Her name is Sarajevo

(Vatican Radio) She was once called the “Jerusalem of Europe”, a symbol of the peaceful coexistence between religions, home to a rich mosaic of cultural diversity.

She was once the only major European city to have a mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox church and synagogue within the same neighbourhood.

But in the 1990’s, this same city became symbolic of the destructive force of hate and sectarianism, was subjected to the longest siege of a city in the history of modern warfare and saw some of the worst atrocities committed in Europe since World War II.

The city’s name is Sarajevo and this week is host to the International Meeting of World Religions for peace, in the spirit of Assisi, organised by the St. Egidio Community.

The meeting, titled "Living together is the future", is of great importance because it takes place twenty years after the beginning of the Balkans war and gathers for the first time the different Balkan religious communities leaders: Serbian Orthodox, Catholics, Muslims and Jews.

Opening proceedings Sunday evening Serb Orthodox Church Patriarch Irinej – in his first trip to the Bosnian capital since he became the Serb Orthodox Church leader in October 2010 - "We have to carry in ourselves the seeds of peace and plant them wherever we are”.
He was joined by Sarajevo Archbishop, Cardinal Vinko Puljic who said “I'm delighted to be able to attend this prayer for peace, that a human being becomes even more human, that our society becomes more moral and I thank you for this unity”.
“We must never think that dialogue and living together is a dream of the past”, says Mario Marazziti, spokesman for the St. Egidio Community. “It is a necessity for our future”.

He shared their hopes for the Meeting with Linda Bordoni, which include bringing together religious leaders and politicians from countries such as Pakistan, where religions are exploited to foment violence. And the Middle East, where he says this meeting is a ‘preview’ to Pope Benedict XVI’s imminent visit to Lebanon Listen: