Thread by @carmelitequotes

.@silviojbaez presented an important conference to a @VidaReligiosa1 symposium in Madrid today on the theme, "In internal and external conflicts, mediation and reconciliation". We present here a summary of this morning's live tweets
THREAD 1/
@threadreaderapp unroll

.@silviojbaez states: dialog is the means to overcome destructive relationships that see the other person not only as a simple adversary, but as an enemy and only an enemy; one who has no family; one whose feelings or projects are not considered, because he/she is not human
2/

.@silviojbaez "We mustn't forget that the fundamental principle that should guide coexistence even in the toughest moments of a conflict is the inviolable dignity of the human being & that under no circumstances is the vulnerability or aggression to another person justified"
3/

.@silviojbaez underlines an essential point: "An authentic reconciliation has a historical character. It cannot be carried forward in the abstract. It means first of all to repair the past. We have to remember."
4/

.@silviojbaez speaking to religious: "Consecrated life's main contribution to reconciliation lies in the radical living of the community dimension of our existence, which highlights the reconciling power of Jesus and makes the Kingdom of God present in the world."
5/

.@silviojbaez addresses European religious that conflict "between members of religious communities & between entire peoples is a characteristic of our time; unfortunately, there is a risk that we will get used to it."
6/

.@silviojbaez stresses one fundamental point: "Conflict is something inherent to the human being. You could say that it is the very essence of life. Biological life is always struggling to maintain equilibriums and overcome threats."
7/

.@silviojbaez indicates that "conflict becomes abnormal only when it becomes a norm, that is when it becomes the ordinary characteristic of behavior and relationships at community and social levels."
8/

.@silviojbaez cites two well-known biblical stories: the story of Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-16) and the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9). Bishop Báez says scripture shows how conflict can drag us into "a wandering and dehumanizing path of fragmentation and death."
9/

.@silviojbaez raises one important point from the story of Cain and Abel: "There is always the 'other' that awakens in us jealousy, envy, suspicion, ambition, and inability to accept otherness."
10/

.@silviojbaez offers a solution: "The Lord invites you to be master of yourself and dominate your negative feeling that wants to dominate you like an inner beast; do not ignore or deny it, but remain serene before the mystery of diversity; do not get carried away by passion."
11/

.@silviojbaez shared three of his most popular refrains with European religious at the @VidaReligiosa1 conference: "Tener, subir y mandar" (to have, rise & send) must be replaced by "dar, bajar y servir" (to give, lower & serve)
H/T @educabalaguer
12/

.@silviojbaez The story of Cain shows us the root of the 'geographic cure': he wanders in search of himself. Only by recognizing the other in our diversity "can we know who we are; the vagabond who flees from himself knows he himself has been the cause of his misfortune."
13/

.@silviojbaez raises a curious point: in the story of Cain & Abel "throughout the story the two brothers never speak. The dialogue is non-existent." Thus "it is possible to welcome otherness as an opportunity since these differences open up a space for encounter & communion."
14/

.@silviojbaez regarding #Babel: "Faced with the risk of dispersion & diversity, a plan - a city, a tower & a name - is forged. In other words, what they seek is to avoid diversity, to resist the different & to build a unit that in the end is nothing more than 'uniformity'."
15/

.@silviojbaez "Humanity wants to have 'one language, literally, 'one lip', an expression that appears in extrabiblical texts of the time that celebrate the victory of a king that forces the defeated peoples to have 'same lips', i.e. a single speech imposed by the victor."
16/

.@silviojbaez says the conflict at Babel is the "human pride that seeks a forced uniformity and totalitarianism to which nothing would be impossible." However, "God appears in total disagreement with this absolutist power and prevents it."
17/

.@silviojbaez says God's "intervention at Babel is not a simple punishment. What it does is to prevent man's absurd ambition to make himself divine, creating the uniformity of thoughts, words, and actions by force, where one group stands as an absolute and totalitarian ruler"
18/

.@silviojbaez on Gen 11:5 "Then the Lord came down to see the city & the tower which they had built"
"God's intervention, which "comes down" is a blessing that avoids the curse of universal imperialism, i.e. the will to submit to social, religious, & political uniformity."
19/

.@silviojbaez "God prevents humanity from destroying an essential, sacred part of itself, because it is given and willed by God, which is 'diversity' and 'pluralism'."
20/

.@silviojbaez "Humanity, people & nations, customs & cultures, will be & must necessarily be diverse because they belong to history & not to eternity. They are driven by dynamic forces, sometimes conflicting; they evolve, they progress, & sometimes they recede & degrade."
21/

.@silviojbaez "What they cannot do is live in a world where they think they have reached perfection, an immutable world of equality and forced unification around an absolute power that dominates and forces them to submit to it."
22/

.@silviojbaez summarizes the story of #Babel "Human pride - that wanted a single "lip" and tried to build a unique, inflexible people, subjected to absolute, centralizing power, one that was autocratic and without cultural rifts - that pride is opposed to the action of God."
23/

.@silviojbaez presented the conference "In internal and external conflicts, mediation and reconciliation" to 350 men & women religious in Madrid at the @VidaReligiosa1 symposium. You can watch his presentation with closed-caption subtitles & translation

@threadreaderapp unroll

.@BiancaJagger Here is the link to read this morning's live tweets
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1102269…