Bosnia and Herzegovina: marking 28 years since Srebrenica genocide. Mgr. Vuksic (Archbishop Sarajevo), “graves of victims are preachers of peace”

Mgr Tomo Vuksic, Archbishop of Sarajevo, released a message to mark the 28th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide that falls tomorrow, Tuesday, 11 July. “I extend my sincerest condolences to all those bereaved by the loss of their family members and friends”, the prelate said. “Each victim was someone’s father or mother, brother or sister, son or daughter, wife or husband, fiancé, friend or acquaintance”. “That is why – he goes on to say - their pain is so deep”. Mgr Vuksic explains that “for the rest of us, all victims are our brothers and sisters because we have the same Creator, and we sincerely and fraternally sympathize with everyone”. In particular, the prelate expresses “closeness to the families of those whose remains will be buried this year, after they were exhumed earlier from mass graves, and their identification could not be completed until now”. Mgr Vuksic calls the graves of victims “the greatest preachers of peace”, for they “call for every life to be respected and preserved” - this is “their most important message and lesson to all living beings”. The message of the Archbishop of Sarajevo ends with a prayer to “our Lord, the merciful Creator and the only Lord of life”, to “reward all the deceased with eternal life and to give hope to the living out of this sadness”. In 1995, over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed in and around the city of Srebrenica by the army of the Serbian Republic under the command of Ratko Mladic.
Valentina Bombelli