Pope urges tolerance in Bosnia

Tensions linger between different religious groups

Pope John Paul II has called for religious reconciliation, during a one-day visit to Bosnia Hercegovina.

During Mass in the mainly Serbian Orthodox town of Banja Luka, he asked forgiveness for the "suffering and bloodshed" inflicted by Roman Catholics and others in the divided republic.

The Pope was speaking to 45,000 pilgrims at an open-air ceremony, to beatify a Bosnian man active in the Catholic Church during the 1920s.

The BBC's Nick Hawton in Banja Luka says the Vatican hopes the one-day visit will help promote reconciliation in an area where ethnic tensions are never far from the surface.

There had been concerns about possible protests, but no violent incidents were reported during the 10-hour visit by the Pope.

Thousands of Catholics were forced from the town during the Bosnian war a decade ago and few have returned.

The 83-year-old Pope urged Bosnia's rival Muslims, Roman Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs to search their hearts, put their differences behind them and forge a lasting multiethnic society.

'New start possible'

Dozens of dancers dressed in traditional costume performed for the pontiff as his plane touched down at Banja Luka airport.

On his arrival the pope said the international community had already done much to help Bosnia but should remain close to the country in order to create full security in justice and harmony.

He added that the people of Bosnia were still suffering but that a new beginning was possible if the different communities could find it in their hearts to change.

Members of the Bosnian state presidency and the chief international envoy to Bosnia, Paddy Ashdown, greeted the Pope on his second visit to the country.

Pilgrims, mainly Catholic Croats, went to Bosnia's second largest town for a special ceremony to beatify Ivan Merz, a Catholic layman born in the town and active in the church during the early 20th century.

The town used to have a mixed Catholic, Muslim and Serb Orthodox population.

But the vast majority of Muslims and Catholics were either killed or expelled from the town during the Bosnia war in the early 1990s.