RETURN TO THE CHURCH AND TO ONESELF, MAY THE TEMPLES ALWAYS BE FULL

BANJA LUKA, MAY 31 /SRNA/ - President Milorad Dodik said today that full temples indicate that the activity of the Church is very positive and that he wants it to remain that way.

After attending the celebration of the patron saint's day of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Banja Luka together with the Serb member of the BiH Presidency, Željka Cvijanović, Dodik said that they wanted to show that they respect the Church because it propagates the Serbian Orthodox faith, which has kept the Serbian people gathered throughout the centuries and gives them their identity.

"The Church makes us people with strengthened character and undoubtedly gives a dimension to who we are as a nation," Dodik assessed in a statement to journalists.

He wished for the people to return to the Church, but also to themselves, emphasizing that much prayer, persistent work, patience, and trust in one another will be needed to get through the difficult times ahead, bearing in mind the global processes that are not finished but are awaiting their conclusion, and which we cannot influence.

"We will be consumers of those solutions. It is up to us, together with the Church, and us who work as elected representatives of the people, to try to do everything so that our position in such circumstances is as good as possible. We want to preserve peace and stability and offer hope to all the people who live here," Dodik told journalists.

Cvijanović sent her congratulations to the believers and the clergy on the occasion of the temple's patron saint's day, pointing out that these are places of gathering.

She expressed her satisfaction that she could celebrate this holiday together with everyone, but also because there is great trust within Republika Srpska.

"The Church does its part of the job, and the institutions do theirs, but the most important thing is that work is done for the benefit of the people," Cvijanović concluded.

In the presence of numerous believers, the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy was served in the Banja Luka temple, led by His Eminence the Metropolitan of Banja Luka, Jefrem. After the liturgy, the slava cake was broken.