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An interfaith initiative has been “revitalized” with a new name and structure to better address the evolving needs of its mission for dialogue and peace.
Formerly known as the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC), it has been renamed the Mindanao Religious Leaders Conference (MiRLeC), reaffirming its commitment to promoting peace and sustainable development.
In a statement released Oct. 9, the organization said their commitment to peace “is guided by the values of love, justice, harmony, respect, integrity, unity, reconciliation, spirituality, and humanity.”
“Our commitment is concretely manifested in the revitalization of our role in peacebuilding through our organization platform,” the MiRLeC declared.
The group said interfaith-based peacebuilding remains crucial to sustaining the gains of the peace process and ensuring that Muslims, Christians and Indigenous Peoples enjoy meaningful peace and development.
Leading the MirLeC is Bishop Edwin dela Peña of Marawi, representing the Catholic bishops of Mindanao and who will also serve as the new interim chairman of the revitalized organization.
Dela Peña is also the current chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue (ECID) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Aside from Dela Peña, other signatories of the statement include Dr. Muhammad Nadzir Ebil, representing Muslim religious leaders; Timuay Jerry Datuwata of the indigenous peoples; Rev. Dennis Magno of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines; and Bishop Genesis Uding of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches.
The decision to rename and restructure the BUC followed recent discussions among key religious leaders seeking to reinvigorate the organization.
The BUC was co-founded in 1996 by the late Archbishop Fernando Capalla of Davao, Islamic scholar Dr. Mahid Mutilan, and Bishop Hilario Gomez of the Protestant National Council of Churches of the Philippines.
Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, archbishop emeritus of Cotabato, acknowledged that the BUC “faded away” following Capalla’s illness due to old age. Capalla was the last surviving founder, with Mutilan passing in 2007 and Gomez in 2022.
During Capalla’s funeral in January 2024 at Davao Cathedral, Quevedo called for the continuation of the archbishop’s vision of peace and dialogue
“We pray that someone among the bishops of Mindanao would again establish another forum of BUC so that Bishop Nanding’s dream of peace and dialogue would continue as his legacy,” said Quevedo, who is also known for being at the forefront of peace efforts in the southern Philippines.