The Symbol of the Century

In perhaps his most delicate pastoral mission, Pope John Paul II finally fulfilled his desire to visit Sarajevo--and to observe that the city's history of suffering makes it a symbol of the violence that has marred the 20th century.

"Peace to you, men and women of Sarajevo. Peace to you, people of Bosnia-Herzegovina!" exclaimed Pope John Paul II at Kosevo stadium on April 13. After a first effort had failed in 1994, because Serbian leaders would not guarantee the Pope's safety, John Paul had finally fulfilled his desire to visit war-torn Sarajevo.

The Pope two days pastoral visit, organized around the theme "We are with you," was again touched by the shadow of violence. Just hours before the Holy Father's arrival, officials discovered a huge cache of explosives on the route he would take from the airport into the city. Still the Pope did not even want to take a military helicopter into town; he wanted to see the people who were lining the streets, waiting impatiently to see him.

Along with government officials of Bosnia-Herzegovina (with the top Serbian representatives conspicuously absent) and Bosnian Catholic bishops, the Pope was welcomed at the airport by Muslim, Croatian and Serbian women who had lost members of their families during the war. Of all the Pope's many trips abroad, this was the first formal arrival at which there was no state flag flown, no national anthem sung, and no honor guard to review. Due to the complexity of the political situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the trip was governed by an elaborate protocol, with 24 pages of text setting down procedures for even the smallest details of the visit.

The driving snow and harsh cold wind that ripped through the stadium during Sunday Mass made the Pope suffer at the altar, but it did not prevent him from delivering his message of peace to more than 40,000 pilgrims inside and another 10,000 outside the stadium--one section of which had been converted into a temporary graveyard during the height of the 1,300-day siege of the city.

The Pope's message expressed his horror at what had happened here, and his hope for the city's future. He told the congregation:

Pope emphasized that all Christians should pray "that Sarajevo may become for all of Europe a model of coexistence and peaceful cooperation between peoples of different ethnic origins and religions."

Earlier on Sunday morning the Pope had met with the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency, a three-man body consisting of Muslim, Croatian, and Serbian representatives. He gave the government leaders the same message that "Sarajevo, a city at the crossroads of the tensions between cultures, religions, and different peoples, can be considered the city symbolizing our century".

"Now, after so much suffering, Bosnia-Herzegovina is finally committed to building peace," the Pope remarked. But he cautioned: "This in not an easy undertaking, as the experience of the months since the end of the conflict have shown. Nevertheless, with the help of the international community, peace is possible--indeed peace is necessary." The Pope urged the political leaders to show their courage, patience, and perseverance, promising them, "God does not abandon peacemakers."

The Pope also received the highest representatives of the Muslim and Jewish communities of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the afternoon of April 13, and again repeated his message of pardon and peace. "The time has come to resume a sincere dialogue of brotherhood, accepting and offering forgiveness," he said. "The time has come to overcome the hatred and vengeance which still hinder the re-establishment of genuine peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina." At a separate meeting with the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan Nikolaj Mrdja he reiterated the same point: "Let us forgive and let us ask for forgiveness: this is the first step toward creating new trust and a new relationship between all those who recognize in the Son of God the sole savior of humanity."

In his public talks in Sarajevo, the Pope underlined two specific challenges that must be addressed in order to build a lasting peace. First, he said, the peace process "must be conducted with respect for equality for rights, guaranteed to individual citizens by appropriate legal means, without preference or discrimination." Second, he reminded all parties, "An effort must be made to ensure that exiles and refugees, in whatever part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, can exercise the right to return to the homes which they had to abandon in the turmoil of the conflict."

In an act designed both to encourage and to symbolize cooperation across ethnic and religious lines, the Pope awarded the John XXIII International Peace Prize to four humanitarian organizations which have been active in relief work during the years of fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina and neighboring Croatia. These organizations were carefully selected to represent each of the region's major religious groups: Caritas, an agency of the Catholic bishops' conference; the Serbian Orthodox group Dobrotovor, the Muslim group Merhamet, and the Jewish organization La Benevolencija.

