INTERCONFESSIONAL MEETING IN TUZLA

TUZLA, Aug 19 (Hina) - Representatives of the Bosnian Roman Catholic, Serb Orthodox and Islamic faiths met in the Franciscan monastery in the northeastern town of Tuzla on Monday to discuss the freedom of movement for religious servants on the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to a statement released on Tuesday, the meeting showed a great need for establishing a ministry for religious affairs in the Moslem-Croat Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose organisational structure and competence should be modelled on that of the Bosnian Serb Republic. Under discussion was the freedom of movement for all religious servants and the possibility of performing religious rites, the statement said. The participants reached an agreement in principle on a proposed list of religious servants who would be allowed to return to towns to which their access is currently restricted. They stressed the importance of interconfessional activities and frequent contacts between religious leaders in both entities. The representatives of the Catholic, Orthodox and Islamic faiths called for the return of Vasilije Kacavenda, Serb Orthodox Bishop of Tuzla and Zvornik, to his residence in Tuzla. They called on the regional offices of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia-Herzegovina to step up their role in helping organise similar meetings. Attending were head of the Franciscan province of Bosna Srebrena Petar Andjelovic, Catholic Bishop of Banja Luka Franjo Komarica, Serb Orthodox Bishop of Tuzla and Zvornik Vasilije Kacavenda, Mufti of Tuzla Husein Kavazovic, Mufti of Mostar Seid Smajkic, Rajko Okilj of the Bosnian Serb Republic's Ministry for Religious Affairs, Serb Orthodox parish priest of Tuzla Nikolaj Markovic, and guardian of the Franciscan monastery in Tuzla Petar Matanovic. (hina) vm 192224 MET aug 97