FREED CARMELITE SISTERS SAW KIDNAP AS OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE LIVES WITH MUSLIMS

[graciandelamadrededios]

Ten Carmelite Sisters, kidnapped July 11 by Muslim rebels, returned to their hilltop monastery here July 17, thanking God for the opportunity to share for a while the life of the Muslim people.

"For years we´ve looked down on the Muslim homes below, around the shores of Lake Lanao, and wondered what their life was, and now we know," said Carmelite Mother Madeleine Ledesma, prioress of the cloistered monastery.

An American Protestant missioner, Brian Lawrence, kidnapped July 12 in Marawi City by other Muslim rebels, was released July 18. Paris Foreign Mission Father Michel de Gigord was similarly kidnapped for three weeks in June.

The sisters said their kidnappers treated them well. One sister called it a to picnic," because their captors were kind to them and gave them special treats, such as roast corn.

They said they would not testify against their kidnappers if the case came to court, but a young postulant said she was frightened throughout the five days.

"God has been glorified," Sister Teresa, spokesperson for Carmelite Sisters in Manila, told UCA News.

"Our sisters have shown, by the graciousness and courage of their words on their release, that they love the Muslim people without any thought of converting them.

"The experience did more to draw the sisters and Muslims close together than years of talking could ever manage," she said.

Bishop Fernando Capalla of Iligan, named special emissary to the kidnappers by Pope John Paul II, said "(they) realize they participated in a ´dialogue of life´ between Muslims and Christians.

"They experienced literally having been lower than the Muslims who had power over them." Bishop Capalla said. "They feel lucky to have been given that experience, (but) we are not yet at ease.

"There are too many unanswered questions about who did this and why."

Many people whom UCA News interviewed in Marawi and Iligan attributed the kidnapping to followers of Lanao del Sur province´s former governor, Ali Dimaporo, a supporter of deposed President Ferdinand Marcos.

Removed from office by President Corazon Aquino, Dimaporo heads a private army nicknamed the "Barracudas," estimated to have up to 5,000 members.

Observers said the kidnappings are meant to demonstrate the lack of power of Aquino´s appointees to local offices and to indicate that Dimaporo and his followers should be returned to office to keep order.

The sisters, however, said kidnappers told them they were kidnapped to make the public aware of Muslim demands for autonomy, as stated in the 1976 Tripoli Agreement, signed by the Philippine government and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels.

The kidnappers also said they wanted to punish Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila, describing him as anti-Muslim and too influential with President Aquino. They blamed Cardinal Sin for Aquino´s failure to do anything for Muslims since coming to power in February.

Aquino promised to punish the sisters´ kidnappers, but observers said the president´s firmness had little effect.

"Muslim groups in southern Mindanao kidnapped three other people within a few days of the sisters´ release, so they obviously don´t believe the government has such a ´get tough´ policy," he said.

Bishop Capalla said Muslim religious leaders asked him to use the term "Maranao" (the tribal name of Lanao del Sur Muslims) rather than "Muslim," when describing kidnappers and politicians behind the crimes.

The kidnappings were "un-Islamic," the Muslim leaders said.

At one point, the bishop said, he was afraid some Catholics would retaliate against Maranaos for kidnapping the sisters. "I begged them not to do anything. It wasn´t right and wouldn´t do any good," he said.

Despite the sisters´ release, neither Bishop Capalla nor Bishop Bienvenido Tudtud of Marawi indicated they see an end to kidnappings.

"Bishop Tudtud knows something like this may happen again but he´s not taking any precautions," Bishop Capalla said. "This is not a religious problem but the Church sits in the middle of it all.

"It seems the Marawi Church is the sacrificial lamb," he said.

"We are preparing to respond to this role as a Church, so we are discussing what we should do should a similar incident occur. We will try to deal with the crisis but we will not fight it head on," Bishop Capalla said.

"We prefer to make a non-violent response.

Bishop Capalla´s Iligan diocese -- most of Lanao del Norte province -- is 76 percent Catholic; Bishop Tudtud´s Marawi prelature ~- the rest of Lanao del Norte and all of Lanao del Sur province -- is about 8 percent Catholic.

Marawi and Iligan are about 25 km apart, almost 900 km south of Manila.

