Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bishops’ assembly, “COVID-19, taking care of the faithful with even more love”

The two-day meeting (4-5 November) of the Bishops of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo has come to an end. The figures of the pandemic in the country show that there are 57,500 confirmed cases and 1,400 deaths, with infections on the rise over the past few weeks. This is why – according to a final statement – the Bishops exchanged views on the topic of “pastoral care in the context of the pandemic”. The resulting picture is a Church that “takes care of the faithful with even more love”. The Bishops invite priests and consecrated men and women in particular to follow the rules, while also “continuing to be close to the faithful”. They also invite them “to devote more time to the study of documents from the Holy Father and the Holy See” at this time “of reduced pastoral activity”. Public masses continue to be celebrated. The Bishops, however, also recall “the importance of family prayer”, the Liturgy of the Hours and the prayers of the universal Church. The Bishops’ gratitude goes to all healthcare workers and to “all those hospital directors who have allowed priests to visit the seriously ill” with due prudence. The plenary also touched on the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement with a negative assessment: in these years, we have witnessed the “legalisation of some injustices that have their roots in the Agreement and in many of its subsequent amendments, to the detriment of the weakest and minorities”.
Valentina Bombelli