10 Filipino religious leaders to sit down with Pope Francis

MANILA, Philippines - Ten leaders of various religious groups will be meet with Pope Francis during his visit in January, an official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said on Monday.

Father Carlo Reyes, executive secretary of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue, said that among those invited to sit down with Pope Francis at the University of the Sto. Tomas are a Buddhist in Taiwan, the Archbishop of Orthodox Church of Constantinople based in Hong Kong, and some religious leaders based in the Philippines.

The prelate said that one of the qualifications to be selected to sit down with the Pope is that the religious group should be active in pushing for the ecumenical movement and organizing dialogues to achieving lasting peace.

"We tried to seek peace and unity and the Pope is promoting the ecumenical movement at ang isa pa yung interreligious dialogue," Father Reyes said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Imam Council of the Philippines and Philippine National Police Chaplain Service said they see forging better relations between Christians and Muslims in the country with the Pope's visit.

Imam Ibrahim Moxir Alhaj said the Pope's visit will not only be a blessing to the Christian community, but also to the whole country as well.

"Nagpapasalamat na makikita ang pinakamataas na lider ng Catholic religion sana yun din ang simula na sana tayong mga pilipino magiging aktibo sa pagsama at paglahok sa ating mga program," Imam Moxir said.

"Una ang masasabi ko kay Pope, sana ay patuloy na magiging mutual and symbiotic ang relationship between Christian at Islam religions. Tayong Pilipino ay magkaisa para sa kapayapaan sa Pilipinas," he added.