How Can Academics Use Their Resources to Shape Reality?

I will not be addressing trauma as a phenomenon, but rather what we, as a faculty, have done in confronting the past that ‘doesn’t want to go’, using Paul Ricoeur’s words. Even thirty years after the war, the context of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian (BH) society is still dominated by the same ideology that caused the war in the nineties. The war has created deep ethnic divisions, strengthened old prejudices and created new ones, causing deep divisions and distrust among citizens. From the standpoint of the country’s current situation, each of our involvements — even when not expressed through concrete action — in structures that sustain this war mentality makes us responsible for potential future crimes, precisely because we failed to prevent the “normalization of their preparation”. 

The situation mentioned above and our involvement in it (even without concrete action) were among the reasons for the three-years project that I led at the Catholic theological faculty at the University of Sarajevo, from 2014 to 2017. In a conversation with friends who then worked at our Inter-Religious Council the idea emerged to make the topic of my doctoral thesis: “Is forgiveness of violence in ethnic conflicts a moral obligation?” available to the general public. Together we proposed the project to the Renovabis association and received funding from them. The general title of the project was: “From War to Reconciliation: The Contribution of Religious Communities to the Restoration and Healing of Society.” I designed the project to gain an insight into what was before (Violence in Ethnic Conflicts), what we are facing now (Injustice in BH society), and what we might expect in the future (Forgiveness and Reconciliation). 

I invited guest speakers from various academic disciplines, as well as from different religious backgrounds. In the final year of the project, which focused on the topic of forgiveness, among other speakers, I invited three former camp inmates, a Bosniak, a Serb and a Croat, to one of the forums, and a victim of wartime rape to another. I wanted them to speak about the possibility of forgiveness but also wanted to convey that they are an important part of our moral community, and to let them know that their suffering is recognized and not forgotten.

This was the first time since the war that an academic and religious institution began to address these issues systematically and openly. It took us twenty years to start working together—even in this limited way—to confront what happened and begin the existentially necessary catharsis of our communities and society as a whole. Given the social role of intellectuals, and Christ’s call for Christians to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, how can we justify such a long silence? Whatever the reasons for this disengagement, the implication is clear: a conformism that has prevented any meaningful change.

Moreover, very few academics attended the conferences, even though invitations were sent to many faculties across BH, as well to major institutions, parishes, and organizations. Only the invited speakers and three colleagues from my own faculty attended the final conference on forgiveness, so the meeting boiled down to the fact that a dozen lecturers presented their own topics to one another. From this point of view, the meeting itself for me was devastating, and I felt humiliated in front of the distinguished guests I had invited, some of whom had come from as far away as America and Israel. 

However, after the conferences, a social gathering was held at the Theology Bar. Many students, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, told me it was the first time they had ever spoken in person or socialized with peers from other religious and ethnic backgrounds. This means an entire generation of adults grew up and studied in the same country without the chance to meet fellow citizens of different identities, to hear their stories, or to see their “humanity.” Until then, others were known only through the prism of someone else’s memory, most often through the prism of perpetrators and collective guilt. From this perspective, despite the modest attendance, the project was a success. If even one student discovered the human dimension of someone different from themselves, I could not hope for a better outcome.

Additionally, in the 2017–2018 academic year, the Catholic Faculty of Theology, the Faculty of Islamic Sciences, and the Orthodox Faculty of Theology in Foča launched a joint master’s program in Interreligious Studies and Peacebuilding. The program introduces students to the belief systems of all three traditions and their views on war, violence, forgiveness, and peace, followed by a practical module taught by professors from the Faculty of Political Science. This summer, we also held the first summer school—an English-language, condensed version of the master’s program.

Prof. dr. sc. Zorica Maros
Professor of Moral theology 
University of Sarajevo – Catholic Faculty of Theology