BOSNIAN SERB OFFICIALS OBJECT TO BISHOP KOMARICA'S STATEMENTS

BANJA LUKA, June 23 (Hina) - Republika Srpska President Dragan Cavic, Parliament President Dragan Kalinic and Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic on Monday issued a joint statement expressing surprise with statements Banja Luka Bishop Franjo Komarica made during yesterday's visit of Pope John Paul II to Banja Luka. #L# The Bosnian Serb officials believe that Bishop Komarica "has replaced religious (statements) with tactless, subjective and political assessments about the current status of the Catholic Church and Croats in Republika Srpska. Cavic, Kalinic and Mikerevic object that Komarica failed to mention "the difficult position of Croatian Serb refugees". In his address during yesterday's liturgy near the Petricevac monastery outside Banja Luka, Komarica warned the domestic and foreign public about the difficult position of the Catholic community in Republika Srpska, which he said was facing extinction. According to data available to Banja Luka's Bishops' Ordinariate, there are only 50,000 believers in the whole diocese. Twice as many people had to leave their homes during the war in the country and have not returned yet. Statistical data show that during the war, 204 churches, monasteries, chapels, parish offices and cemeteries in Banja Luka diocese were damaged, 56 being levelled to the ground. (hina) rml sb