Zagreb, (IKA) – The bishops of the Croatian Conference of Bishops have decided to help the Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a Week of Solidarity and Community with the Church and People of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bishops issued a letter in which they urge the faithful and all people of good will to join this campaign by making personal contributions from March 4 to 11. This can be done by joining activities that will be organized in the parish communities during the Week of Solidarity, donations to the giro account of Croatian Caritas, through a parish office and via a special telephone number.

In the bishops’ letter, they point out that for years the people and Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina have borne the severe consequences wounds incurred during the recent past and nevertheless have not desisted in their efforts to achieve renewal and growth. The bishops recall that approximately 300,000 Catholics have been expelled or escaped from Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1991, of whom it is estimated that barely one half remained in Croatia and the others went to third countries. Returnees encounter numerous difficulties. The bishops of the Croatian Conference of Bishops point out in their letter that the Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina tirelessly serves people who have remained in the country as well as returnees who have been deprived of the essential prerequisites for a life of dignity: hope, safety, prospects, justice, health, homes, work, wages to support a family, access to culture and participation in public life. The bishops wants the Croatian public to understand how dramatic the situation of the people and Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina really is. They feel that the information provided to the Croatian public should be more complete and comprehensive, and that a sense of solidarity, shared responsibility and the desire to help should be aroused in everyone. They also express the desire for this campaign to become a permanent form of witnessing solidarity with the sister Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina “because it needs our support, proximity and understanding.”

In the letter, the bishops recall that the Church in Croatia has fostered solidarity with people and regions in Bosnia and Herzegovina who need help, providing assistance in various ways. Until now, such assistance has mainly been at the diocesan and parish levels. At the same time, the bishops state that they in Croatia are grateful for the gift of the people who have come from those regions to Croatia and enriched it with their faith and cultural identity, building it with their knowledge and labor. They particularly expressed their gratitude for the many priestly and religious callings that have developed on the foundations of the profound faith of the Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Besides the letter from all the bishops of Croatia for the Week of Solidarity and Community with the Church and People in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the president of Croatian Caritas, Bishop Josip Mrzljak, issued a letter to pastors because Croatian Caritas is implementing this project. In Bishop Mrzljak’s letter, he asks pastors to urge the faithful and all people of good will in the parishes to respond to the Week of Solidarity and Community. Among other things, Bishop Mrzljak points out that on three Sundays during Lent the entire collection will go to help Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, Bishop Mrzljak urged pastors to invite priests from Bosnia and Herzegovina to deliver homilies to their parishes on the second or third Sunday in Lent about the difficulties in which their religious communities are living. In those parishes where there are refugee communities from Bosnia and Herzegovina, encounters should be organized at which they will be able to speak about their experiences of persecution and expulsion, challenges and possibilities for integration in the new community. As a permanent form of witness to solidarity, the possibility of affiliation between parishes in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina is also proposed.