Stadler, the first archbishop of Sarajevo. A priest, a Franciscan friar and a
nun then spoke about the suffering and persecutions they had experienced during
the war in the Balkans.
 The Pope, moved by their words, set aside the discourse he had prepared -
extensive extracts of which we publish below - and addressed some off-the-cuff
comments to them. "These accounts speak for themselves", he said. "And this is
the memory of your people! A people that forgets the past has no future. This
is
the memory of your fathers and mothers in the faith: only three people have
spoken, but behind them there are many, many others who suffered the same
things".
 "Dear sisters, dear brothers, you do not have the right to forget your own
history. Not for the purpose of revenge, but rather to make peace. Not to look
at these testimonies as something odd, but through them to love as they have
loved. In your blood, in your vocation, there is the vocation and the blood of
these three martyrs. And it is the blood and the vocation of many religious
women and men, many priests, many seminarians. ... Keeping memory alive so as
to
make peace. Some words struck my heart. One of them, repeated, 'forgiveness'. A
man, a woman who is consecrated to the Lord's service who does not know how to
forgive, is not helpful. To forgive a friend who swore at you, or someone with
whom you have argued, or a sister who is jealous of you, this is not all that
difficult. But to forgive the one who slaps you in the face, who tortures you,
who abuses you, who threatens to shoot you ... this is difficult. And these
three
have done it, and they teach others to do it".
 "You are blessed who have such witnesses so close to you: do not forget them,
please. Your life will grow with this memory. ... Finally, I wish to say to you
that this has been a story of cruelty. Even today, in this world war we see
many, many, many acts of cruelty. Do always the opposite of cruelty: have an
attitude of tenderness, of brotherhood, of forgiveness. And carry the Cross of
Jesus Christ. The Church, holy Mother Church, wants it this way: small, tiny
martyrdoms, before these small martyrs, these small witnesses to the Cross of
Jesus".
 The following is the address Pope Francis had prepared:
 "I come to your land as a pilgrim of peace and dialogue, to strengthen and to
encourage my brothers and sisters in the faith, and in particular you, who are
called to work 'full time' in the vineyard of the Lord. He says to us, 'I am
with you always, to the close of the age'. This certainty fills us with
consolation and hope, especially when your ministry experiences difficulties. I
think of the sufferings and trials both past and present in your Christian
communities. Although you have lived through these circumstances, you did not
halt, you endured, and worked hard to confront personal, social and pastoral
challenges with a tireless spirit of service. May the Lord bless your efforts.
 "I can imagine that the Catholic Church's being numerically a minority in your
country, coupled with the failures that sometime occur in ministry, may at
times
make you feel like Jesus' disciples when, although having toiled all night
long,
they caught no fish. However, it is precisely in these moments, if we entrust
ourselves to the Lord, that we experience the power of His word, the strength
of
His Spirit, which renews trust and hope in us. The fruitfulness of our service
depends above all on faith: faith in Christ's love, from which, as St. Paul
reminds us, and which he know from experience, nothing can separate us!
Fraternity within our communities also sustains and strengthens us: fraternity
among priests, among men and women religious, among consecrated lay persons,
among seminarians. In fact, fraternity among all of us, whom the Lord has
called
to leave everything so as to follow Him, gives us joy and consolation, and
renders our work ever more fruitful. We are witnesses to fraternity!
 "'Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock'. With these words - recorded
in
the Acts of the Apostles - St. Paul reminds us that if we want to help others
become holy we cannot neglect ourselves, that is, neglect our own
sanctification. And vice versa: dedication to God's faithful people, being
close
to them in their lives, especially to the poor and the needy, helps us be
conformed ever more to Christ. Attention to one's own sanctification and
pastoral charity towards people are two sides of the same coin and are mutually
enriching. They must never be separated.
 "What does it mean, today, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for a priest or
consecrated person to serve the Lord's flock?", asked the Holy Father. "I think
it means to carry out a pastoral ministry of hope, caring for the sheep that
are
in the sheepfold, but also going out in search of those who await the Good News
and who do not know where to find it, or who on their own cannot find their way
to Jesus. It means to meet the people where they live, including those sheep
who
are outside the sheepfold, far away, who may not yet have heard of Jesus
Christ.
It means taking care of the formation of Catholics in their faith and in their
Christian lives. Encouraging the lay faithful to be protagonists in the
evangelising mission of the Church. For this reason, I exhort you to develop
Catholic communities open and 'going forth', able to welcome and to encounter,
and to be courageous in their evangelical witness.
 "The priest, the consecrated person, is called to live the anguish and the
hope
of the people; to work in concrete circumstances often characterised by
tensions, discord, suspicions, insecurities and poverty. Faced with these
painful situations, we ask God to grant us hearts that can be moved, capable of
showing empathy; there is no greater witness than to be close to the spiritual
and material needs of the faithful. It is the task of us bishops, priests and
religious to make the people feel the nearness of God; to feel His comforting
and healing hand; to be familiar with the wounds and tears of our people; to
never tire of opening our hearts and offering a hand to all who ask us for
help,
and to all those who, perhaps because they feel ashamed, do not ask our help,
but who are in great need of it. In this regard, I wish to express my deep
appreciation to religious sisters for everything they do with such generosity,
and above all for their faithful and dedicated presence.
 "Dear priests, dear men and women religious, I encourage you to carry out
joyfully your pastoral ministry whose effectiveness is the fruit of faith and
grace, but also the fruit of a humble life, one detached from worldly concerns.
Please, do not fall into the temptation of becoming a self-absorbed elite. The
generous and transparent witness of priestly and religious life sets an example
and gives encouragement to seminarians and to all those whom the Lord calls to
serve Him. Standing by the side of young men and women, inviting them to share
experiences of service and prayer, you will help them to discover the love of
Christ and to open themselves up to the call of the Lord. May the People of God
see in you that faithful and generous love which Christ has left to His
disciples as a legacy.
 "I wish also to offer a word to you, dear seminarians. Among the many
beautiful
examples of priests and consecrated men in your country, we remember in
particular the Servant of God Petar Barbaric. His example unites Herzegovina,
where he was born, to Bosnia, where he made his religious profession, as he
also
unites all priests, diocesan or religious. May this young candidate for the
priesthood, whose life was so full of virtue, be a powerful example to each one
of you.
 The Virgin Mary is always near us, as a caring mother. She is the first
disciple of the Lord, the first example of a life dedicated to him and to his
brothers. When we find ourselves in difficulty, or when faced with a situation
that makes us feel the depth of our powerlessness, let us turn to her with
childlike trust. Then she always says to us - as at the wedding at Cana - 'Do
whatever he tells you'. She teaches us to listen to Jesus and to follow His
word, but to do so with faith! This is her secret, which as a mother, she
wishes
to transmit to us: faith, a genuine faith, enough so that even a grain of it
can
move mountains!
 "By abandoning ourselves in trust, we can serve the Lord with joy, sowing hope
everywhere. I assure you of remembrance in my prayers and I bless each of you
and your communities. I ask you please, do not forget to pray for me",
concluded
Francis, before imparting his final blessing.

