CONFERENCE ON CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS IN EUROPE STARTS IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, Sept 13 (Hina) - Zagreb Archbishop and Vice President of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE), Josip Bozanic, opened a conference entitled "Christians and Muslims in Europe: responsibility and religious commitment in a pluralised society", in Sarajevo on Wednesday evening. The event, which will take place in the Bosnian capital by 16 September, is jointly organised by the CCEE and the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the Roman Catholic news agency in Bosnia- Herzegovina (KTA) reported last night. Addressing the participants, Archbishop Bozanic said religions had a great responsibility for building peace in society. The Croatian Catholic dignitary expressed regret that "hatred had from time to time been spread even in the name of God." "May this symbolic city of Sarajevo, where Christians and Muslims have meet each other for a long time, be fruitful in cooperation," Bozanic said. The CEC President, Metropolitan Jeremie Caligiorgis, pointed to the importance of dialogue between representatives of Christian and Islamic world. He called on the participants to say prayers for the victims of last Tuesday's terrorist attacks in the United States. Sarajevo Archbishop, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, expressed sympathy for the losses the American nation had suffered, adding that "we know very well what is the suffering of innocent people," alluding to war hardship in Bosnia and the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted for more than 1,000 days. The head of the Islamic community in Bosnia, Reis-l-Ulema Mustafa Ceric, recalled that Christians accounted for a majority in Europe, but they should realise that Muslims were now their neighbours and not a remote people. Ceric added that "Europe has its tempo and Muslims must fit init." The official opening of the conference finished with the reading of excerpts from the Bible and Koran. (hina) ms