From the siege of Sarajevo to the genocide of Srebrenica, religion during the Balkan wars of the 1990s was mobilized to legitimize violence, define enemies, and morally justify exclusion, hatred, and mass killing. Yugoslavia was a mosaic of ethnic groups and faiths, with Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam as its main religious traditions. In Bosnia, these religious identities were politicized and nationalized, turning religion into a marker of division rather than a space of communion.
With the end of the war and the implementation of the Dayton Accords, a new question emerged: what role can religious communities play once the guns fall silent? If religion contributed to conflict, can it also become a resource for reconciliation? Under what conditions can religious actors help transform divided memories into dialogue, mitigate tensions, and support coexistence in a post-war society still marked by deep and enduring fractures? Reset DOC’s new documentary by Filippo Macelloni, “Religion and Reconciliation in Bosnia-Herzegovina & the Balkans”, delves into the impact of religion on reconciliation and peacebuilding, starting at the heart of it all: Sarajevo.
Cover photo: Several buildings burn in Sarajevo after continued shelling of the city by Serbian forces, on August 24 August 1992 (Photo by Manoocher Deghati / AFP)
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