SUNDAY JUNE 28, 2015
SINGAPORE $0.70 CENTS / WEST MALAYSIA RM$2.10
MCI (P) 005/08/2014
PPS 201/04/2013 (022940)
VOL 65
NO. 13
INSIDE
Learn from past, build peace, says pope in Bosnia
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SARAJEVO – Pope Francis said
Upcoming symposium on these issues
he came as a “pilgrim of peace” as he made a one-day visit to the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a nation still scarred by ethnic and religious divisions. During the June 6 trip, he called on government of¿cials and civilians to be “artisans of peace”, religious leaders to be dedicated to dialogue, consecrated men and women to be sowers of hope, and young people to be seeds of peace willing to renew the land that gave them life. Speaking to hundreds of young people of different faiths who volunteer together at Sarajevo’s St John Paul II Centre, he said, “<ou are the ¿rst generation after the war. <ou are Àowers of a spring... that wants to go forward and does not want to return to destruction and things that make us enemies of one another.” “You want to walk together” in joy, he said. More than 100,000 people died and millions more were displaced during the 1992-1995 war, which saw a Serb campaign of ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims after the mostly Muslim nation declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. Earlier in the day, he told leaders representing the Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox and Catholic faiths that they had the duty to dialogue with one another and to see diversity as a resource, not a threat. Remembering the past is important in order to learn the lessons of history, he said. He repeated the point also when he met with priests, Religious and seminarians gathered in Sarajevo’s Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. People have a right to remember and share their past, not in order to feed hatred and revenge, but as part of the process
Pope Francis arrives for a meeting with priests, Religious and seminarians in Sacred Heart Cathedral in Sarajevo on June 6. &16 SKRWR
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– Pope Francis to young people of different faiths
of building peace, he said. Bosnia-Herzegovina has experienced “a history of cruelty” and one that is seen in many conÀicts around the world today, the pope said. The best response is to show “tenderness, brotherhood, forgiveness and carry the cross of Jesus Christ”.
Two priests and a nun shared their experiences of being captured and tortured by militants during the conÀict. Walking to the lectern slowly and unsteadily with crutches, Fr Zvonimir Matijevic of Banja Luka said his Serb captors beat him so hard, their military com-
mander sent him to the hospital where doctors and six pints of blood helped him survive. His wrists still bear scars from handcuffs squeezed too tight. However, the priest, who has since developed multiple sclerosis, said he forgives those who hurt him and prays that God help them live a life dedicated to good. After he ¿nished, the pope bowed deeply before him, kissed his wrist and held him in a long embrace. Another priest, Franciscan Fr Jozo Puskaric, told the pope he gave up hope at one point during his captivity and begged one of the guards to kill him and put him out of his misery. The priest’s voice quivered with emotion as he fought to hold back tears. He said when he found out he was worth more alive in a possible prisoner exchange, he regained the will to live, and said God sent “help through a Muslim woman” who gave him food. Lastly, Daughter of Divine Charity Sr Ljubica Sekerija, who served the elderly and sick in the Muslim-majority region of Travnik, said foreign ¿ghters swept in from Arab countries and took her prisoner. She said some residents cheered on the militants and jeered at her as she was taken away. After a priest held captive in the same room refused orders to crush her rosary, the militants smashed it themselves, she said. They took the ring given to her at her ¿nal vow ceremony, ordered her to convert, and humiliated and beat her along with the others they kidnapped, she said. Sr Sekerija said despite the cruelty she experienced, she still felt an abundance of God’s grace throughout the ordeal. CNS More stories on Page 14
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