Bosnia's Islamic Community delegation on an official visit to the Vatican

The talks focused on strengthening institutional cooperation between the Islamic Community and the Catholic Church, with particular emphasis on the role of religious communities in preserving peace, social stability, and mutual trust at a time of increasingly pronounced global crises, polarization, and rising forms of religious and cultural intolerance.

The interlocutors stressed that interreligious dialogue must be translated into lasting cooperation and joint initiatives that affirm human dignity, freedom of religion, and the responsibility of religious leaders in the public sphere. Special emphasis was placed on the European dimension of this dialogue, in which the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through its experience of coexistence and institutional organization, represents a relevant and reliable partner.

In this context, the discussion also addressed the responsibility of religious institutions to act as factors in easing tensions, strengthening social cohesion, and promoting a culture of encounter, particularly in multireligious environments and among communities facing challenges related to migration, identity, and security.

The importance of institutional mechanisms of interreligious dialogue was especially highlighted, with the Interreligious Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina cited as a recognized and successful model of cooperation among religious communities. It was noted that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s experience, based on long-standing coexistence and regular communication among religious authorities, can provide a valuable contribution to broader European and international initiatives in the field of interreligious dialogue, MINA reported.