| Now, the conflict between the Arabs using sectarianism and confessionalism as a pretext. |
| This mosaic of peoples and politics has led the Lebanese to historically seek a balance of power through a political arrangement known as confessionalism. |
| It is a long-term task, in view of the fact that confessionalism has deep structural roots, which go back to dhimmi-status and the millet system. |
| More important in the long run, confessionalism promoted a social drive, also long under way, toward the inculcation of discipline and order in public and private as well as in religious and civic affairs. |
| After so many decades of ecumenical dialogue and life together, there is a paradoxical resurgence of confessionalism today, undoubtedly linked to the fragmentation process. |
| To foster a unity in diversity, a rigid or exaggerated confessionalism must give way to encouraging communities to cooperate among themselves, coordinate pastoral activities and manifest spiritual emulation and not rivalry. |
