This article is developed by drawing from the Indonesian context. The country is characterized with its plurality, in terms of religion, belief, language, culture, and ethnicity. I start reflecting on the discourse of silence by exploring the rituals practiced by the Hindus in Bali and a number of Muslims in Java. An effort is then made to elaborate it from a philosophical perspective in which silence can be understood as the beginning of listening. The further elaboration, from a theological perspective, is worked out by focusing on the figure of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, through whom silence with listening can be regarded as a way to live out the faith that seeks for understanding and wisdom. Finally, I put it on the circumstances of interreligious relations. Here, being silent for listening can be considered as a sort of culture that requires certain conditions, some of which are the readiness to deal with internal tensions and the capability to listen through the inner ear of the heart by way of discernment.
KEYWORDS: Silence. Listening. Faith. Understanding and Wisdom. Interreligious Relation.
Una de las novedades de la Teología latinoamericana estriba en considerar que la experiencia cristiana del teólogo/a es esencial desde un punto de vista metodológico. Estos no quieren ser neutrales frente a su objeto de estudio. Por el contrario, pretenden participar en las luchas de colectivos oprimidos. Este artículo se ocupa principalmente de la relación entre los/as teólogas profesionales y las comunidades o colectivos a las que desean servir. ¿Han de ayudar a explicitar las vías liberadoras de su experiencia de Dios o han de liderar su liberación? La actual investigación subraya que los y las pobres han de considerarse los protagonistas intelectuales primeros de su propia liberación. Esta puede considerarse una de las conclusiones más importantes del descubrimiento que la Iglesia latinoamericana y caribeña ha hecho de su vocación teológica.
PALABRAS CLAVE: Método. Teólogo/a. Teología latinoamericana. Iglesia latinoamericana y caribeña.
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