During his visit to Sarajevo in 2015, Pope Francis called the city the “European Jerusalem.”
Newsroom (23/03/2022 7:30 AM, Gaudium Press) The Secretary for Relations with States at the State Secretariat of the Holy See, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, met with religious leaders and representatives of religious communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the premises of the Apostolic Nunciature in Sarajevo.
Among the participants were Archbishop Metropolitan of Vrhbosna and Apostolic Administrator of the Military Ordinariate in BiH Tomo Vuksic, Metropolitan Chrysostom of Dabar-Bosnia, Director of the Directorate for Foreign Affairs of the Riyaset of the Islamic Community in BiH Razim Colic, President of the Jewish Community in BiH Jakob Finci, and Charge d’Affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in BiH Amaury Medina Blanco, Janusz Stanisław Błachowiak, and Archpriest-Staurophore Vladislav Topalovic.
BiH a place of special significance for Europe and the world
During the meeting, Archbishop Vuksic introduced the leaders and representatives of religious communities. Then each of them spoke briefly about the situation in their church and religious community from the perspective of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.
Namely, Archbishop Gallagher said that BiH has a special significance for Europe and the whole world and conveyed the greetings of Pope Francis. During his visit to Sarajevo in 2015, Pope Francis called the city “European Jerusalem.”
”We live in an age where dialogue, tolerance, and mutual understanding are highly valued. This region is especially aware of this, where Latin, Byzantine, and Islamic cultures have met and sometimes clashed for centuries. This is also known in this capital, where a Catholic cathedral, an Orthodox cathedral, a Muslim mosque, and a Jewish synagogue rise to the sky. These four buildings are not only places where those who believe in one God profess their faith, but they are also a visible warning of the type of civil society that the people of this area want to build, and that is a society of peace,” Arch. Gallagher noted.
With files from sarajevotimes.com
Compiled by Raju Hasmukh
