During Wednesday's religious services on the occasion of Vukovar and Skabrnja Remembrance Day, Cardinal Vinko Puljic and Archbishop Zelimir Puljic called for forgiveness and building coexistence based on truth.

In order to have a cleansed memory and create the right prerequisites for coexistence, it is necessary to have the courage to call everything by its name and look at the facts through cause and effect. Without truth and justice, there is no stable peace and restoring trust, Cardinal Puljic, the Archbishop of Sarajevo, said during Mass in Vukovar.

Hate which causes crimes must not dominate the conversation and one should admit to the crimes for there to be forgiveness, he said, asking all criminals to “become aware of their crimes.”

Faith should help to create co-existence, forgiveness, reconciliation and restoring trust, Cardinal Puljic said, adding that peace-building rested on truth. “There can be no reconciliation and trust without an internal catharsis,” he said, adding that those who did not want the truth stood behind evil, defending it and thereby supporting the negative atmosphere between people.

“By this I don’t wish to cause bitterness which incites hate, let alone revenge, but clearly say that the right dialogue, which leads to reconciliation, rests on accepting the truth,” said Cardinal Puljic.

Celebrating Mass in Skabrnja, Zadar Archbishop Puljic said it was clear that “the people who experienced the horrors of Skabrnja and Vukovar can hardly forget and forgive what happened to them.”

Speaking to the press later, he said, “since we went through tough days, it’s now necessary to make tough decisions,” as taught by Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Franjo Kuharic.

“If we wish to look ahead, if we want a better future, we must turn to the future. All segments of society must work on it so that, in the state which is now free, independent and democratic, rule tolerance, love, forgiveness, joint activity for our better future.”

Their sacrifice is not worthy of what often happens, which is polarisation and intolerance. They fought for freedom and a better society, and in that spirit, their message is just that, he said.