SARAJEVO, June 23 (Hina) - Pope John Paul II's call on the peoples of Bosnia-Herzegovina to forgive one another and build a state based on common values was highlighted as his most important message in almost all Bosnian newspapers on
Monday.
SARAJEVO, June 23 (Hina) - Pope John Paul II's call on the peoples of
Bosnia-Herzegovina to forgive one another and build a state based
on common values was highlighted as his most important message in
almost all Bosnian newspapers on Monday. #L#
Sarajevo's "Dnevni avaz" highlights on its front page the pope's
call for forgiveness and reports that the Pontiff was welcomed by
more than 50,000 believers.
The daily also reports about Banja Luka Bishop Franjo Komarica's
warm welcome to the Holy Father as well as his dramatic warning that
Catholics in the Banja Luka region were facing extinction.
The dimension of the visit as a statesman's visit was highlighted in
reports about the pope's speech at Banja Luka airport, when he
called on the peoples of Bosnia-Herzegovina to spare no effort in
building their country.
In a special commentary, Dnevni avaz describes as inappropriate the
obvious efforts of the Bosnian Serb authorities to present the
visit as a sign of "recognition" of the entity by the Holy See.
The report of a journalist with "Oslobodjenje" daily, who arrived
with the pope from Rome, says the pope's special wish was for his
visit to Banja Luka to mark further rapprochement between
Catholicism and Orthodox faith. The journalist says this will
happen regardless of the fact that Patriarch Pavle did not attend
the event at Petricevac outside Banja Luka.
Oslobodjenje quotes the Serb Democratic Party president and one of
the most influential politicians in Banja Luka, Dragan Kalinic, as
saying the pope's visit was very important and he hoped all Serbs
would understand that.
However, the daily estimates that neither the pope's visit nor
Bishop Komarica's appeal will significantly affect the return of
Croats to the entity until politicians change their conduct.
"Jutarnje novine" reports that the pope's visit was an act of strong
confirmation of the country's European orientation.
The pope's call for reconciliation was objectively interpreted in
an extensive report in Banja Luka's "Nezavisne novine", while "Glas
Srpske", which mostly presents the views of the official
structures, commemorates on its front page a massacre committed
against Serbs by the Ustasha in February 1942 in a village near
Banja Luka. The paper barely reports about Bishop Komarica's
dramatic appeals but gives extensive coverage to the fact that some
pilgrims brought Croatian flags to yesterday's mass.
Mostar's "Dnevni list" highlights the Pope's statement that he
carries Bosnia-Herzegovina in his heart and that its citizens
should not look for happiness outside their country.
(hina) rml