The uncertain future

The works of the CCEE Plenary Assembly in St. Gallen started yesterday in the afternoon (September 27) with the press conference on the situation of the Catholic Church in Bosnia Herzegovina, presented by Mons. Franjo Komarica, bishop of Banja Luka and president of the Bishops’ conference of Bosnia-Herzegovina.Current political situation. According to Mons. Franjo Komarica, currently there are four different constitutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina – two for entities, one for the district of Brcko, one for the whole multinational state, and they "don’t correspond with each other". This situation has a serious consequence – "impossibility of Bosnia-Herzegovina to function as a state". President of the Catholic Bishops’ conference pointed to the fact that the society is strongly marked by political and sociological crisis which is deeper today than it was immediately after the Dayton Agreement of 1995. The ideology opposed to the common life of the different communities has not been removed, nor has the policy which started the war, continues Mons. Komarica, pointing to unstability of cooperation between politicians and lack of the agreement about "fundamental aspects for a common future".Considerable decline of number of Catholics. Mons. Komarica pointed to the fact that in some areas of the country, the Catholic faith risks disappearing completely in a few decades. The statistics show that from about 800,000 Catholics in 1991 the number has dropped to about 440,000 today and it is continuing to decline. The causes of the situation have their roots in the war in the nineties of the last century – serious loss of human life and Church structures, refugees who have returned in very low numbers, current difficult economic situation forcing many young people to look for jobs abroad. The situation is so serious that also pope Benedict XVI expressed his preoccupation and solidarity with the country in January this year, encouraging the bishops to intensify cooperation with "civil authorities and with all the people of good will", with aim to "continue to carry out the ecclesial mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina and offer a valuable contribution to the civil life of the nation".The voice of the Catholic Church. Today’s society in Bosnia-Herzegovina still suffers from the trauma of the communist regime and – according to Mons. Komarica – throught the Dayton Agreement, the society became "a victim of the unjust peace". Also in this situation, the Catholic Church has not ceased to follow its mission, helping after the war not only the Catholics but also the faithful of other religions by opening of multinational and multiconfessional schools with thousands of graduates, launching of various social project for the needy, emarginated, homeless, all this with support of the Caritas from abroad. At the same time, the Catholic Church keeps elevating its voice against injustice in the society, in accordance with the invitation of pope John Paul II presented during his visit in Sarajevo in 1997, to "call the evil with its proper name and to intervene with all means in favour of the endangered communities, including the Catholics". In this sense, president of the Bishops’ conference of Bosnia-Herzegovina turned also to the representatives of the CCEE for help and support for the Catholic minority in the country. Conditions of improvement. It must be certain that, for the state, the return of Bosnian Croat refugees and evacuees is a matter of primary importance, reads the memorandum about the future of the Catholic Church in Bosnia-Herzegovina presented at the CCEE Plenary Assembly in St. Gallen, pointing to three basic stages that should be applied: rebuilding of houses and dwellings, construction of infrastructure and creation of jobs and workplaces, not to mention the need of just distribution of economic funds. According to Mons. Komarica, Bosnia-Herzegovina should be admitted as a member state of the European Union by an accelerated procedure: "International tensions, alienating political structurs and ineffective judiciary system are the factors causing division in the society". Representatives of the local Church appeal to the European Union and the international community to undertake "more joint, decisive and effective action" in regard to Bosnia-Herzegovina, with aim of respecting human rights and appropriate standards to prepare the country for the desired integration in to the EU, to increase pressure on the politicians of Bosnia-Herzegovina and to give them clear instructions about what is demanded of them. According to the memorandum, suggested is modification of the Dayton Agreement or its replacement with a new European agreement to establish Bosnia-Herzegovina as a "sovereign, democratic, social, secular and constitutional state", so that it could stop being a "source of instability and threat to peace in the European continent".