Chairman Zvizdić at Audience with Pope

Pope Francis received today at audience Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BIH Dr Denis Zvizdić. During the talks extremely well bilateral relations of the Holy See and Bosnia and Herzegovina were affirmed. 

Chairman Zvizdić conveyed greetings of all peoples and citizens, members of all confessions In Bosnia and Herzegovina, who take prayers, blessings and messages of Pope Francis in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sign of support, encouragement and hope to preserve in keeping peace and co-existence. He expressed his gratitude for Pope’s visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 5, 2015 and for his message of support sent on that occasion to all peoples.

“Your speech and blessing sent to all peoples in BIH remained in memories of all well-intentioned people and citizens as a guide for co-existence, cooperation, development and tolerance”, Chairman Zvizdić said at the meeting.

 

Chairman Zvizdić briefed Pope Francis of the current political and economic developments in BIH, with a focus of the country’s road to the Euro-Atlantic integrations. He thanked for the speech Pope held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, when he proposed to EMPs an interactive dialogue for enlargement of the European Union by the Western Balkans countries. He emphasised that Bosnia and Herzegovina is firmly committed to becoming a part of the European family, on which there is a full consensus of all peoples living in BIH.

 

Pope Francis said Bosnia and Herzegovina should take the road of dialogue and compromise for the benefit of all peoples living in BIH. He stressed that the Holy See supports the ambitions BIH has as to the integration to the European Union. They discussed the status of members of all confessions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pope Francis sad that Vatican fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Chairman Zvizdić and Pope Francis discussed a stalemate in implementation of the ratified Basic Agreement between the Holy See and BIH and an Additional Protocol to the Basic Agreement from 2006. Chairman Zvizdić informed Pope of the fact that the Law on Religious Holidays, which is one of items under the basic Agreement, was in the procedure but, unfortunately failed to receive needed agreement, Chairman Zvizdić said he will take effort for that a delay in the implementation of the Agreement be overcome.

 

Chairman Zvizdić presented to Pope Francis the Charter of Ban Kulin the oldest known written document in the history of Bosnia and proof of the Bosnian statehood, written on August 29, 1189, as a legal note regulating the trade relations between the then Medieval Bosnian kingdom and Dubrovnik Republic.

“The importance of the Charter of Ban Kulin, as a cultural-historic monument and the oldest preserved diplomatic document of the Bosnian Medieval state, is witnessed by the fact that it is considered to be ‘the birth certificate of the Bosnian state’”, Chairman Zvizdić said, among other things.

 

Together with the Charter, presented was “The Light of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina” book. The sizable monography was written in four languages in parallel and divided into the culture, religion, ethnography, traffic, military and other sections. The book consists of 1,800 unique postcards from the Austro-Hungarian period of Bosnia and Herzegoivna, from the end of 19^th and beginning of 20^th century. The monography “The Light of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina” presents in a serious way the cultural-historic heritage of the country and complies at one place the sediments of material culture of different civilisations being present at the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Pope Francis presented to chairman Zvizdić a medallion of Angel of Peace, made by Roman artists Guido Veroi, and which  represents contemporary challenges: it connects North and South and harmonies them, while, on the other side, it struggles against devastating forces, such as exploitation, new forms of colonialism, distrust, prejudices, uncompromisingness and indifference.

 

Chairman Zvizdić congratulated to Pope Francis the up-coming Christmas and invited him to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina next year.

 

Following his meeting with Pope Francis, Chairman Zvizdić met and talked with Secretary of State of the Holy See msgr Peitro Parolin.

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