Zagreb, 26. 2. 1996. (IKA) – Koeln Archbishop Joachim Cardinal Meisner was in three days visit to Zagreb and Banja Luka. Zagreb Archbishop Franjo Cardinal Kuharić received him on Friday, 23rd February, when he arrived in Zagreb. After the meeting with Cardinal Kuharić Koeln Archbishop emphasize that he got “the list of all destroyed churches, monasteries and church institutions and also a letter on building of one church. After that, Cardinal Kuharić presented his epistle on occasion of Lent to me”.
Cardinal Meisner visited Banja Luka and bishop Franjo Komarica on 24th and 25th February. The occasion was, as Cardinal said: “to show that he, as Cardinal, is not responsible only for his diocese, but for the entire Church, and from that point of view, the support of the whole Church is necessary specially to Banja Luka diocese because of all that it suffered during this war”, said Meisner. At the question of journalists, what kind of situation he had found in Banja Luka, Cardinal answered: “It is much worse, then I could imagine and I thing it has to change to better, so that we in Europe should not lose the dignity and self respect”. At the meeting with representatives of Serbs in Banja Luka, Cardinal met the representatives of Serbian Orthodox Church and Islamic community, too. He asked bishop Komarica, who accompanied him to Zagreb airport, if the things are improving after Dayton agreement, bishop said that “the situation is already better because the official disarmament has already started, in spite the realization is very slow in praxis, and the worst form of violations and the persecutions of the people have been stopped”. Bishop Komarica also remarked that there are no Croatian politicians in Banja Luka who could encouraged and make quicker the return of refugees. On the question that maybe somebody from Croatian authorities do not want that Croats return to Banja Luka, bishop answered: “I can#!t document such thing, but that kind of conclusion is imposing by itself, because nobody is speaking in our favor”.