MANILA, Philippines—The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, has offered a prayer for peace in the conflict-ridden region of Mindanao.

In a statement issued Thursday, Lagdameo said the conflict that stemmed from the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government has escalated into a war.

Lagdameo said the prayer that the priests and the faithful can use called for “true and lasting peace” in Mindanao since the ongoing fighting has killed dozens of civilians and soldiers from both sides and displaced hundreds of thousands of families.

“We offer this prayer as one nation and in solidarity with the Mindanao Bishops as well as with the thousands of innocent people who are forced to evacuate and live in uncertainty and fear because of the current crisis and war,” the CBCP president said.