Sarajevo: Archbishop's praise for progress towards reconciliation

Wednesday 18th May 2005

Speaking at a reception (full text below) in the city's national theatre to mark the end of the Building Bridges Christian-Muslim Dialogue, Dr Williams said that miracles were happening but that the past was still a burden.

"In this part of Europe, every community lives under heavy burdens and one of those burdens is a history, a past of both guilt and suffering. In any setting where people have made each other suffer across the centuries, history lies heavily. Forgiveness and reconciliation are the ways in which we bear each other's burdens, so that we do not deny or run away from our history, but together make something new from it."

Forging a common national identity was a challenge, he said, but that personal commitment helped to show the way.

"When we are faithful to each other, we learn how to be faithful to a nation; not as something abstract, not as something imposed, but as the very form of our love and commitment to one another. And in a way the dialogue between our faiths shows us how this may be true."

Dr Williams compared Sarajevo with Jerusalem, with its mix of the three great faiths and said that whenever he prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, he would also be praying for Sarajevo:

"'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,' says the psalmist; 'may those who love you prosper'. In the name of God, I wish you that prosperity and that peace and I thank you with all my heart on behalf of all your guests this week, for the welcome and the inspiration which you have given to us all."

The full text follows.

Speech given at a reception at the conclusion of the 4th Building Bridges Christian-Muslim Dialogue

Sarajevo

18th May 2005

You have already heard it said this evening that many people have compared Sarajevo with Jerusalem. Many of us during these days have quite spontaneously said the same thing. As we walked through the streets of this city we have been aware, as in Jerusalem, of the presence of the three great faiths which take their origin from Abraham, and as in Jerusalem, we have been aware of the history of suffering and of hope that seems to be present in the very stones of the city. People go to Jerusalem on pilgrimage in spite of many centuries of suffering and tragedy; they still look to Jerusalem as a place where God has done wonderful things. Because although terrible suffering often closes up the human heart, when it does not do this it opens it wide to God. When people go in pilgrimage to Jerusalem they go because they go to a place where hearts have been open to God. When people come here to this little Jerusalem, we pray that the same will be true and, in these days, we have seen hearts opened to God in this place.

Jerusalem is a place where miracles happen and in this Jerusalem too, will miracles happen? It seems that they have happened and continue, but there are two things especially I would wish to say about that.

I hope that Metropolitan Nikolaj will forgive me if I quote words which he spoke to us yesterday at his residence. He spoke to us of the communities of this city 'bearing one another's burdens'. In this part of Europe, every community lives under heavy burdens and one of those burdens is a history, a past of both guilt and suffering. In any setting where people have made each other suffer across the centuries, history lies heavily. Forgiveness and reconciliation are the ways in which we bear each other's burdens, so that we do not deny or run away from our history, but together make something new from it. So my first prayer is that this city will indeed be a place where your communities bear each other's burdens; help each other face that long history of tragedy and violence which is part of this region's story. That is it possible, we can have no doubt, but it needs the clearest possible vision of religious leaders, political leaders, teachers, artists and thinkers.

The second thing I have to say is about loyalty. It is not easy in a new nation to understand properly and fully what loyalty might mean. It happens when people learn how to be loyal to each other. When we are faithful to each other, we learn how to be faithful to a nation; not as something abstract, not as something imposed, but as the very form of our love and commitment to one another. And in a way the dialogue between our faiths shows us how this may be true. We have been meeting this week as Christians and Muslims, deeply loyal and committed to our own faith, our own teaching, our own prayer. We have not sought to find some religion that belongs to no-one; we have tried to be ourselves. But in this meeting, by God's grace, we have also discovered a loyalty, a faithfulness to each other. And out of that, new things can grow. And so my second prayer is that that may be true in this place of miracles; that the communities of this country may find such loyalty to one another, such faithfulness to one another, that new things may be possible; healing and hope.

Jerusalem is a city set on a hill. Sarajevo is a city in a valley, but by God's grace it can be lifted up as a sign to the world, that it is possible to bear one another's burdens; that it is possible as human beings before God to learn how to be faithful to each other. We have seen the seeds of this and the signs of this.

And so from today onwards, when I and other Christians pray for the peace of Jerusalem, the words of the psalm, we shall pray too for the peace of this little Jerusalem. In different words and different traditions, our Muslim brothers and sisters, I know, will pray the same. 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,' says the psalmist; 'may those who love you prosper'. In the name of God, I wish you that prosperity and that peace and I thank you with all my heart on behalf of all your guests this week, for the welcome and the inspiration which you have given to us all.

Thank you.

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