FORGIVENESS, TEARS AND GOLD COINS
Reverberations of the Pope's Visit to Sarajevo
AIM Sarajevo, April 16, 1997
"I think that the least of all the Holy Father wanted is what is imputed to him and aspired after", are the words of a guardian of one of the most famous Franciscan monasteries in Bosnia, father Stjepan Duvnjak from Kraljeva Sutjeska, seat of the court of the Bosnian kings. Father Duvnjak himself came to the center of media attention after the shelling of this monastery from "wasps" several days before Pope's visit to Sarajevo. In that context father Duvnjak said the truth, and drew perhaps the most concise conclusion regarding the visit of the Holy Father John Paul II: "Here the Pope is only an instrument in the realization of specific aims".
Perhaps the best way to corroborate this statement of father Stjepan is to start from the beginning. The Pope was supposed to come to Sarajevo back in the autumn of 1994. Even the date was set, September 8, brochures of the Mass with the Holy Father printed, and the tickets for the Kosevo stadium distributed. The brochure was printed on the ordinary newsprint, the only one that could be found in the city at that time, since it was under siege for over thousand days. On the other hand, this visit of the Pope which was realized on April 12 and 13, 1997 was marked with piles of propaganda materials, illustrated Guide for the liturgical celebration with the Holy Father John Paul II, posters showing the Pope with the message "We are with you", gold and silver coins with his figure (with the price of 600 DM!), dozens of maps showing archbishoprics, dioceses, monasteries, churches or damaged Catholic buildings...
The main Press Centre located in the "Skenderija" centre in Sarajevo, in the same premises in which once the Olympic Press operated, was packed with practically the same people, and newsletters, as well as publications on the Catholic church in Bosnia, the Pope's journey of peace to B&H published in several languages while appropriate stamps and plastic bags were made.
Every local paper issued a special supplement with all the details from the Pope's life - about him being an actor and a poet, about great journalists who were the first to hear about Carol Woytila, who had seen Pope in the flesh and who had his photograph taken near him...Even the Council of the Congress of Bosniac Intellectuals (better known as the "SDA intellectuals") thought it fit to publish a bilingual brochure about the Pope and his contribution to the peace in B&H, while on the day the Pope finally arrived the supporters of the pro-life movement started their action at the stadium entrance by distributing the pictures of the Holy Mother as a "charge-free present of the Family Centre Kaptol S. from Zagreb" with a message: "Pray and work so as to stop the killing of the children in Croatian hospital. Mother Mary carried Jesus nine months below her heart!"
In this flood of various texts there were many, both in the Sarajevan, and especially in the Italian papers, which as open letters reproached him for not being more "courageous" in 1994 to visit Sarajevo then. The then postponed visit would, allegedly, have had far greater importance in every respect. In this way Sarajevo lost something every day since 1994. The latest "invention" of the current authorities, which coincided with the Pope's arrival, was the extinguishing of the eternal flames in the memory of the city liberators and wiping out of the five-pointed star at the famous memorial site in the city centre and the engraving of - nothing less than - Zulfikar sabre!?
Apart from the indisputable religious segment of the Pope's visit to Sarajevo, contained in the first part of the syntagm "goodness and politics" (it is estimated that over 40,000 believers from all parts of B&H and abroad came to Sarajevo), in the days to come there remains to be seen what part of his arrival represented the political support to Bosnia. This was clearly pointed to, just before Pope's arrival, by the incident in Livno, a place with more than the majority Croatian population (and, naturally, authorities), where all posters of the Pope were torn down so that the HDZ was forced to publicly "remind" its voters that the Pope was, after all, the Holy Father of Christianity and that they should suppress all "unpleasant" impressions that by his coming to Sarajevo, instead to, e.g. west Mostar, he confirmed his recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina and denied their "Herzeg-Bosnia".
