Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim leaders call for peace from Sarajevo
(September 10, 2012) The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej and
Catholic Archbishop of Sarajevo, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, on Sunday called for peace
from a country that was the scene of the worst atrocities committed in Europe since
World War II. "We have to carry in ourselves the seeds of peace and plant them wherever
we are," Irinej said during a liturgy in the main Serb Orthodox church of Bosnia's
capital Sarajevo. "The Church asked us to love every divine creature, since every
human being is a divine icon. Respect of every human being is our task since he is
the product of God's hands," said the patriarch who attended the 26th International
Meeting for Peace, September 9-11, an annual gathering of leaders of religions organized
by the Rome-based Catholic lay community of Sant'Egidio. It was Patriarch Irinej’s
first trip to the Bosnian capital since he became Serb Orthodox Church leader in October
2010. "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," Cardinal Puljic said. "In Bosnia, everyone prays according to one's own laws.
This city and this country deserve such a privilege," he added. On Saturday, Patriarch
Irinej and several Serb Orthodox Church officials attended a mass said by Cardinal
Puljic in Sarajevo cathedral. Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war, which saw the country’s three
main ethnic groups — Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats and Muslims — fight each other,
left some 100,000 people dead. Relations between the three main communities remain
deeply damaged 17 years on. Muslims make up around 40 percent of Bosnia’s population
of some 3.8 million. Serbs and Croats account for 31 and 10 percent of the population
respectively.