Interreligious dialog to the citizens behaviour of univesitaries students

Abstract

In the national context, La Araucanía is a region characterized by ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. At the same time, the growing emergence of awareness of identity and belonging to the Mapuche people and the asymmetry of living conditions in relation to the dominant society have made the conflict between the State of Chile and the Mapuche people a topic of first regional relevance. On the other hand, the Catholic University of Temuco, since its foundation in 1959, has declared a clear and determined commitment to the region, seeking to understand and contribute to the solution of its problems, challenges and aspirations. The proposal of this presentation is that, in order to fulfill its public commitment to contribute to social coexistence, UC Temuco must attend to the integral formation of its students as professionals and citizens, one of whose dimensions is the religious worldview, which implies finding and defend the proper status of the 'education of the faith' in the university context, characterized by 'religious neutrality'. In this context, it is proposed to consider the conditions for an authentic interreligious dialogue as the most appropriate perspective to favor the development of the faith in the university environment. In this framework, the case of the elective course Manifestations of spirituality in Araucanía is presented. A look at diversity. Four relevant moments of this experience are described: religious identity, religions before contemporary reality, testimonies of faith, and leaving oneself to meet the other. Finally, some significant results are presented for the purpose of contributing to the formation of citizens committed to harmonious coexistence and peace.