VIDEO MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
AT THE VIGIL OF THE APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO SARAJEVO (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA)
[6 JUNE 2015]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Only a few more days until the journey that will bring me to you, to Sarajevo. This thought gives me joy, and from this moment I wish to address my warmest greetings to all of you who live in this city and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I come among you with the help of God to confirm the Catholic faithful in the faith, to support ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, and above all to encourage a peaceful coexistence in your Country. I invite you to join in my prayers, that this Apostolic Journey may bear the desired fruit for the Christian community and for the whole of society.

“Peace be with you”. This is the motto of my visit. They are the words with which the Risen Jesus greeted his disciples when He appeared to them in the Upper Room on the evening of Easter. It is He, the Lord, our strength and our hope, who gives us his peace, that we may welcome it in our hearts and spread it with joy and love.

For my part, I am preparing to come among you as a brother and messenger of peace, to express to everyone — everyone! — my respect and my friendship. I would like to proclaim the mercy, tenderness and love of God to every person, every family and every community.

Dear brothers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I assure all of you my love and my strong spiritual closeness. I encourage you Catholics to be at the side of you fellow countrymen as witnesses of the faith and of God’s love, by working for a society that journeys towards peace, in brotherhood and mutual cooperation.

In anticipation of meeting you, I invoke upon Sarajevo and the whole Country the Lord’s Blessing and the motherly protection of the Virgin Mary. Thank you and see you soon!