VATICAN CITY, OCT 25, 2007 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., and Zeljko Komsic, president of the rotating Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, exchanged the instruments of ratification of the Basic Agreement between the Holy See and Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed in Sarajevo on April 19, 2006, and its Additional Protocol, signed on September 29 of the same year. Both documents come into effect today.
According to a communique made public today, among those present at the ceremony were, for the Holy See, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Vrhbosna and president of the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti and Msgr. Pietro Parolin, respectively secretary and under-secretary for Relations with States. For Bosnia and Herzegovina, those present included Sven Alkalaj, minister for foreign affairs, and Miroslav Palameta, ambassador to the Holy See.
In his address, Cardinal Bertone affirmed that with the signing ceremony "the norms approved in the Basic Agreement come into force, ... by which certain provisions of joint interest concerning the life and activity of the Catholic community in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been defined. They particularly refer to the recognition of the juridical status of the Catholic Church and her institutions in ... civil society, of her independence to worship and practice the apostolate, and of the specific contribution she makes in the cultural, educational, pastoral, military, ... and charitable fields, as well as in the country's mass media."
SS/AGREEMENT HOLY SEE: BOSNIA/BERTONE VIS 20071025 (260)
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