EUROPE/BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA - THE POPE TELLS CATHOLICS IN BANJA LUKA: “DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED, MULTIPLY EFFORTS TO MAKE BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA ONCE AGAIN A LAND OF RECONCILIATION, ENCOUNTER AND PEACE

Monday, 23 June 2003

Banja Luka (Fides Service) – “With deep gratitude for the invitation, I return after six years to Bosnia-Herzegovina and I thank God for allowing me to meet once again these people so dear to my heart”. With these words Pope John Paul II started his one day visit to Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina on Sunday 22 June. As he was welcomed at the airport by political, civil and religious authorities and happy crowds the Pope said “I greet and I embrace each one of you, dear people of the different parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina. I am aware of the long trial you have lived, the sufferings of your daily life, the temptation to give way to discouragement, and resignation which threatens. I stand at your side to ask the international community, which has already done so much, to continue to be near you so you may soon reach a situation of full security in justice and harmony. You yourselves must be the builders of your future!”
The Holy Father then went to the Holy Trinity Convent and in the large area in front of the convent he celebrated Mass during which he beatified Ivan Merz, (1896-1928). Present for the celebration, members of the Collegial Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the President of the Serb Republic and the Catholic Bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Also present representatives of the Serb Orthodox Church and the local Jewish and Muslim communities. In his homily, after greeting those present, the Pope said to the Catholics of Banja Luka: “Beloved children of this pilgrim Church of Bosnia-Herzegovina , I open my arms wide to embrace you all and to tell you that you have a special place in the Pope’s heart. He carries in prayer before the Lord the suffering which still renders arduous your journey and he shares with your hopes for better times. From this city, marked during history with so much suffering and bloodshed, I implore Almighty God that he will have mercy for sins committed against man, against his dignity and his freedom also by children of the Catholic Church and that he will instil in all the desire for reciprocal forgiveness. Only in an atmosphere of authentic reconciliation, will the memory of so many innocent victims and their sacrifice not be in vain, they will encourage us to build new relations of brotherhood and understanding”.
The Holy Father then spoke about Blessed Ivan Merz. “A brilliant young man, he knew how to multiply the rich natural talents he had received and he obtained many human successes…But the reason for which he is inscribed among the Blessed today is not this. What introduces him to the choir of the Blessed is his success in the eyes of God. The great aspiration of his whole life was in fact “never to forget God, desire always to be united with Him”…Conscious of the calling receive with Baptism, he made his life a race towards holiness, “high gauge” of Christian life.” The Pope then said Ivan Merz is a model for all young people: “The name of Ivan Merz signified a programme of life and action for a whole generation of young Catholics. It must continue to do so today! Your homeland and your Church, dear young people, have lived difficult times and now it is time to work so that life may be fully resumed at every level. I say to each one of you, do not pull back, do not to give in to the temptation of discouragement, but rather multiply efforts to make Bosnia-Herzegovina be once again a land of reconciliation, encounter and peace. The future of these districts depends also on you!” In the afternoon the Pope met the President of the Serb republic and the President of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation, and also the Inter-Religious Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina. After leaving the Bishop’s house in Banja Luka, Pope John Paul II made a private visit to the Catholic cathedral of Banja Luka and then went to the airport to fly back to Rome. SL (Fides Service 23/6/2003 EM lines 48 Words: 707)


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