Breaking, news from Bosnia,Pope Francis urged all Bosnia's Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics to put the 'deep wounds' of their past behind them and work together for a peaceful future and release dove of peace.
This was said after he arrived in Sarajevo on Saturday for a one-day visit to encourage reconciliation following the devastating three-way war of the 1990s.
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In a symbolic gesture, Francis released the birds as thousands of Bosnians turned out to greet him and lined his motorcade route through the mostly Muslim city of 300,000.
Another 65,000 people, most of them Catholics, packed the same Sarajevo stadium where St. John Paul II presided over an emotional post-war Mass of reconciliation in 1997.
'We all need peace and to receive the pope's message,' said Alma Mehmedic, a 55-year-old Muslim who waited for a glimpse of Francis outside the presidential palace. 'I came today to give love and receive love.'
In a speech to Bosnia's three-member presidency, Francis called for Bosnians to oppose the 'barbarity' of those who want to continue sowing division 'as a pretext for further unspeakable violence.'
Rather, he urged Bosnians to continue working for peace and respectful coexistence through patient, trustful dialogue.
'This will allow different voices to unite in creating a melody of sublime nobility and beauty, instead of the fanatical cries of hatred,' he said.
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