August 13, 2012 News: Two members of the MILF peace panel who were invited to the International Meeting of Prayer for Peace in Sarajevo in September this year begged off from attending, citing pressures from the GPH-MILF peace negotiation.

Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF peace panel, and Atty. Datu Michael Mastura, senior panel member, asked the Community of Sant’Egidio, the organizer of the prayer meeting, to be relieved of the burden to participate in it.

The invitation for the two MILF negotiators was signed by Prof. Marco Impigliazzo, President of the Community of Sant'Egidio.

The same group invited Iqbal, Mastura, and a third member to Rome, Italy in March this year and had a lengthy exchanges of view with the Community’s high officials.  From Rome, the trio proceeded to Catalan in Spain to see for themselves how the self-movement is going on for decades after the death of General Franco.

The Community of Sant'Egidio is a Christian community that is officially recognized by the Catholic Church as a "Church public lay association". It claims 50,000 members in more than 70 countries. It was founded in Rome in 1968 by a group of Roman high school students led by Andrea Riccardi. It is named after the Roman Church of Sant'Egidio (Italian for Saint Giles) in Trastevere, its first permanent meeting place. Since 1968, the community has gathered each night to pray and read from the Bible, reflecting on the Gospel, eventually spreading throughout the world with a mission of helping those in need. Their activities include setting up refuges for the old, hospices for AIDS patients, and printing a handbook titled "Where to Eat, Sleep, and Wash in Rome" as gifts to the homeless.

The lay Catholic Community of Sant'Egidio is among global leaders on HIV/AIDS, running programs across Africa, pushing scientific research inter alia on mother child transmission, and advocating passionately that everyone deserves the best care

According to an official source in the Community, many heads of state, ministers and prominent national and international leaders will gather in Sarajevo together with high representatives of the main world religions (especially from several Christian Churches and from Islam, including representatives from Al-Azhar).

The source also disclosed that the underlined deep meaning of having this edition of the Also invited to this prayer meeting in Sarajevo is Secretary Teresita “Ging” Quintos-of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).