New York, April 29, 1998 (IKA) – On Monday, April 27, Fra Ivo Marković, a professor at the Franciscan School of Theology in Sarajevo, received the Peace Activist Award that was presented for the first time by the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. The award was established at the initiative of Richard Holbrooke and conceived as encouragement to religious leaders who risk their lives in the service of peace, reconciliation and human rights. Fra Ivo Marković was awarded this prize for his significant peacemaking activity during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and especially for his efforts on behalf of postwar reconciliation and the normalization of life.
The Tanenbaum Center promotes interreligious understanding to prevent war.
The center was named after Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum who, until his death in 1992, was a distinguished leader in interreligious work and promoting social rights. The center was founded shortly after his death to promote interreligious understanding and prevent religion from having a negative influence on political events.
The award, a diploma and check for 5,000 dollars, was presented to Fra Ivo Marković by the well-known actress Liv Ullman. The same evening, Archbishop Cardinal O#!Connor of New York presented the Award for the Advancement of Interreligious Understanding to Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. The Media Bridge-Builder Award was given to African-American publisher Edward Lewis for “positive writing in the media.” The master of ceremonies was CBS news anchor Dan Rather. General Secretary Kofi Annan of the United Nations delivered the keynote address on “The Challenge of Conflict Prevention.”
Fra Ivo Marković expressed his gratitude for the award, on his own behalf and on behalf of all the peacemakers in Bosnia, especially the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena. He said, “in our time, over fifty wars have been waged, most often in the name of religion” and added that this is possible because religion is reduced to ideology. “Ideologies, that are empty in themselves, misuse religious, national and civilized values.” Fra Ivo Marković concluded his acceptance speech by stating that the contemporary name for faith is peace and “religions as communities with the experience of God#!s proximity are factories of peace, compassion, love and freedom …
These are the fruits of religions when they function properly.”
After meeting in Washington with representatives of the Center for Strategic and International Research and the American Institute for Peace, Fra Ivo Marković will return to his Franciscan monastery on Bistrik in Sarajevo. In addition to his professorial work, Fra Ivo Marković heads the Interreligious Committee and the Eye to Eye Center for Interreligious Dialogue.
Fra Ivo Markovic lost his father, many relatives and friends from the Bistrik Parish during the war. Today, he helps displaced Muslims who are living in his family home.
Fra Ivo Marković was among the professors and personnel of the Franciscan School of Theology in Sarajevo when it was taken over by Serbian forces on June 8, 1992. He and the others were held as hostages in the school basements. After three months spent in Central Bosnia while attempting to prevent conflict between Croats and Muslims, Fra Ivo Marković joined his fellow professors of the Franciscan School of Theology who taught students in exile in Samobor, Croatia. In Zagreb, he was active in the Christian Information Agency. Fra Ivo Marković brought together students from Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has travelled extensively in Europe and North America as the guest of various peace movements. He was one of the first to return to Sarajevo, has led various international peacemaking and nongovernment groups, and has been going to Pale since the end of the war.