Church of St. Mary should remain under the highest protection of the state
The Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BK BiH) held its 77th regular session on November 4th and 5th at the premises of the new Archdiocesan residence in Sarajevo.
Archbishop of Vrhbosna, cardinal Vinko Puljić, the president of BK BiH, presided, and members of the Bishops’ Conference of BiH as well as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Križevci, Msgr. Milan Stipić, who has 11 parishes and seven priests in BiH participated.
The session was also attended by the delegates of: Croatian Bishop’s Conference Msgr. Mate Uzinić, the bishop of Dubrovnik; International Bishops’ Conference Cyril and Methodius Msgr. Kiro Stojanov, Bishop of Skopje and Diocese of Struma-Skopje; and the Austrian Bishop’s Conference, Msgr. Maximilian Aichern, retired Bishop of Linz.
At the beginning of the session, the bishops were joined by the retired Archbishop of Warsaw-Prague Msgr. Henryk Hoser, Apostolic Visitor with a Special Role for the Parish of Međugorje, who informed the bishops of the activities he was undertaking in accordance with his mission.
On the first day of the session, the Apostolic Nuncio in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Msgr. Luigi Pezzuto met the bishops.
The bishops considered the Instruction issued in December 2018. by the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees on the implementation of the Law on Freedom of Religion and the Legal Status of Churches and Religious Communities (2004). With regret they stated that, unlike the previous one, this Instruction was issued without consulting church representatives. They express hope that, in accordance with Article 7 of this Instruction, the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, “in cooperation with the relevant institutions in this field and representatives of churches and religious communities, will develop and submit an initiative with concrete proposals to address” issues “ that concern pension, disability and health insurance of religious officials … and to refer it to the relevant levels of government in BiH”.
Regarding the forthcoming hearing at which the Islamic Community’s claim for restitution of the Church of St. Mary in Jajce will be considered, the bishops on this occasion reminded of their position expressed in a press release from Sarajevo on July 31st stating, among other things, that: “BK BiH thinks that the request of the Islamic community in Jajce, for the surrender of the Church of St. Mary with the Bell tower of St. Luke in Jajce to the Governance of the Islamic Community of BiH is inappropriate, because it is an irrefutable historical fact that the Church was forcibly taken away from its original owner, the Catholic Church.
It is our desire to build a cohabitation based on understanding and respect in the homeland of BiH, for the benefit of all its citizens, regardless of religious or ethnic background. For this vital spiritual good, despite the historical facts stated above and the binding regulations of church law, we agree that the Church of St. Mary (converted to Fethiye, i.e. Sultan Suleiman’s mosque in 1528.) with the bell tower of St. Luke, remains under the highest protection of the state and under the direct management of the Public Institution ‘Agency for Cultural-Historical and Natural Heritage and Development of Tourist Potentials of the City of Jajce’, and with the strict monitoring of the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federation of BiH, to be restored and decorated under the highest standards and make it accessible to all citizens as one of BiH’s most important national monuments.”
After the Holy Father acknowledged the renunciation of his service of Auxiliary Bishop of Vrhbosna, Msgr. Pero Sudar, he informed members of the Bishop’s Conference in writing that he would soon end all the services he had held so far. The bishops express their gratitude to Msgr. Sudar for his 25-year participation and valuable contribution to the work of the Bishop’s Conference since its beginings.
After discussing the very actual topic of an increasing number of migrants at the global level, but also of their increasing influx to BiH, the bishops call on the world’s leaders to find a solution to this problem in the causes in the countries of its origin, which are, among others, wars and difficult economic situations.
KT
www.nedjelja.ba
Sarajevo, 5. November 2019.
