Jesuit university honors dialogue movement founder

FATHER Sebastiano D’Ambra, founder of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement, was honored Thursday by the Ateneo de Manila University with the “Bukas Palad Award.”

The Award was originally named after Fr. Manuel Peypoch, a Jesuit who taught at the Ateneo de Manila, who distinguished himself in serving the Jesuit Order, the Church and society in the areas of education and culture, in social and human development concerns.

The award was first given in 1963 to Msgr. Jose Jovellanos.

The Award was renamed “Bukas-Palad Award” to “capture the Ignatian spirit of Generosity and to give recognition to the unconditional, dedicated service of Religious in Christ’s Kingdom.”

The award was given to D’Ambra in recognition of his founding of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement “which helped plant the seeds of inter-religious dialogue in the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao.”

In his acceptance remarks, he expressed his deep gratitude to the Ateneo. “It is not just an honor but a responsibility to fulfill,” he said.

D’Ambra is a native of Sicily, Italy. A few years after his sacerdotal ordination he was assigned in 1977 to the PIME mission station in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte where he observed the uneasy relationship between the Muslim, Lumad and Christian residents.

Report from Philippine Information Agency