Catholics, the difficulties of returning” “

Catholic Action is making its debut in Bosnia, under the banner of Ivan Mertz. On 10 May, 77 years precisely after the death of the Blessed, the representatives of the 47 parishes of the diocese of Banja Luka held the assembly that led to the foundation of the Ivan Merz Association: it is the first step towards the birth of four twin associations in the other three dioceses of Bosnia-Herzegovina. A SMALL MIRACLE. “It’s a small miracle for our diocesan community”, declares the bishop of Banja Luka, Franjo Komarica: “The Dayton accords, in November 1995 – continued Msgr. Komarica, who has led the diocese since 1989 – ended the war but did not solve a situation that, especially for Catholics, remains characterized by great hardship. This goes for the whole country, but especially for our diocese, which suffered severely from the ethnic cleansing operated by the Serbs: of the 70,000 Catholics prior to the war, most of them of Croatian origin, only 7,000 of us have remained”. 90% of the faithful of the Catholic community were forced to cross the frontier into Croatia and today the refugees are not placed in a condition of being able to return to their own homes: “That happened even to my own mother, a few years ago – recounts the bishop of Banja Luka –. She was 85 years old and had been born even under Austrian rule: her home had always been here, but in spite of that she was forced to move to Croatia”. In the diocese of Banja Luka alone, where the population is around half a million people, 16 parish churches were destroyed and 19 damaged; the Catholic oratories suffered the same fate; in six cases they were devastated beyond repair. THE ‘IVAN MERZ’ ASSOCIATION. It’s not easy, in these conditions, to think of conducting any kind of pastoral activity. “Apart from remaining few in number – notes Marija Jurgovic, president of the newly established Ivan Merz Association – Catholics neither have the opportunity nor the places to meet together and exchange views. That’s why we thought of a lay association, a sign of hope but also an explicit invitation to everyone, youth and adults alike, to set to work and rediscover the desire to live our faith to the full”. Hence the idea of involving Catholic Action. Bosnia-Herzegovina has for years been one of the 19 observer countries of the International Forum of Catholic Action and, with the unanimous content of the bishops of the country, it was decided to start out from Banja Luka, birthplace of Ivan Merz: “For reasons of political expediency – explains the president – our association will not be called Catholic Action, but in substance it will promote its ideals and its identity, such as service to the Church and the central role of formation”. For Banja Luka a three-year phase “ad experimentum” has been opened, during which the other three dioceses (Sarajevo, Mostar and Trebinje) have also expressed their intention to found similar associations. This is confirmed by Cardinal Vinko Puljic, who was present at the foundation ceremony of the Ivan Merz Association: “We need a new mentality: we must learn to bear witness to our faith also in public – emphasizes the archbishop of Sarajevo, created cardinal during the years in which the city was under siege -. For Catholics the time has come to defend our own equality and to ensure that there is some scope also for our values in the new Bosnian society”. “A lay association – continues the cardinal – may help us to find the courage to come out into the open again, following in the footsteps of Ivan Merz, who found in the Eucharist the energy to communicate the grace of God”. The Ivan Merz Association has been encouraged and will be supported by the International Forum of Catholic Action (IFCA/FIAC). Fact File Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Dayton accords (21 November 1995) gave birth to a new federal Bosnian State, composed of a Muslim-Croat Federation (comprising 51% of the territory, including Sarajevo and Mostar) and the Serb Republic, with a Serb Orthodox majority. The diocese of Banja Luka: it is entirely located in the territory of the Serb Republic, and is therefore a Catholic enclave in an area with a Serb Orthodox majority. During the Serb-Bosnian-Croatian conflict (1992-1995) it was not targeted by bombardments, but the Serb Orthodox majority promoted a plan of ethnic cleansing to the detriment of the Catholic minority (who mainly sought refuge in Croatia) and of the Muslim community, concentrated in the Muslim-Croat Federation. Ivan Merz: Born at Banja Luka on 16 December 1986 and died in Zagreb on 10 May 1928, he dedicated a large part of his life to testifying to his faith among the young; first in the “League of Croatian Catholic Youth”, then in the “Croatian League of the Eagles”, with which he inaugurated Catholic Action in Croatia (following a wish expressed by Pope Pius XI). He was beatified by John Paul II at Banja Luca on 22 June 2003.