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, 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 is given to Muslim and Christian dialogue.

VISION

In the name of God, the fountain and source of dialogue, Silsilah envisions a life-in-dialogue for all Muslims, Christians, and peoples of other living faiths in respect, trust and love for one another, and moving together towards a common experience of harmony solidarity and peace.

MISSION

As instruments of dialogue and peace, we, the members of Silsilah commit ourselves:

- To live the essence of our respective faiths and bear witness to the values of our own religious traditions;
- To be in dialogue with all peoples, regardless of culture and faith, promoting a Culture of Dialogue with particular emphasis on spiritual values; and
- To be in solidarity with all peoples in the uplift of the less privileged, in the building
of a progressive, just humane and ecologically sound society.

CALL

Recognizing the uniqueness of each religion, people are called to undergo a process of spiritual growth by continuously discovering God’s dialogue with humanity. It is a call to live the spirituality of life-in-dialogue and to witness God’s presence in the plurality of cultures and religions as a habitat and an experience that leads to dialogue and peace.