European Churches" "
“Reinforce hope in our country and resume the process of dialogue and reconciliation”. These are the principal commitments to which the Catholic Church in Bosnia is called following the papal trip to Banja Luka. According to the bishop of that city, Msgr. Franjo Komarica, “the Pope’s visit to our country was rich in messages and invitations, addressed not only to the Catholic Church. I would say that the principal message is that of reinforcing hope. We must work patiently, according to God’s will, for a renewal of social, political, economic and religious life, giving fresh vitality to all that has been stunted and broken in people’s hearts and in human relations”. The bishop told Sir: “This means working to ensure that Catholics can continue to live in our dioceses and that those who were driven away can return to their ancestral homes in full enjoyment of their human rights and civil liberties. With the force of faith, nourished by prayer in the family and by the Eucharist, we want to commit ourselves to resuming the process of dialogue and reconciliation”. And he concluded: “We bishops, priests and lay people are aware of this important task. We want to continue down the road forgiveness and repentance. Any other way would be less effective in testifying to the Gospel in this land whose future lies, as the Pope repeatedly recalled, in Europe. May the example of Blessed Ivan Merz help us to be ‘true witnesses of the presence of Christ’ in our Homeland”.
