(Vatican Radio) Interreligious dialogue is “an indispensable condition for peace” and “a duty for all believers”. That was Pope Francis’ reminder to the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday afternoon as he met with leaders of the Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish communities gathered in a Franciscan youth centre in Sarajevo. Noting that the city of…
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(Vatican Radio) In a meeting with religious in the Bosnia-Herzegovina capital, Sarajevo, Pope Francis departed from his prepared remarks to speak off-the-cuff to his audience, following the testimonies of two priests and a woman religious. Below please find our report based on those testimonies and on the Pope’s prepared discourse which was delivered as read.…
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(Vatican Radio) On Saturday June 6 Pope Francis was set to deliver a speech during a meeting in Sarajevo with men and women religious. But after listening to first hand testimonies of persecution suffered by people during the recent war and the challenges facing people in the region today he decided to speak off the…
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Bulletin: June 7, 2015
From the “Jerusalem of
the West”, the ancient cradle of coexisting cultures, ethnicities and
religions, Pope Francis admonished war, calling “patience and trust” essential
to such dialogue in order to heal the wounds of the past. On arriving in
Sarajevo — a city which still bears signs of destruction from the bloody
conflict 20 years ago — the Pontiff urged the entire community of Bosnia and
Herzegovina to look to the future with hope, setting aside ancient grievances.
The Holy Father pointed to the “culture of encounter” as the only way to fight
“the barbarity of those who would make of every difference the occasion and pretext
for further unspeakable violence”. To the members of the Presidency and the highest
political, diplomatic, civil and religious authorities of the country — who met
in the Presidential Palace on Saturday morning, 6 June, after arriving at the
airport — Francis introduced himself “a pilgrim of peace and dialogue”.
Recognizing the progress made since the 1995 agreement in Dayton, the Pontiff
explicitly asked the international community, especially Europe, to favour the
already-begun peace process. A horizon of trust which the Pope underlined once again
during the Mass celebrated in Koševo
Stadium in the presence of tens of thousands of people. After denouncing the
horrors of war and admonishing the trafficking of arms, the Pontiff recalled
that “crafting peace is a skilled work”. “It requires passion, patience,
experience and tenacity” and must be sown with an attitude and action of
service, brotherhood, dialogue and mercy. It is a work “to be carried forward
each day, step by step, without ever growing tired. making peace is the work of
artisans”. The address to authorities The homily at the Koševo Stadium …