Ecumenical partners name empire, killings and a global call to peace in the Philippines
Webinar links extrajudicial killings to militarization and urges solidarity grounded in ‘shanti, shalom and salaam’
An international ecumenical webinar titled “Unpeace in the Philippines” convened Thursday, March 19, bringing church leaders, Filipino advocates and global partners together to confront what speakers described as a continuing crisis of violence, impunity and extrajudicial killings in the Philippines — a crisis they linked directly to global militarization and empire. Presbyterian Life & Witness global ecumenical liaisons (GELs) the Rev. Cobbie Palm and the Rev. Cathy Chang were in attendance, as was the Rev. Ellen Sherby, manager of the International-based GELs. They have made the full webinar and a selection of its keynotes accessible here. “The webinar is a glaring example of why global ecumenical partnerships matter,” said Chang. “The general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches gave a very compelling speech about empire, peace and justice, while our partners in the Philippines talked about how they've been confronting the violence of empire.”
The online forum was hosted by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines and the Global Ecumenical Forum for JustPeace in the Philippines, known as GEF-PH. It unfolded against a backdrop of widening global conflict, including war in West Asia, rising U.S.-China tensions in the Asia-Pacific and expanding military alliances.
Co-moderator of the webinar, the Rev. Dr. Patricia Lisson, who serves as vice chair of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines and is a minister in the United Church of Canada, opened by situating the Philippines within this wider moment of geopolitical instability.
“We meet in a time of escalating global conflict,” Lisson said, pointing to interconnected flashpoints that “are not isolated events” but signs of “the growing use of power against people worldwide.” She said the Philippine struggle for human rights and peace cannot be separated from these global forces of domination and militarization.
Co-moderator Patricia Mungcal, assistant program director of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, underscored that point from the perspective of everyday Filipino life. “Unpeace in one side of the world is unpeace in all parts of the world,” Mungcal said, describing how global wars and military posturing translate into local consequences such as oil price hikes, protests and deepening insecurity.
The keynote address was delivered by the Rev. Philip Peacock, general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches and an ordained minister of the Church of North India. Peacock framed the webinar as an act of faith in a violent world.
“To gather in a time such as ours to speak about peace itself is a profound act of faith,” he said, describing a global condition in which “violence seems relentless, where war and militarization shape our political imagination.”
Drawing on Scripture and interfaith language, Peacock urged participants to reclaim the meaning of peace across traditions. He pointed to the shared resonance of “shanti, shalom and salaam,” noting that these words are not sentimental ideals but visions rooted in justice, well-being and the flourishing of life.
Peacock warned that violence, often justified as necessary, is central to the logic of empire. “Violence has long been the language of empire,” he said, from colonial conquest to modern militarization. Yet, he cautioned against believing it can bring liberation. “Violence carries within it a dangerous tendency to reproduce itself,” Peacock said. “Violence rarely ends violence; more often it deepens cycles of violence.”
Invoking Jesus’ own warning, Peacock added, “Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword,” challenging churches to resist both the glorification of violence by states and its temptation among those who oppose injustice.
Turning directly to the Philippines, Peacock named what he called the “devastating reality of extrajudicial killings,” in which “thousands of lives have been taken without due process.” He said families have been left without justice and communities gripped by fear, raising urgent questions about whether silence is being mistaken for peace.
The Filipino context was explored further by Katrina de la Cruz, project manager of the Asia Pacific Research Network. De la Cruz traced how U.S. political, economic and military intervention has shaped Philippine history and present-day conditions of unpeace.
“Peace is something that needs to be experienced and lived,” de la Cruz said, describing Filipino concepts of peace as including freedom from fear, oppression and poverty, along with respect for human rights and national sovereignty. She linked foreign military agreements, neoliberal economic policies, and militarization to continuing social distress and violence.
The third speaker, the Rev. Dr. Chris Ferguson, former general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches and a member of the GEF-PH International Organizing Committee, emphasized that what is happening in the Philippines is part of a wider pattern. “Our struggle is global,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson argued that peace will not come through denunciations alone, but through justice struggles led by the people themselves. “The road to peace is through justice,” he said, calling on denominations to confront militarism, capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy as interconnected systems of violence.
He pointed to the Global Ecumenical Forum’s ongoing work to build and rebuild networks of solidarity across borders, noting connections with ecumenical forums in places such as Taiwan, Korea and Palestine. These efforts, he said, aim to expose how local repression is tied to global systems of power and to strengthen international accompaniment.
These forums, he said, aim to “connect the dots” between local struggles and global systems of power.
Ferguson challenged churches worldwide to make institutional commitments — not symbolic gestures — to accompany the Filipino people and other oppressed communities.
“Peace must become our project,” Ferguson said, echoing Peacock, and he urged participants to “pray, act and organize” for a future shaped not by empire but by justice, solidarity and life.
Athena Peralta, program executive for economic and ecological justice at the World Council of Churches, attended as respondent and offered a statement of solidarity, affirming the WCC’s commitment to accompany Philippine churches and communities facing violence and repression.
The webinar centered on a renewed call for churches not merely to speak about peace but to embody it — resisting extrajudicial killings, confronting empire and committing themselves to peace grounded in justice. As Peacock put it, peace is not passive, but is “a living project” demanding courage, solidarity and faith.
In addition to teaching her more about justice issues in the Philippines and their roots, Sherby said the webinar helped her to think "more deeply about our call as Christians, and for all people of faith, to work together for the justice that brings peace."
According to Sherby "international global ecumenical liaisons like Cobbie and Cathy seek to 'connect the dots' so that Presbyterians and partners around the world can build global awareness and connections to confront injustice and contribute to God’s kin-dom on Earth."
Connect with a global ecumenical liaison within Presbyterian Life & Witness.
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