TO BISHOPS OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: BE PEACEMAKERS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 24, 2006 (VIS) - "Blessed are the peacemakers." With these words, Benedict XVI received in the Vatican this morning prelates from the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have just completed their "ad limina" visit.

  "Following the sad years of the recent war," said the Pope, "you as peacemakers are called to reinforce communion and to disseminate mercy, understanding and forgiveness in the name of Christ, both within the Christian communities and throughout the complex social fabric of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

  "I well know that yours is not an easy mission, but I also know that you maintain your gaze constantly fixed upon Christ, Who ... gave His disciples a fundamental task that sums up all the others, that of loving. Love ... must not simply follow earthly laws, ... but translate into that higher measure of justice which is mercy." The Pope underlined the fact that, with this spirit, the bishops "will easily be able to carry out the mission entrusted to you, contributing to healing still-open wounds and to resolving contrasts and divisions left over from past years."

  Benedict XVI then went on to mention some of the problems facing the prelates of Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as "the position of exiles, for whom I hope appropriate agreements will be reached in respect of everyone's rights." He also mentioned "the indispensable equality between citizens of various religions, ... the urgent need for measures to meet the growing lack of work for young people, and attenuating ominous tensions between ethnic groups."

  The Holy Father reaffirmed the Holy See's closeness to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a closeness confirmed, among other things, "by the recent appointment of a resident nuncio, who will be able to maintain permanent contact with the country's various requirements." He then went on to consider a number of matters of concern to the bishops in their diocesan lives:

  "First of all, it is important that every effort be made to increase the unity of the flock of Christ, ... overcoming, if necessary, misunderstandings and difficulties associated with events of the past. The Church everywhere pursues a single objective, that of building the Kingdom of God in all lands and in the hearts of all people. To the successors of the Apostles and to their collaborators in the pastoral ministry is entrusted the mission of preserving intact the heritage of the Lord, adhering faithfully to the doctrinal and spiritual patrimony of the Church in her entirety."

  "Blessed are the peacemakers," the Holy Father repeated. "As well as to the Church's mission in the outside world, these words are also applicable to internal relations among her members. The various ecclesiastical elements ... are regulated by canonical norms that are an expression of a centuries-old experience. ... It is up to the bishop, father of the community entrusted to him by Christ, to discern what is appropriate to the building of the Church of Christ. In this sense, the bishop is pontiff, a 'builder of bridges,' between the various elements of the ecclesial community."

  All this, Benedict XVI concluded, "constitutes a particularly important aspect of episcopal ministry at this moment in history, as Bosnia and Herzegovina resume the path of collaboration to build a future of social development and peace."
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