Pope says Bosnian peace requires overcoming ethnic hostilities

Published: 2004-02-27

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The future of democracy, development and peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina requires concrete steps to overcome hostilities among ethnic and religious groups, Pope John Paul II said. "The effective equality of all before the law and concrete respect for one's neighbor are indispensable," the pope said Feb. 27 as he welcomed the Balkan nation's new ambassador to the Vatican, Miroslav Palameta. The war, violence and tensions that arose after the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s continue to undermine true national unity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the pope said. An internationally brokered peace deal in 1995 ended the 43-month war, in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and nearly 2 million were expelled or displaced. The fighting highlighted the country's ethnic and religious divisions, with the main communities consisting of ethnic Croat Catholics, ethnic Serb Orthodox and Bosnian Muslims.

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