Source: https://aleteia.org/2021/11/10/bosnia-h ... y-respect/

Bosnia Herzegovina: “Catholics are discriminated against in every respect”

"If there is any Church in need in Europe, then it is ours," Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka says in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need.

Twenty-five years since the Dayton Agreement brought an end to the Balkan war, life in Bosnia Herzegovina remains riddled with conflict. The Catholic minority in the country continues to be discriminated against, as Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka reports. In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), he criticizes the lack of action on by the international community.

In a recent interview you called Bosnia Herzegovina “Absurdistan,” a ridiculous state. Why?

The international community, particularly the Europeans, tolerated the proxy war that was fought here from 1992 to 1995. Bosnia Herzegovina has had a provisional system since the war ended and so everything remains at a standstill. The country has been de facto governed by an international representative who bears the title of High Representative. Even though the eighth officeholder since 1995 has taken office, the presence of the representative has not made the country a constitutional state. Local politicians neither fulfill the necessary prerequisites nor have the power to transform Bosnia Herzegovina into a functioning constitutional state.

The state of Bosnia Herzegovina is made up of three constituent peoples (Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats; editor’s note) and two entities (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska; editor’s note). While Republika Srpska maintains strong ties with Russia, the Federation is strongly influenced by Turkey and the Islamic world. The third people, the Croats (who make up most of the Catholic share of the population; editor’s note), are going under. There is simply no place we can call home.

How are the Catholics being discriminated against?

In all respects: politically, socially, and economically. Catholics often have problems when they have Croat names. It is difficult for them to find work. There is one part of the country, West Herzegovina, where they can more or less live in peace. However, Catholics are leaving the country even there.

What does the migration of the Catholics mean for the country?

The Catholic Croats act as a sort of “adhesive” for the Serbs and the Bosniaks. Should this adhesive disappear, then these two worlds—the Islamic and the Orthodox—will drift ever farther apart. This will give rise to even greater unrest.

Catholics already fled during the war. Does the current situation keep them from coming back?

Annex 7 of the Dayton Agreement, which was to oversee the return of all refugees and displaced persons, was never implemented. The agreement also stipulated that Bosnia Herzegovina and the international community were to provide political, legal and material support to those who returned. This did not happen in the case of the Croats. I held the documents in my hand that said, “so and so many millions are allocated to the displaced Serbs, so and so much for the return of the Bosniaks.” This was followed by one sentence, “There is no such thing as the return of the Bosnian Croats.” This means that we are not receiving anything from them.

How important was and is the assistance of Aid to the Church in Need for you?

If there is any Church in need in Europe, then it is ours. In my Diocese of Banja Luka, 95% of the Church buildings were destroyed or severely damaged during the war. ACN did a great deal to help us rebuild. The organization was involved in many other projects as well. However, it is also important that ACN understands our problems, listens to us and that we can count on their understanding in the future. God bless you to all benefactors who are investing in a matter of God! Aid to the Church in Need is not a matter of bishops and priests, not a matter of any one community, it is a matter of God.

Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be a priority country for ACN in south-eastern Europe. The primary focus is on enabling the necessary renovations of churches, monasteries, and convents, as well as parish houses. We ensure the continuity of pastoral services by equipping priests with the vehicles they need to serve their extensive parishes. ACN also provides regular funding for the spiritual formation of seminarians and novices. In 2021 alone, the organization supported 48 projects, distributing some $860,000 in financial aid.

This article was first published by Aid to the Church in Need-USA and is republished here with kind permission. To learn more about ACN’s mission to help the suffering Church, visit www.churchinneed.org

Adhesive? The bishop talks nonsense. Croats are an equal part of a tripartite country. Not a bond between anyone else. He should also give up on trying to recreate any kind of a significant Catholic presence in the Banja Luka area. Move to Livno!

Source: https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/ ... lics-70132

The Silent Cry of Bosnian Catholics

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, despite the signing of the Dayton peace accords in 1995, the situation of the Catholic minority has deteriorated, while it is caught between the Orthodox and Muslims, neither the international community nor the Europe deigns to lift a finger.

In an interview with Aid to the Church in Distress (AED), Msgr. Franjo Komarica, Bishop of Banja Luka, reviews the situation in his country, which has not changed since the end of the war in Bosnia in 1995.

The bishop recently called his country “Absurdistan” or an impossible state. He explains: “It's not the fault of the locals, who haven't been living together here since yesterday. The international community, and in particular the Europeans, allowed a proxy war to be waged here from 1992 to 1995. Since the end of the war, Bosnia-Herzegovina has still been a provisional country, where the status quo prevails.”

Since the Dayton peace accords, supposed to end the war and establish a peaceful coexistence between the different ethnic groups in the region, an International High Representative has in fact held the highest political position in Bosnia-Herzegovina, explains the prelate. “But although, since 1995, this function has been occupied by its eighth incumbent, it has not transformed the country into a legal state,” he laments.

It should be remembered that Bosnia-Herzegovina is now a multi-ethnic federal state with three constituent peoples, Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats, and two entities: the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

However, the Serbian Republic of Bosnia is under the influence of the Russian Orthodox, while the Federation is under the influence of Turkey and therefore of the Islamic world. The predominantly Catholic Croats, meanwhile, are “dying out,” warns the Bishop of Banja Luka.

Catholics are persecuted on all levels, the prelate emphasizes: “politically, socially, and also economically. Often, Catholics run into problems because they have a Croatian name. It is also difficult for them to find work. There is still a part of the country, Western Herzegovina, where they can more or less live. But here too, Catholics prefer to emigrate.”

It is certain that in eastern Bosnia, where Islam reigns supreme, cohabitation is no longer possible.

Once again, Catholics seem to have paid the price for the 1995 peace accords: “the agreement stipulated that Bosnia-Herzegovina and the international community should provide political, legal and material support to those who wished to return to their country. This was not the case for the Croats,” said Archbishop Komarica, documents support him.

There is therefore no need to go to the Middle East to find persecuted Catholics, since they are already at our gates: “if there exists in Europe a Church in distress, it is ours. In my bishopric of Banja Luka, 95% of the ecclesiastical buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged during the war,” said the prelate resignedly, concluding the interview.

A situation all the more distressing since at the same time the European Community, blinded, is promoting the LGBT agenda, when it does not allow itself to be seduced by the sirens of a modern Islam, affirming with the Council of the Europe that “beauty is in diversity as freedom is in the hijab.”