Appeal by the bishops of the Vrhbosna Metropoly

KILLING WITH WEAPONS AND HUNGER

We diocesan bishops of the Sarajevo Archdiocese and Banja Luka, Mostar-Duvno & Trebinje dioceses are grateful for God’s providence which has enabled us to meet in Banja Luka between 11 and 13 February this year. As all our other meetings which were held last year, in Mostar in August, in Zagreb in September and in Bol in November as well as in Sarajevo in January this year, once again at this Synod of the Vrhbosna Metropoly, anxious and hopeful, we considered the current fate of our Church i.e. the fate of Croats and other Catholics in B-H. We once again point out the lasting principles by which any resolution to the dramatic situation in the regions of our dioceses may be found and call upon everyone to motivate themselves to continue trying to prevent the evils of war.

1. We are conscious of our thirteen century long Catholic and Croatian roots on the soil of Bosnia-Herzegovina where our faithful and clergy have remained steadfast in their faith in Christ’s Gospel and remained loyal to St. Peter’s Papal See in Rome. Throughout our entire past, the Catholic Church in these regions has been distrusted, persecuted, struck down and killed just like its founder Christ our Lord. During some periods, the number of its faithful decreased to only a few tens of thousands. However, despite all this the Church managed to raise itself each time just like the Resurrected Lord and with His help the Church experienced a renewal and flowered in the Spirit of God.

2. At this particular moment, the Church is faced with a series of tests full of pain and hope. In the past few years and especially in the past few months, we have, with deep anxiety and concern, been experiencing a bloody drama together with the faithful who have been expelled, as have our priests, nuns and the clergy. Our churches, monasteries and convents are being destroyed. Our children, women and elderly are being killed with weapons and hunger. All our Croatian Catholic remnants are being uprooted throughout our entire Metropoly. Nevertheless, we are not losing our evangelistic hope that the Almighty God will use his mercy and justice to heal the wounded, raise the ruins and resurrect the dead.

3. It is not our duty as representatives of the Church to offer conclusive solutions for the internal political order of Bosnia-Herzegovina. With respect for the historical framework of our Vrhbosna Metropoly which mostly conforms to the historical borders of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which were recognised by the Holy See and the entire world, we are open to any reasonable political option which includes general standards of rights and justice. Once again we emphasise the urgency of stopping the senseless destruction this war has brought and establishing all human and civil rights and liberties, equality for all three constitutive nations in the regions of Bosnia-Herzegovina, of stopping the expulsion, enabling the return of displaced persons to their hearths and of allowing the undisturbed delivery of humanitarian aid to all those whose lives are being threatened.

4. We appeal to the lawful Croatian political representatives in Bosnia-Herzegovina to successfully undertake measures in these fateful times and establish the aforementioned rights for the entire Croatian Nation and to jointly seek a just political solution and at the same time to preserve the all important national unity.

While we hope that the rightless are reinstated with their human rights and dignity as soon as possible, we also call upon all our faithful to pray to the Almighty God so that He may shorten our days of temptation and suffering. May He give us His mercy, a just peace and an all-encompassing renewal.

Banja Luka, 13 February 1994

Msg. VINKO PULJIC, Archbishop of Vrhbosna & Metropolitan
Msg. FRANJO KOMARICA, Bishop of Banja Luka
Msg. RATKO PERIC, Bishop of Mostar-Duvno and Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkanj.