"This is not about the role of the (Catholic) Church, but about individuals. We cannot condemn the entire Roman Catholic Church, but Jasenovac is a crucial issue regarding the possibility of the Pope's visit to Serbia. The question has been posed whether the Pope in his capacity as the head of the Roman Catholic Church will go to Jasenovac and whether he will offer apologies for the role of those individuals as he did in Greece," Hieromonk Irinej Dobrijevic told the Serbian news agency Tanjug.
The Pope's possible visit to Serbia does not depend on a decision of one man, but it will be decided by the assembly of the Serb Orthodox Church dignitaries, who convene every spring. Patriarch Pavle (the head of the Serb Church) is very clear in his messages about the possibility of the Pope's arrival in Serbia. Patriarch has said that in case the assembly of the dignitaries invites the Pope, he will personally hand in the invitation, Irinej said, according to Tuesday's issue of the Belgrade-based Blic daily.
The President of Serbia-Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, several months ago said he was going to invite the Pope to pay a state visit to Belgrade. This move met with strong opposition from the Serb Orthodox Church.