Bosnian bishops reject claims they back division
"We reject such claims as unfounded, irresponsible, and harmful to interreligious dialogue."
The Catholic bishops of Bosnia and Herzegovina have rejected claims by a local Islamic organization that the Church supports efforts to divide the Balkan nation.
The Episcopal Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina said April 29 that it was dismayed by a declaration issued by the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country’s highest Muslim representative body.
It said: “The Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina expresses deep regret over the content and tone of the statement by the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which, without any concrete evidence, the Catholic Church and unnamed ‘Church circles’ are linked to alleged projects of dividing Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
“We reject such claims as unfounded, irresponsible, and harmful to interreligious dialogue and overall relations in society. The Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its institutions, consistently advocates peace, justice, dialogue, and equality among the constituent peoples and citizens, without any hidden political agendas.”
The Muslim body released a statement April 28 condemning the presentation of a memorandum at a conference in Zagreb, Croatia, calling for a political reorganization of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country of around 3.2 million people.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s current political structure emerged from the Bosnian War of 1992-1995, which followed the breakup of Yugoslavia. The war ended with the Dayton Agreement, which defined Bosnia and Herzegovina as a single sovereign state, but with two component entities: Republika Srpska, mainly populated by Orthodox Christian Serbs, and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, largely populated by Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats.
Bosniaks form a majority in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croats have consistently complained of being marginalized within the entity’s political apparatus.
Church leaders have said that the Catholic population of Bosnia and Herzegovina has shrunk by approximately half over the past 30 years, with many families emigrating for economic reasons.
The April 24-25 TradFest conference in Zagreb included a discussion on the topic “Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Failed State and the Imperative for a Third Croatian Entity.”
This third Croatian entity would entail the creation of a new component of Bosnia and Herzegovina mainly populated by Catholic Croats. Advocates of a third entity believe it would put the Croat population on an equal political level with their Serb and Bosniak counterparts.
But any discussion of altering the status quo in Bosnia and Herzegovina is extremely sensitive, as many fear any changes to the political structure could lead to a resumption of war.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s foreign ministry sent a protest note to the Croatian government, criticizing the views expressed at the conference.
Participants in the Zagreb discussion included retired Cardinal Vinko Puljić, who led an archdiocese covering the eastern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1991 to 2022.
Puljić, who famously appeared alongside Pope Leo XIV on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after the 2025 conclave, gave a presentation at the conference on “Croatian Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Time for Stability.”
In its April 28 statement, the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina said it “completely rejects the ideas of the memorandum on the ethnic division of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was presented in Zagreb recently and is backed by radical right-wing political and Church circles.”
The Muslim body claimed the ideas expressed at the Zagreb conference were reminiscent of the 1986 SANU Memorandum, which argued that Yugoslavia’s political structure discriminated against Serbs and is seen as a precursor of the breakup of the country, which resulted in ethnic cleansing.
The Bosnian bishops rejected the historical comparison in their response to the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
They said: “It is particularly concerning that historical tragedies and legally established crimes are being instrumentalized for political point-scoring and the discrediting of other religious communities. Such rhetoric does not contribute to confronting the past but deepens mistrust and needlessly raises tensions.”
The bishops emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a state with three constituent peoples, according to the Dayton Agreement.
They said: “Such a constitutional arrangement is not a mere formality, but the foundation of stability, balance, and peace. It is unacceptable that any constituent people, regardless of its size or territorial distribution, be denied, diminished, or have their rights stripped away by a majority vote.”
“It is a great injustice and immoral to relativize, limit, or practically render impossible the rights of any nation, and it represents a direct departure from the Dayton constitutional framework and opens the door to new instabilities. The deprivation or denial of rights cannot be the path to a just society, but rather leads to a deepening of mistrust and political tensions.”
The bishops argued that social harmony should be promoted through the reform of the country’s electoral laws. It also called for the “full and consistent protection” of the rights of Bosnian Croats, “including their legitimate representation and real equality in all institutions and at all levels of government.”
They said: “We call on the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and all its representatives, as well as all societal actors, to be responsible in public discourse, to refrain from unsubstantiated claims, and to engage in an honest dialogue based on respect for the constitutional order and the dignity of every nation and every human being.”
“Bosnia and Herzegovina does not need new accusations and divisions, but a serious and sincere conversation among all its peoples and communities.”
The bishops added: “The Catholic Church will continue to participate in this openly, clearly, and without hiding behind political constructs.”
I had to click through the link to "TradFest," and I found that it also featured a speaker who's appeared in the Pillar before:
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/cdu-vetted-professor-with-faked-degrees