MOSTAR, March 17 (Hina) - Croatian and Bosnian bishops agreed at a meeting in Bosnia's Mostar on Tuesday to encourage public institutions in Croatia to materially help the survival of Croats in Bosnia, notably in areas they were
forced to leave during the 1990s war and to which they can still return, read an official statement issued in the southern city on Wednesday.
MOSTAR, March 17 (Hina) - Croatian and Bosnian bishops agreed at a
meeting in Bosnia's Mostar on Tuesday to encourage public institutions
in Croatia to materially help the survival of Croats in Bosnia,
notably in areas they were forced to leave during the 1990s war and to
which they can still return, read an official statement issued in the
southern city on Wednesday.#L#
A report on the current situation in the Catholic Church in
Bosnia-Herzegovina considered at the meeting said that 45 percent of
Catholics left their homeland due to ethnic cleansing and post-war
political engineering.
The two countries' bishops underlined the need to respect the equality
of Bosnia's three constituent peoples, and urged representatives of
the international community and local authorities to refrain from
adopting dangerous and unfair solutions.
Croatian bishops supported the Bosnian Croat Catholics' efforts to
preserve their national and cultural characteristics, notably the
right to use the Croatian language in the education system, the media,
cultural and other institutions.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Bosnia, Santos Abril y Castillo, underlined
the pope's care for Croatian Catholics, notably in Bosnia. He urged
the Croatian Bishops' Conference to morally and materially assist the
Catholic Church in Bosnia in healing the wounds of war.
The bishops' conferences of Croatia and Bosnia meet annually since
1999 at the instigation of the Holy Father.
(Hina) ha