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BALKANS-BISHOPS Mar-4-2005 (510 words) xxxi
European bishops warn of continuing ethnic tensions in Bosnia
By Jonathan Luxmoore
Catholic News Service
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Catholic bishops warned of continued political instability and ethnic tensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and urged the church to take the lead in peace and reconciliation efforts.
"Bosnia-Herzegovina has no future if an unjust peace persists and equal human rights are denied to the constituent ethnic groups," heads of bishops' conferences from Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey said in a March 1 statement after meeting in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.
"Local political leaders must bring about institutional and economic reforms themselves and encourage ethnic groups to live side by side," they said. "The churches have the specific task of raising in peoples' consciousness the sense of truth, justice and forgiveness.
"The church is aware of possessing a social doctrine which pushes it to be in the forefront. Political leaders have highlighted how this region of Europe is a test of the politics of the European Union: Work has begun, now it must be brought to completion," they said.
Their statement listed "serious challenges" posed by youth emigration, poverty, unemployment and corruption, as well as "frightening" rates of abortion, child abandonment and prostitution and unresolved ethnic and religious minority issues.
"Many refugees are still out of their countries, and their return is being impeded, while the issue of returning church properties that were confiscated by the state also remains open," said the bishops, who were hosted by Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo and Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka.
Before Bosnia's 1992-95 civil war, Catholics made up 18 percent of Bosnia's population of 4.3 million. Muslims were 44 percent, and Serbian Orthodox 35 percent.
More than 600 Catholic churches were destroyed in the conflict, in which 270,000 people died before the formation of a federation of Serb and Croat-Muslim republics under the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord.
The February 25-27 Sarajevo meeting was organized by the Council of European Bishops' Conferences.
In a March 3 telephone interview, council representative Corinne Lautenschlager said the Sarajevo meeting would strengthen the church in Bosnia, where the European Union took over peacekeeping duties from the United Nations at the end of 2004.
"Although their first purpose is pastoral, the bishops are also giving an important example of unity in this troubled region," Lautenschlager said. "No one is suggesting the problems are about to be solved. But it's essential to keep reminding the international community that they exist with a clear, coherent voice."
In their statement, the bishops' conference presidents said they were appealing for new international efforts after the meeting, which was also attended by Archbishop Paul Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," and officials from the European Union, European Parliament and Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The bishops said they had agreed on interfaith cooperation in tackling secularization after visiting Orthodox, Jewish and Islamic centers in Sarajevo and hearing addresses from an Orthodox bishop and a Muslim professor.
END
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