Mar 16, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The minority Catholic population of Bosnia-Herzegovina has tried to "live according to the Gospel and to practice love of enemy" despite attempts to wipe out the Catholic Church in the region, underlined Bishop Franjo Komarica of the Diocese of Banja Luka.
The bishop from the small European country made this statement at a congress held recently by the German branch of Aid to the Church in Need.
The prelate said he has seen "a reckless face of Europe" in the last decade, where "the weak ones were walked all over.
“Wherever God is not being honored, man is not being respected," he pointed out. "Such are the consequences of communism and materialism."
He added that, even though there was an attempted “wiping out of the Catholic Church” in the region, he and the people still maintained their faith, thereby becoming “contemporary of true martyrs who lived up to what they taught.”
Among Bosnia-Herzegovina's four million inhabitants, about 40 percent are Muslim, approximately 30 percent Orthodox and about 15 percent Catholic.