In his welcoming speech at the Sarajevo Airport, the current President of the B&H Presidency, Alija Izetbegovic reminded those present where the Pope actually was: "From the first shot for independence of our country, when the first innocent victims lost their lives, Your voice reverberated with the force of call and condemnation. Vatican was among the first to confirm the internationally recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina", said Izetbegovic. Still, it was noticed that this was probably the first of Izetbegovic's important speeches in which he did not use the words "aggression on B&H", but simply said "the war and war horrors". A day later, his colleague from the Presidency, Kresimir Zubak, who had the honour to bid farewell to the Pope, from that same spot "reminded" of the Pope's speech in the United Nations on the freedom of nations as a precondition of democracy. Quoting the Pope rather frequently, Zubak also sent a clear political message, alluding to the freedom of Croats in B&H to declare their will, although he could have concluded his speech with the Pope's words that "national freedom does not necessarily mean state sovereignty".
The third member of the B&H Presidency, Momcilo Krajisnik, did not show up at either welcome or farewell ceremonies for the Holy Father John Paul II, which was more than a clear political message from the Republic of Srpska where the Pope's visit was, more or less, commented on - "Well, let them have anyone they want, what do we care for the interstate visits, since both Vatican and the B&H Federation are for us foreign states". In all sincerity, accompanied by the Metropolitan Bishop, he appeared in the Sarajevo Museum, which has, for half a year now, been used as the Presidency building. According to some rumours he only stopped at the Museum to take the rather heavy gold ducat which the Pope gave to all of them (that is more like Momcilo), and according to the others he came to ask the Pope whether the forgiveness he was referring to had any role in the Hague (which is less possible), and according to the "Srna" Agency he came "to fling the blame for the war here into the Pope's face" (which is almost impossible). Be it as it may, the Pope met all the three members of the collective head of the B&H state in the Museum and talked individually with each of them for nine minutes, which the ordinary people commented on: "And what good will these nine minutes bring, when the whole world had been talking to them in vain for years."
The Holy Father, in his well-known style publicly addressed Sarajevo with the following words: "I wish to embrace all the people of this tormented country, especially those who prematurely lost someone dear, those who have on their bodies the scars of war and those who, during these years of violence, were forced to abandon their homes. Every and each one of them should know that there is a special place for him in the Pope's heart...Let there be no more war, no more hate and intolerance. This is the message of this century and this millennium."
In between the fatherly-pastoral lines of several addresses of John Paul II, frequently lied the idea on the "impulse of revenge giving way to the courage of forgiveness which will put an end to fanatical nationalism and requests resulting therefrom". In other words, the Holy Father said: "Forgiveness, in its most authentic and most sublime form, is the act of pure love. Forgiveness does not exclude the truth, on the contrary, it demands it, as the essential premise of forgiveness and reconciliation is justice. However, the eternal truth is that to ask forgiveness and forgive is a way worthy of man".
However, only two days later that same Kosevo stadium, where the Pope preached forgiveness, was the place of the celebration of the B&H Army Day. Saluting the troops, Izetbegovic subsequently "clarified" the meaning of the notion of forgiveness by saying that "we do not condemn nations, but individuals, and shall persecute war criminals to the end of the world".
In the end it seems that the Pope's visit proved that the Holy Father was a greater Bosnian (and Herzegovinian) than we ourselves are, as well as a part of his congregation. Namely, 24 mines planted a night before his arrival to Sarajevo will remain on the conscience of this city (meaning the police and the authorities). No matter how hard the national agency BH Press - ran by Alija's advisor for many years, but never a journalist, one Kemal Muftic - tried to "explain" that these were "the aggressors from the mountains who sneaked into the city during night and planted the explosive under the bridge" (incidentally, in such a quantity that that it could have blown up both the Pope and the bridge, as well as the nearby state RTV and the rest of the town district), it is indisputable that the explosive was planted professionally, with remote control, right under the nose of the federal police, several hours before Pope's arrival when everyone was already "on the lookout" with "eyes wide open" and that it was accidentally discovered by a clerk of the Sarajevo Municipal Transportation Enterprise who happened to look under the bridge.
Isn't that why, despite all the enthusiasm and happiness over the fact that the Pope has finally visited us, many felt relieved after his plane safely took off from the Sarajevo runway? Those present at the farewell ceremony, mostly prominent members of the League of Communists, apart from the clergy and some Izetbegovic's fellow-combatants from his prison days, claim that at the moment of Pope's departure Mr.Alija Izetbegovic shed a tear. And for what reason - we leave it to your imagination.
Tanja IVANOVA