"The exercise of the religious freedom of every single citizen and of religious communities in a legal framework" is part of the "indefeasible assumptions of the current Western culture, and is the necessary condition for the defence of human rights anywhere in the world". Those words were spoken this morning by Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, while he met President of Bosnia and Herzegovina eljko Komiæ, for the exchange of the ratification instruments of the Basic Agreement between the Holy See and Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed in Sarajevo on 19 April 2006, and of the relevant Additional Protocol, subscribed on 29 September 2006. "Today went on the Secretary of State, – is a historical day in the relationships between the Holy See and Bosnia and Herzegovina", for with the act of ratification, "the provisions agreed in the Basic Agreement come into force". Through the Basic Agreement, "a few provisions of common interest for the life and activity of the Catholic Community were defined" for that country. (To be continued)
