MANILA, Philippines ? Cebu?s top Catholic Church leader has directed all priests in the province to say what Catholic tradition considers to be a very powerful prayer ? oratio imperata ? for peace in Mindanao.

Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal ordered all priests in the archdiocese of Cebu to say the prayer for lasting peace in Mindanao during Mass.

?The recent violence in Mindanao is a call to double our efforts in our quest for genuine and lasting peace. In view of this urgent need, we will have a new oratio imperata to be prayed in all Masses after the post communion prayer,? Vidal said in his one-page circular.

The oratio imperata, which means obligatory prayer, is an old Catholic tradition where the bishop leads the community in prayer for a special intention. This prayer is recited kneeling.

Msgr. Esteban Binghay, the episcopal vicar in the Archdiocese of Cebu, said priests have started to include the oratio imperata in last Sunday?s Masses.

Binghay said the Catholic Church in Cebu supported the call for a peaceful Mindanao.

He said this was not the first time that the Cardinal directed them to say the oratio imperata.

Binghay said Cardinal Vidal also invoked the oratio imperata during the outbreak of dengue, the spread of SARS, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and other calamities.

Muslim leaders in Cebu have committed to help guard against terror attacks in the province as a possible offshoot of the Mindanao war.

Malacañang has floated the idea of amending the Constitution to set up a federal system of government as an answer to demands made by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for its own territory to govern.

But Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra said Charter change was untimely.

The proposal must be closely watched to determine its real intention, Navarra said.

Andres Hagad, of the Peace Advocates of Negros, said he favored Charter change only after 2010 when Ms Arroyo steps down and only through a constitutional convention.

Hagad said people are apprehensive that Charter change occurring before Ms Arroyo steps down could lead to an extension of her term.

While Charter change is needed, it should not be done now, Hagad said.

The leftist Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), in a press statement in Bacolod, also said the proposal to amend the Constitution will not change the lives of the poor.

?The moves of [Ms] Arroyo for Charter change will not uplift the worsening state of Negros workers in the haciendas and sugar mills,? said the KMU on Tuesday.

Instead of setting up a federal system, the Arroyo administration should start attending to the needs of workers, particularly in the sugar industry, who are suffering from pittance wages. With Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas