality of evil, will not have a final say in this struggle for peace. 4 At the

heart of terrorism or any conflict for that matter is the reality of evil that has to be

confronted face-to-face by a pro-active and long-lasting response. This political

connivance involving influential civilians, politicians, and people in the armed forces has

wreaked havoc for the lives of so many innocent civilians, both Christians and Muslim, for

the past decades. In this context, the evil that we face has taken three distinct but certainly

interconnected forms:

1. deceit and exploitation of innocent civilians together with the

2. proliferation of weapons of war and terrorism resulting to

3. the injury and death of civilians (including damage to their property and livelihood).

Deceit and exploitation of innocent people has been the methodology utilized by punitive

and opportunistic forces in society who were supposed to serve the common good

3
John Paul II, Message for the 2002 World Day of Peace, 4: AAS 94 (2002), 134.
4
Ibid., 1.
 6

especially of those who are most vulnerable. For instance, the deception done on the

farmers from Basilan or the historical revisionism done by supposedly educated

academicians for their own agenda has proven fatal. On this regard, while affirming the

reality and the positive impact already brought about by dialogue and exchange of ideas,

the Church cannot deny the fact that the truth is often colored by diverse ideological

systems.5 This yields, more often than not, disastrous results. The Pope continued his

prophetic message by pointing out that

When terrorist organizations use their own followers as weapons to be

launched against defenceless and unsuspecting people they show clearly the

death-wish that feeds them. Terrorism springs from hatred, and it generates

isolation, mistrust and closure.

Misinformation and instigation have often lead to the formation of ruthless self-destructive

terrorists, most often deprived of opportunities for holistic education and gainful

employment. Sadly, children and young people are recruited, also. This is no small issue

as the Church strongly condemns this danger to their lives which has deprived them also

of the normal childhood that they deserve.6

From what has been pointed out earlier, there seems to be an unholy alliance between

businessmen, politicians, and members of the armed forces to perpetuate conflict in order

to offer a distraction from the pressing issues at hand and to prolong punitive and unjust

socio-political systems that render the poor poorer and the rich richer. This is in exact

5
Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes (GS) (7
December 1965), no. 4.
6
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
(CSDC), no. 512.
 7

variance with what the Church teaches on the equilibrium to be kept between public

intervention on private freedom, especially as regards healthy business practices. 7 At the

heart of the issue is political corruption that disintegrates social justice and peace and

results to the eventual weakening and collapse of the social order.

The proliferation of weapons of war has become common sight. As a fellow reporter

narrated, where there was supposed to be a stick or piece of wood to keep a kubo window

open, a rifle was placed instead. The Church in its social doctrine points out that

The sale and trafficking of such weapons constitute a serious threat to peace:

these arms kill and are used for the most part in internal and regional

conflicts; their ready availability increases both the risk of new conflicts and

the intensity of those already underway.

These weapons, in the hands of the men, women, and even children who have been

radicalized has yielded so much violence and death of many innocent people. Terrorism is

a scourge that continues not only to kill people but also deprive people of true peace and

sense of security. The social Compendium, taking its cue from the message of Pope John

Paul II, calls out terrorism as something coming

From being a subversive strategy typical of certain extremist organizations,

aimed at the destruction of material goods or the killing of people, terrorism

has now become a shadowy network of political collusion.8

7
CSDC, no. 354.
8
Ibid., no. 513.
 8

Targeting mostly the most innocent people, terrorism utilizes sophisticated technology

supported by immense financial resources and is involved in large-scale planning. In an

almost shadow-play fashion, innocent (and not-so-innocent) people are coopted into a

moro-moro battle that leave them either dead or next-to-dead with their hearts and their

homes damaged to an almost irreparable state while leaving the people in position

unscathed using public resources for personal interests and against public welfare. Stirring

conflict left and right in order to keep the status quo while concealing the real situation

from the eye of the short-sighted mainstream media. What comes out is not any more a

religious conflict but a clash of classes.

IV. PASTORAL OPTIONS

Our Christian faith demands a Christian response. Our response to this depraved situation

is as possible (but all-too-complicated) pursuit for true peace and reconciliation. As the

saintly Pope once said,

No peace without justice, no justice without forgiveness.9

But in order to traverse this road, we propose certain moral, spiritual and catechetical

options to be made.

1. Moral Implication

First, corruption must be quelled from its very root, from the smallest barangay official

to the highest political official. The painful fact that religion is coopted into the conflict

gravitates the moral implication of such corrupt practices that has rendered the lives of

so many destroyed and the land drenched with the blood of innocent lives. Livelihood

9
John Paul II, World Day of Peace, no. 15.
 9

and integrated and inclusive progress and development is rendered almost impossible

especially in the areas directly affected by the conflict.

Second, education for peace in all levels must be integrated in the curriculum together

with a balanced perspective into history and current events. All forms of revisionism

and proliferation of fake news must be quelled immediately as it starts. Also, this

education for peace must include a healthy sense of nationalism, transcending barriers

such a religious and political biases.

Third and lastly, disarmament, in its informed sense must be put in place. Weapons in

the wrong hands can spell disaster not only for a family but for a whole faith

community, tribe, or locality. Production and importation of weapons must be strictly

monitored by government and civic agencies tasked to do so. Cooperation is crucial on

this regard.

2. Spiritual Implication

First, pastoral care for men and women in the armed forces must be seen in a more

organic and lively sense, such that genuine evangelization and conversion will come

about especially among the men and women in uniform. This is primarily the task of

the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines (MOP) and in coordination with the local

Churches and religious communities within the vicinity.

Secondly, prayer for peace cannot be overlooked. Genuine peace is the gift of the Prince

of Peace and is Himself the peace (Ephesians 2:14) that the world cannot give. This

prayer is also manifested in joint movements and fora among religious communities

and others sectors to share insights and projects that bridge a better response to the

conflict.
 10

3. Catechetical Implication

A catechesis on peace and the scourge brought about by war and terrorism must be

presented also. With the help of Scriptural foundations and insights from Tradition, the

Church is better able to elaborate the genuine sense of the “shalom” so longed-for by

all peoples. Without being too eschatological-spiritualistic, this catechesis may also

present actual situations and certain principles that guide the Church’s approach in

responding pastorally to these challenges.

V. CONCLUSION

At the heart of this conflict is the reality of evil and sin, two realities that have become part

of our fallen nature and yet we continue to militate against in our effort to imitate Christ,

the perfect Man. The Church Militant, in its struggle against sin, groans with all of creation

as it yearns with faith, hope, and love for true peace and reconciliation. This armed and

socio-political conflict with a religious twist has taken its toll on the lives of innocent

children and has given way to an almost irreversible destruction of the environment.

We can only work for peace in true patience and perseverance taking our cue from the

pedagogy of God who patiently chides and guides His people until they can come to their

full stature in Christ. May we never tire in doing good! (Galatians 6:9). Amen.
 11

REFERENCES:

John Paul II. Message for the 2002 World Day of Peace: AAS 94 (2002), 134.
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
(CSDC) (2 April 2004).
Vatican II. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes (GS)
(7 December 1965).