The local Catholic news agency 'KTA' reported on Thursday that Bosnian friars concluded in a statement that it was intolerable to separate personal from civil, religious and ethnic rights. Based on their conclusion that those rights "have so far been radically trampled" due to the current structure of Bosnia, the friars said that it was necessary to annul all the current para-state models of organisation of Bosnia-Herzegovina that were based on the principles of exclusiveness.
The Franciscan plenary council therefore proposed that the first step should be the reorganisation and final annulment of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (the Croat-Muslim entity) and the Republic of Srpska (Serb entity) so as to set up an indivisible civil and democratic state of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Bosnian friars believe that the best solution would be the organisation of the country into cantons, which would protect equality and civil, religious and national rights as well as the right to work and the right to the management and environmental protection of the country's resources.
Catholic priests also insist on making it possible for every individual to exercise their right to return and live in freedom, on ensuring safety and prosperity, as well as on making it possible for every individual to make decisions on his or her own and ensuring the right to truth and reconciliation.
Bosnian friars recall that someone's identity is not merely a political category but a dimension of a person's integrity that includes the spiritual, linguistic, national, historical and cultural characteristics of every individual.
That is why they warn about the dangers "of every collectivism which on one hand spiritually imprisons 'its kindred' and, on the other hand, negates 'others'."
In the statement signed by the head of the Franciscan province, Mijo Dzolan, the friars urged dialogue and reconciliation among all peoples in Bosnia-Herzegovina.