The sister´s kidnapping was the third experienced by Bishop Tudtud. Sister Delia Coronel was kidnapped in 1978 and Father de Gigord in June. Both were also released unharmed.

-- The Carmelite Sisters came to Marawi in 1984 at Bishop Tudtud´s invitation to pray for peace between Muslim and Christians.

Since the late 1960s, more than 100,000 people have been killed in fighting between government troops and Muslim rebels seeking autonomy for the Muslim regions of Mindanao, about half of the country´s second-largest island.

The Carmelite monastery sits on the highest hill in the area and overlooks Lake Lanao, the cultural heartland of Maranao Muslims.

The sisters adapted their customs to the Muslim environment. Their songs and dress at prayer are Muslim in inspiration, Sister Teresa said.

She said Carmelite Sisters in Marawi "witness to the folly of the cross, the purity of the Lord, and keep the spirit of prayer active in that world -- in short, they adore."

"Why were the sisters kidnapped when they had done no evil?" Sister Teresa asked rhetorically. "Why did Jesus Christ die on the cross?"

-- Mother Ledesma wrote the following selection for the book, "The Asian Religious Sensibility and Carmelite Spirituality:"

"I am a Filipina. And I am a Carmelite. I was born a Filipina and became a Carmelite at 17. That is, I was a Filipina before I became a Carmelite, but it was only after I became a Carmelite that I became aware of how Filipina I was.

"Perhaps because my education was so Western, the mentality I was exposed to in my early years (was) so colonial. Anyway, it was my being a Carmelite that made me touch the depths and riches of my being a Filipina.

"Our community (in Marawi) is an all-Filipina community and has been from the start. Although there is still much of the colonial mentality, especially among our older Sisters, our community flavor is unmistakably Filipina."

 

NOTE: Mother Mary Madeleine Ledesma used to be the President of the Association of Monasteries of Discalced Carmelite Nuns in the Philippines in and Marawi Carmel has been suppressed due to dangers of terrorism, with the nuns disperse to other Carmels.

 

[BarbTherese]

21 hours ago, graciandelamadrededios said:

Ten Carmelite Sisters, kidnapped July 11 by Muslim rebels, returned to their hilltop monastery here July 17, thanking God for the opportunity to share for a while the life of the Muslim people.

"For years we´ve looked down on the Muslim homes below, around the shores of Lake Lanao, and wondered what their life was, and now we know," said Carmelite Mother Madeleine Ledesma, prioress of the cloistered monastery.

An American Protestant missioner, Brian Lawrence, kidnapped July 12 in Marawi City by other Muslim rebels, was released July 18. Paris Foreign Mission Father Michel de Gigord was similarly kidnapped for three weeks in June.

The sisters said their kidnappers treated them well. One sister called it a to picnic," because their captors were kind to them and gave them special treats, such as roast corn.

They said they would not testify against their kidnappers if the case came to court, but a young postulant said she was frightened throughout the five days.

"God has been glorified," Sister Teresa, spokesperson for Carmelite Sisters in Manila, told UCA News.

"Our sisters have shown, by the graciousness and courage of their words on their release, that they love the Muslim people without any thought of converting them.

"The experience did more to draw the sisters and Muslims close together than years of talking could ever manage," she said.

Bishop Fernando Capalla of Iligan, named special emissary to the kidnappers by Pope John Paul II, said "(they) realize they participated in a ´dialogue of life´ between Muslims and Christians.

"They experienced literally having been lower than the Muslims who had power over them." Bishop Capalla said. "They feel lucky to have been given that experience, (but) we are not yet at ease.

"There are too many unanswered questions about who did this and why."

Many people whom UCA News interviewed in Marawi and Iligan attributed the kidnapping to followers of Lanao del Sur province´s former governor, Ali Dimaporo, a supporter of deposed President Ferdinand Marcos.

Removed from office by President Corazon Aquino, Dimaporo heads a private army nicknamed the "Barracudas," estimated to have up to 5,000 members.

Observers said the kidnappings are meant to demonstrate the lack of power of Aquino´s appointees to local offices and to indicate that Dimaporo and his followers should be returned to office to keep order.

The sisters, however, said kidnappers told them they were kidnapped to make the public aware of Muslim demands for autonomy, as stated in the 1976 Tripoli Agreement, signed by the Philippine government and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels.

