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FOR OBLATES OF MARY IMMACULATE AND
ALL PEOPLE OF FAITH |
"The Council Fathers knew that being open to modern
culture meant religious ecumenism and dialogue with non-believers.
But afterwards very little was done in that direction. I
have the humility and ambition to want to do something."
Pope Francis to Eugenio Scalfari, editor of La
Repubblica, Oct. 1, 2013.
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Dialogue, Part of the New Evangelization:
With the naming of
Oblate Archbishop Orlando Quevedo as our second current cardinal, we
have acquired a deeper and urgent need to be dialoguers.
Our superior general Louis Lougen OMI
put it this way in July, 2011:
"Our Oblate spirituality also brings
us into dialogue with people of other religious traditions.
Grounded in our Catholic faith, we
seek to understand how others believe in God.
Oblate
spirituality enables us to respect other religions and to work with them
so that our world will reflect the heart of God" (Catholic Digest,
July/August 20ll, pp. 28-29;
click here for the article.
Lougen recently visited
one of our missions in a Moslem majority country, and asked the Oblates
there:
what are you doing with Moslems?
Interestingly enough, Cardinal elect
Quevedo has spent most of his life furthering dialogue with Moslems in
the Philippines, and as archbishop of Cotabato on the island of Mindanao
has been influential in that area being named Autonomous Region for
Moslem Mindanao. Quevedo also was very influential in the forming
of the bishops of Asia into a conference which deals creatively with
dialogue with the major religions of all of Asia. Lougen commented on
Quevedo's appointment: By naming Archbishop Quevedo cardinal, Pope Francis
is giving a signal to all of us: it is the recognition of a very
committed missionary, a priest and bishop who leads by serving others,
whose main concern is the Gospel and the poor and who has worked
tirelessly to promote friendship between Christians and Muslims, to
support their struggle to live together in respect and peace,” stated
Fr. Louis Lougen, OMI, Superior General of the Missionary Oblates of
Mary Immaculate , the religious congregation to which Msgr. Quevedo,
Archbishop of Cotabato, on the island of Mindanao, belongs. Fr. Lougen explains: “Archbishop Quevedo is a man
of the Church with many gifts and who has always chosen to live simply
and whose option as a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate has always
been to be very close to the poor. He is a man of compassion, joy and
generosity. Pope Francis is showing what kind of Church we are called to
be by naming Archbishop Quevedo as cardinal”. The Superior says he is
convinced that for Quevedo, this honor at being designated a cardinal is
not to be “a prince of the Church” but is a confirmation that the
Church, and Archbishop Quevedo’s own life, are “to be like Jesus, a
servant who washed the disciples feet”. “As Oblates of Mary Immaculate we are happy and
proud,” he continues, “and rejoice in his being recognized for his
prophetic ministry as religious, missionary, priest and archbishop”. Fr. Lougen concludes with a hope for peace in Southern Philippines: “The process of peace depends on the efforts of everyone. It is my hope that this honor may bring attention to the importance of dialogue, respect and peace-building and may reinforce the commitment of all of us to this process.”
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