Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC): 300 members of civil society institutions and organizations met at the UC

New challenges of communication and collaborative work, were taken away by the 300 people who attended the VI UC Social Congress “Dialogue for Unity” . Build bridges of dialogue, meet others, let them know me and learn to listen, were just some of the conclusions expressed by attendees. Through talks, panels and conversations, they set out to better understand the concepts of dialogue and listening.

The meeting, organized by the Directorate of Pastoral and Christian Culture, began with a conference by Alfredo Zamudio, director of the Chile Mission of the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue: “Today’s theme is unity and I would like to expand it to how to build a shared future, where there is not necessarily unity, but where it is possible to share within diversity, because we are all different, we all think differently, we all have a different history, we all have different memories and pains”, indicated Zamudio.

The speaker explained that dialogue is a form of communication that offers time and space for people to show the complexity of their respective realities. “Do you realize that it is a little different than what you think? What one sees in political language or in the press? Here it does not say agreement, here it does not say consensus, here it does not say negotiation, here it does not say similarities. It says that people can show the complexity of their respective realities”, emphasized the speaker.

Alfredo Zamudio emphasized that there are two very useful tools in democracy to confront and present ideas: debate and dialogue . “Both are very legit. The debate has an objective that is to win. One wants to win an argument, so he tries to convince the other, he opposes, he looks for the opponent’s weak argument. He is a kind of moral judge who tells you ‘I know better than you’, even makes the other person feel a little insecure ”.

“Dialogue is very different, because its goal is not to win, but to understand. (…) Try to find a way to explain and have the other explain. Find a way to listen and for the other to listen to me. Look for the strength of the opponent. It requires self discipline. It also requires tolerance and resilience to listen to things that can be quite uncomfortable,” he noted.

“Precisely to achieve dialogue in the country, it is necessary to be willing to find ourselves accepting different realities and be willing to listen to those uncomfortable conversations,” said the Nansen Center member from Norway, to the 300 people present in the Center’s Fresno Room. UC Extension.

“Precisely to achieve dialogue in the country, it is necessary to be willing to find ourselves accepting different realities and to be willing to listen to those uncomfortable conversations” – Alfredo Zamudio, Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue.

Promote national dialogue
Foundations, organizations and companies met to delve into the issues that are setting the tone at the national level, and, in light of the Social Doctrine of the Church, collaborate and commit to building a better country.

It is in this context that the UC rector, Ignacio Sánchez, stressed the importance of having this type of meetings and conversations, especially considering the importance they have for the house of studies. “Our public role as a university has manifested itself in the capacity of our institution to promote and strengthen dialogue in our country. A so necessary aspect for our society; There are several examples, such as ‘We have to talk about Chile’, ‘La UC Dialoga’ and many other initiatives that help dialogue. In this sixth version we want to respond to the invitation of Pope Francis when he visited Chile and asked us to dialogue for unity. For this reason, I would like to invite you to establish a dialogue for unity in this congress, for our country and for the university”.

For his part, Monsignor Celestino Aós, Archbishop of Santiago and Grand Chancellor of the UC, prayed the Prayer for Peace of Saint Francis of Assisi . “Saint Francis of Assisi grew in his love for the Church and for society. And he was becoming an agent and instrument of peace. That is why we know that simply intelligence is not enough. If we really want a dialogue, we have to start by spending -like Francis of Assisi- a lot of time looking at Jesus on the cross, praying. Without that, we are not able to open our hearts”.

Panels and meeting tables
In the VI Social Congress, 300 members of civil society organizations participated, representing 100 organizations, from foundations to companies, motivated by a genuine interest in the development of dialogue and encounter in Chile.

The instance had three thematic panels that guided the reflection around the most urgent needs: “Craftsmanship of peace”, “Recognition of a ‘we’” and “Towards a shared human project”. Some of the panelists were Gustavo Toro, mayor of the San Ramón commune; Izani Bruch, Protestant chaplain of La Moneda; and Claudio Orrego, Governor of the Metropolitan Region.

Some of the panelists were Gustavo Toro, mayor of the San Ramón commune; Izani Bruch, Protestant chaplain of La Moneda; and Claudio Orrego, Governor of the Metropolitan Region.

In addition, certain topics were proposed to discuss in small Meeting Tables. Eight people were grouped together and exchanged experiences on civic friendship, migration, social economy, human transcendence and integral ecology, among others.

Father Jorge Merino, Senior Chaplain of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, highlighted the atmosphere and attitude of the attendees. “With great joy, we saw many people participating; it was seen that there was a desire to share, to learn, to dialogue to build peace and unity.”

“Here we echo the words of Pope Francis when he says that the University has to be a contribution to society. Today we see that in Chile a lot of dialogue is needed, a lot of unity is needed and, therefore, with simplicity from the University and, led by the Pastoral, we want to contribute to favoring dialogue. For this reason, the Meeting Tables were also important, because they precisely allowed us not to stay only in theory, listening to great exponents, but also for us to be able to dialogue and get good ideas and then carry them out”, stressed the UC Mayor Chaplain .

Meanwhile, Benjamin Cruz F., director of the UC Pastoral, celebrated the instance. “It was a very exciting day, because this is the sixth congress after 10 years since we held the first version, and doing it again in person has been a tremendous challenge. It has been valuable to meet again, to regenerate networks and ties between institutions and people. The great challenge is that we leave this congress with the desire to contribute to Chile, to contribute to a fairer and more fraternal society”.

“This year’s congress is super relevant to the context we are experiencing at a social, political and cultural level. This is a super forceful response to not only staying in dialogue, but also mobilizing for action”.

To end the meeting, the Mayor Chaplain of the UC blessed the reflections of each work group, which will be transcribed, analyzed and grouped into a document, to later present a report, in the form of a digital book, on everything that was experienced. in the VI UC Social Congress and the challenges faced by the participants.