The new Pope, interfaith relations, the Central European Katholikentag (MEKT) and the situation of Croatian Catholics: these were the main topics of discussion during the visit of the bishop of Graz (Austria), Msgr. Egon Kapellari, to Sarajevo on 20 May. Bishop Kapellari took part in a conference chaired by the Bosnian cardinal Vinko Puljic on questions of interfaith relations. During the meeting, emphasis was placed on Benedict XVI’s open attitude to freedom of religion and co-existence between the religions. The Pope, said Cardinal Puljic, “considers us bridge-builders. For the Pope it’s important that Europe should remain faithful to the idea of the equality of rights of the ethnic groups and religious communities of the individual states, but also that Europe should claim the same from the states with an Islamic majority”, he pointed out. “In Europe we must treat Muslims in the best possible way and respect their freedom so that they may learn to respect Western societies”, observed Kapellari. On the same day a meeting was also held between journalists and representatives of the religious communities in Bosnia, in which not only Cardinal Puljic, but the Islamic theologian Nedzad Grabusa, the Orthodox theologian Jerej Jovanovic and the vice-president of the Jewish cultural community Boris Kozemjakin also took part. Participants at the meeting presented concrete objectives to be pursued in putting the idea of reconciliation into practice, bearing in mind the need to overcome the religious ignorance due to the former Communist regime. To this end a project of producing a book that would contain the fundamental features, rites, festivities and customs of the various religious communities in Bosnia was outlined. The diocesan bishop of Banja Luka, Msgr. Franjo Komarika, lastly, adverted to the “tragic situation” of the Croatian Catholics in northern Bosnia. He said that, “as far as international aid is concerned, the Croatians of the diocese of Banja Luka are treated as second-class citizens” and deplored the European attitude to them.
