Following the collapse of Yugoslavia, a savage civil war raged in Bosnia and Herzegovina for three years, from 1992 to 1995. Almost a quarter of a million people (243,000) lost their lives, while 2 million people were uprooted or expelled when the boundaries within the republic were redrawn.
A vast number of churches, monasteries, presbyteries and other Church properties were deliberately destroyed. The wounds of the war are still all too obvious in many parts of the country and above all the Catholics, who are virtually all Croats, are struggling to re-establish themselves.
As a minority in an increasingly Islamic environment, they are fighting to preserve their identity and are forced, in the political as in the religious field, to reassert their right to live here.
Not surprisingly, the rebuilding of Church life is also difficult. Not only is the construction of churches and parish centres very expensive but it is also frequently obstructed by the authorities.
Whereas over 200 new mosques have been built, in Sarajevo and elsewhere in the country, above all with money from Saudi Arabia, the Catholics feel abandoned by the international community and have great difficulty in building churches and parish centres.
Already during the communist era it was very difficult to build churches, so that even before the war there were far too few of them. Hence today the situation is acute, having been made still worse by the destruction of so many churches.
In the case of Sarajevo this means that there are no churches in many of the new residential areas, so that the celebration of Holy Mass and other aspects of parish life have to be conducted in makeshift premises.
For example, in the Franciscan parish in the Dobrinja quarter of the city, where numerous Catholic families now live, they have been forced to install a chapel, a soup kitchen and a parish office in an underground bunker.
Not surprisingly, in such cramped conditions, it was difficult for parish life to develop. On the one hand the bunker only has space for between 100 and 150 faithful, while on the other, for many of the people who have been deeply marked by the horrors of the recent war, the bunker has still felt like an oppressive and frightening place.
But despite this, the parish has grown, and continues to grow, for many young families are moving into this quarter of the city and today they have increased from 256 to 300 families (about 800 faithful).
A testimony to the vitality of this parish is the fact that since it was established in 1997 it has already produced three young priests.
Now at last a new church and presbytery are being built. The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has supported this project from the beginning, and are helping once again with a grant of $37,000, so that the new parish church and its adjacent presbytery can very soon be completed.
The vital work of Catholic charities like Aid to the Church In Need provide a lifeline to the Church wherever she is poor, persecuted or threatened.
Please help our work by donating online or send your donation to Aid to the Church in Need, PO Box 7246 Baulkham Hills NSW 2153. Ph: (02) 9679-1929