In Sarajevo, Pope pleads for peace, laments ‘worldly’ religious, decries ‘filthy’ programs
June 08, 2015
Two decades after the conclusion of the Bosnian War, Pope Francis visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on June 6 and pleaded for peace.
The visit was his eighth apostolic journey outside Italy.
Serbian forces besieged Sarajevo during the war (1992-95), which followed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. Over 57,000 soldiers and 38,000 civilians perished in the conflict.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is now a nation of 3.9 million that is 40% Muslim, 31% Eastern Orthodox, and 12% Catholic.
The Pontiff celebrated Mass and took part in nine other meetings and ceremonies during his 11 hours in Sarajevo.
“I have come here as a pilgrim of peace and dialogue, 18 years after Saint John Paul II’s historic visit, which took place less than two years after the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord,” he said in a meeting with authorities and the diplomatic corps. “I am happy to see the progress which has been made, for which we must thank the Lord and so many men and women of good will. However, we should not become complacent with what has been achieved so far, but rather seek to make further efforts towards reinforcing trust and creating opportunities for growth in mutual knowledge and respect.”
In his Mass at Asim Ferhatovic Hase Stadium, the Pope decried war and recalled the words of Isaiah that “peace is a work of justice.” He preached:
The word peace echoes several times through the Scripture readings which we have just heard. It is a powerful, prophetic word! Peace is God’s dream, his plan for humanity, for history, for all creation. And it is a plan which always meets opposition from men and from the evil one. Even in our time, the desire for peace and the commitment to build peace collide against the reality of many armed conflicts presently affecting our world. They are a kind of third world war being fought piecemeal and, in the context of global communications, we sense an atmosphere of war.
Some wish to incite and foment this atmosphere deliberately, mainly those who want conflict between different cultures and societies, and those who speculate on wars for the purpose of selling arms. But war means children, women and the elderly in refugee camps; it means forced displacement of peoples; it means destroyed houses, streets and factories; it means, above all, countless shattered lives. You know this well, having experienced it here: how much suffering, how much destruction, how much pain! Today, dear brothers and sisters, the cry of God’s people goes up once again from this city, the cry of all men and women of good will: war never again!
Within this atmosphere of war, like a ray of sunshine piercing the clouds, resound the words of Jesus in the Gospel: “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Mt 5:9). This appeal is always applicable, in every generation.
Following Mass, in extemporaneous remarks to priests, religious, and seminarians who had gathered at the city’s cathedral, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of remembering past sufferings and forgiveness.
“A man, a woman who is consecrated to the Lord’s service who does not know how to forgive, is not helpful,” he said. “To forgive a friend who swore at you, or someone with whom you have argued, or a sister who is jealous of you, this is not all that difficult. But to forgive the one who slaps you in the face, who tortures you, who abuses you, who threatens to shoot you-- this is difficult.”
Referring to priests and religious who had suffered in concentration camps, he added:
Those days are counted, not in days, but by the minute, because every minute, every hour is torture. To live together like this, dirty, with no food or water, in the heat and cold – and for a long time! And we, who complain when we have a toothache, or who want to have a television in our comfortable rooms, or who whisper behind the back of our superior when the meals are not so good. Do not forget, I beg of you, the witness of your ancestors ...
Worldly sisters, priests, bishops, and seminarians are a caricature, and are of no use to the Church. They do not remember the martyrs. They have lost the memory of Jesus Christ crucified, our only glory.
Later, during an ecumenical and interreligious meeting, the Pope said that “this city, which in the recent past sadly became a symbol of war and destruction, this Jerusalem of Europe, today, with its variety of peoples, cultures and religions, can become again a sign of unity, a place in which diversity does not represent a threat but rather a resource, an opportunity to grow together.”
“In a world unfortunately rent by conflicts, this land can become a message: attesting that it is possible to live together side by side, in diversity but rooted in a common humanity, building together a future of peace and brotherhood,” he added.
As his hours in Sarajevo drew to a close, Pope Francis met with youth at the diocesan youth center and urged them not to watch “filthy” programs and images.
“As was done in my Stone Age: when a book was good, you read it; when a book was not good for you, you would throw it away,” the Pope said as he spoke “of evil fantasy, of those fantasies which kill the soul. If you who are young live attached to your computers and become slaves to the computer, you lose your freedom! And if you use your computer to look for dirty programs, you lose your dignity.”
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