During the Pope's meeting with the clergy and religious of Sarajevo, held on April 12 at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Cardinal Vinko Puljic providing a disturbing picture of the damage the war has done to the Catholic Church. "We are facing the question: how shall we survive in this region?" he admitted. The cardinal explained:

Through all the years of suffering, Cardinal Puljic said, the Church in Sarajevo has also seen examples of heroic witness and even real martyrdom; eight priests and two nuns were killed during the months of fighting. And he emphasized the proud heritage of the local Church; he pointed out that a cathedral was erected in Vrhbosna--the city now known as Sarajevo--750 years ago, when the local Christian community was already well established. "We Croats Catholics have begun our 14 century of life here on the soil of Bosnia-Herzegovina," he concluded, pointing out that this was the first visit to the region by a successor to St. Peter.

The Pope's pastoral visit to Sarajevo may have been his most difficult mission, because he was coming to a place where, as he put it, "the logic of inhuman violence must be replaced by the constructive logic of peace," after the bloodiest fighting Europe has experienced in this century. But the papal visit--and his insistence on human equality--may have furnished some momentum for the cause of peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Josip Stilinovic is a free-lance journalist based in Zagreb, Croatia.

Just a few hours before Pope John Paul arrived in Sarajevo, security officials removed 23 land mines from a bridge on the route the Pope would be taking from the airport into the city. Initial reports from the official Bosnian news agency Onasa suggested that the mines were leftovers from the years of fighting in the former Yugoslavian province. But the facts suggest a much more ominous explanation.

At a press conference hurriedly convened by the police of Bosnia-Herzegovina, one security official revealed that the mines had apparently been planted sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. The papal route had been swept for mines on Friday, and the bridge had passed the test. Theoretically, the route which the Pope would take was under guard during the night. But somehow, a series of powerful mines was deployed.

The mines in question were sophisticated Italian-made devices, designed to destroy an armored vehicle such as a tank. Placed under a bridge they would have another deadly effect: if a vehicle survived the initial blast, the collapse of the bridge would plunge it into the ravine below. And by planting multiple mines under the bridge in Sarajevo, the bombers had evidently plotted an ambush which would destroy several different vehicles in a convoy--thereby enhancing their prospects of for a successful "kill" on the car which was carrying the Pope.

The sort of mines which were discovered in Sarajevo--state-of-the-art devices, which could be triggered by remote control--are not readily available to individuals. To collect 23 such devices, and to deploy them in the course of a single night, would require substantial funding, intelligence, and military expertise. And since the bridge to be mined was supposedly being guarded, the people responsible for planting those mines must have been either very skillful, or very confident that the police would not interfere. In either case, the evidence points toward a highly organized, powerful organization rather than an isolated individual.

Since thousands of security officers were involved in the effort to protect the Holy Father during his trip to Sarajevo, the discovery of the land mines was a severe jolt, implying a major flaw in the security system. UN spokesman Aleksandar Ivanko admitted, "We are very upset by the fact that the mines were discovered almost by chance."

Early in the morning of the Pope's arrival, reporters heard rumors that several new groups of anti-sniper squads had been dispatched to Sarajevo, to join the troops already in place there. (The Pope's caravan took him past the area once known as Sniper's Alley.) And even after John Paul left the city, security officials discovered another set of land mines--fortunately unexploded--on a road which had been heavily traveled by pilgrims coming to greet the Holy Father.

More than 11,500 soldiers and police officers were involved in the effort to provide security for the papal visit. There were armored vehicles ready for any emergency, and several helicopters constantly hovering overhead in the area.

On a lighter note, posters announcing the Pope's arrival had been systematically torn down in Sarajevo in the weeks preceding the visit. But just before John Paul arrived, new posters were put up, and the police officers on duty throughout the city ensured that the new posters remained on display. One young Muslim was arrested for his "especially aggressive behavior" in tearing the new posters down from buildings.