= , John Paul 11 warns thousands could die in Bosnia if emergency aid is not stepped up

Pope pleads for aid to save civilian lives
by Timothy Elphick THOUSANDS of civilians trapped by the war in Bosnia Herzegovina will not survive the winter months unless humanitarian aid to the ex-Yugoslav republic is stepped up dramatically in the coming weeks. Pope John Paul II warned this week.
11 The Pope's impassioned appeal t,came as United Nations relief Aflights to Sarajevo, the besieged Bosnian capital, were temporarily suspended after an upsurge of bfighting around the city. Land dconvoys into Sarajevo along the „only passable all-weather mad into ,Bosnia-Herzegovina were also called off because of the constant beat of sniper fire. Pope John Paul said the "very ,existence of individuals and entire bpopulations" had been put at risk Lily the worsening conditions in the republic. He condemned those bresponsible for the "menace of ,unprecedented violence" which ?had brought the population of i;Bosnia-Herzegovina to its knees. The Pope urged leaders of the 11Serbian. Croat and Moslem communities in the war-torn !republic to look to a future based on "fraternal concord and solidarity" and to lay down their !weapons in the name of peace. News reached Rome this week id the devastation wreaked by the war in the Bosnian diocese of ;Banja Luka, 150 miles north-west ;of Sarajevo. A priest from Banja Luka, whose identity has not been erevealed for his own protection, paid that Catholic life had been virtually wiped out in the town 'following its occupation by Serbian forces. As many as 40 per icent of Banja Luka's churches had 4heen razed to the ground and most of the rest, including the town's Cathedral of St Bonaventura, had suffered heavy damage.
Catholics in the diocese, mostly of Croatian origin, had been subjected to constant harassment and intimidation by Serbian forces, the priest said.
Parishes with attendant clergy were now a rarity. Those whose priests had remained were unable to function because villagers were prevented from going to Mass, he said.
The priest said that he knew of as many as 150 Catholics who had been killed in their homes after fighting for control of the region had stopped. "Many have been hiding in the forests for months and their homes and possessions have been looted," he said.
He said that a number of priests from Banja Luka had required medical treatment after spells in Serb-run prison camps in the locality. Only one priest was still unaccounted for, but there were persistent rumours, denied by the Serb-dominated Yugoslav National Army, that several priests had been killed in remote parts of the diocese.
Earlier this year Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka urged Catholics not to resist the Serbian occupation of the region for fear of an even greater bloodbath in revenge. "For now the bishop is the only person for whom the Serbs show any respect and who can enter into discussions with the more moderate Serbian officials," the priest said.
• The Catholic aid organisation CAFOD is sending 00,000 to Bosnia and Croatia to help the civilian populations through the winter. CAFOD's funds will be channelled through Caritas Austria.