___________________________________________________________

 Ecumenical and interreligious meeting: dialogue cannot be confined to the
leaders of religious communities
 Vatican City, 6 June 2015 (VIS) - "Today's meeting is a sign of our shared
desire for fraternity and peace; it is a testimony to the friendship and
cooperation that has been developing over the years and which you already
experience daily. To be present here today is already a 'message' of that
dialogue which everyone seeks and strives for", said Pope Francis to the
participants in the ecumenical and interreligious meeting held in the
Franciscan
international study centre of Sarajevo.
 The leaders of the Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish communities of Bosnia
and Herzegovina greeted the Holy Father, who recalled one of the fruits of this
desire for encounter and reconciliation - the establishment in 1997 of a local
Council for Interreligious Dialogue, bringing together Muslims, Christians and
Jews - and congratulated them on their work in promoting dialogue, coordinating
common initiatives and developing relations with State authorities. "Your work
in this region is immensely important, particularly in Sarajevo, which stands
as
the crossroads of peoples and cultures", he said. "Here, on the one hand,
diversity constitutes a great resource which has contributed to the social,
cultural and spiritual development of this region, while, on the other, it has
also been the cause of painful rifts and bloody wars. It is not by chance that
the birth of the Council for Interreligious Dialogue and other valuable
initiatives in the area of interreligious and ecumenical work came about at the
end of the war, in response to the need for reconciliation and rebuilding a
society torn apart by conflict. Interreligious dialogue here, as in every part
of the world, is an indispensable condition for peace, and for this reason is a
duty for all believers".
 Francis underlined that interreligious dialogue, before being a discussion of
the main themes of faith, is a "conversation about human existence". "This
conversation shares the experiences of daily life in all its concreteness, with
its joys and sufferings, its struggles and hopes; it takes on shared
responsibilities; it plans a better future for all. We learn to live together,
respecting each other's differences freely; we know and accept one another's
identity. Through dialogue, a spirit of fraternity is recognised and developed,

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