The kidnappers also said they wanted to punish Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila, describing him as anti-Muslim and too influential with President Aquino. They blamed Cardinal Sin for Aquino´s failure to do anything for Muslims since coming to power in February.

Aquino promised to punish the sisters´ kidnappers, but observers said the president´s firmness had little effect.

"Muslim groups in southern Mindanao kidnapped three other people within a few days of the sisters´ release, so they obviously don´t believe the government has such a ´get tough´ policy," he said.

Bishop Capalla said Muslim religious leaders asked him to use the term "Maranao" (the tribal name of Lanao del Sur Muslims) rather than "Muslim," when describing kidnappers and politicians behind the crimes.

The kidnappings were "un-Islamic," the Muslim leaders said.

At one point, the bishop said, he was afraid some Catholics would retaliate against Maranaos for kidnapping the sisters. "I begged them not to do anything. It wasn´t right and wouldn´t do any good," he said.

Despite the sisters´ release, neither Bishop Capalla nor Bishop Bienvenido Tudtud of Marawi indicated they see an end to kidnappings.

"Bishop Tudtud knows something like this may happen again but he´s not taking any precautions," Bishop Capalla said. "This is not a religious problem but the Church sits in the middle of it all.

"It seems the Marawi Church is the sacrificial lamb," he said.

"We are preparing to respond to this role as a Church, so we are discussing what we should do should a similar incident occur. We will try to deal with the crisis but we will not fight it head on," Bishop Capalla said.

"We prefer to make a non-violent response.

Bishop Capalla´s Iligan diocese -- most of Lanao del Norte province -- is 76 percent Catholic; Bishop Tudtud´s Marawi prelature ~- the rest of Lanao del Norte and all of Lanao del Sur province -- is about 8 percent Catholic.

Marawi and Iligan are about 25 km apart, almost 900 km south of Manila.

The sister´s kidnapping was the third experienced by Bishop Tudtud. Sister Delia Coronel was kidnapped in 1978 and Father de Gigord in June. Both were also released unharmed.

-- The Carmelite Sisters came to Marawi in 1984 at Bishop Tudtud´s invitation to pray for peace between Muslim and Christians.

Since the late 1960s, more than 100,000 people have been killed in fighting between government troops and Muslim rebels seeking autonomy for the Muslim regions of Mindanao, about half of the country´s second-largest island.

The Carmelite monastery sits on the highest hill in the area and overlooks Lake Lanao, the cultural heartland of Maranao Muslims.

The sisters adapted their customs to the Muslim environment. Their songs and dress at prayer are Muslim in inspiration, Sister Teresa said.

She said Carmelite Sisters in Marawi "witness to the folly of the cross, the purity of the Lord, and keep the spirit of prayer active in that world -- in short, they adore."

"Why were the sisters kidnapped when they had done no evil?" Sister Teresa asked rhetorically. "Why did Jesus Christ die on the cross?"

-- Mother Ledesma wrote the following selection for the book, "The Asian Religious Sensibility and Carmelite Spirituality:"

"I am a Filipina. And I am a Carmelite. I was born a Filipina and became a Carmelite at 17. That is, I was a Filipina before I became a Carmelite, but it was only after I became a Carmelite that I became aware of how Filipina I was.

"Perhaps because my education was so Western, the mentality I was exposed to in my early years (was) so colonial. Anyway, it was my being a Carmelite that made me touch the depths and riches of my being a Filipina.

"Our community (in Marawi) is an all-Filipina community and has been from the start. Although there is still much of the colonial mentality, especially among our older Sisters, our community flavor is unmistakably Filipina."

 

NOTE: Mother Mary Madeleine Ledesma used to be the President of the Association of Monasteries of Discalced Carmelite Nuns in the Philippines in and Marawi Carmel has been suppressed due to dangers of terrorism, with the nuns disperse to other Carmels.

 

Great post

I am now bedridden while my son and b4other have g9ne To The Lord. I AM SHARING IN A SMALL WAY IN THE SUFFERING OF MARY. BOTH DIED IN PEAÇE SIX WEEKS AGO.

MY COMPUTER LAID UP AND TOO HARD TO WRITE ON MOBILE OR CELL PHONE.

[graciandelamadrededios]

please be assured of my poor prayers.