by Fausto Gasparroni

(ANSA) - VATICAN CITY - In a surprise announcement at the Angelus on February 1, Pope Francis asked pilgrims to pray for his trip to Sarajevo on June 6 as this visit could spark ''ferments of good'' and contribute to consolidate ''fraternity'' and ''peace'', ''interreligious dialogue'' and ''friendship''.

Such a wish suits the quick one-day trip in the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina - with a packed agenda of political and inter-faith events - in a context which, as well as representing a laboratory of coexistence between different religions, still fights to emerge from the bloody war that devastated it in the 1990s.

The official program released by the Vatican press office was presented yesterday in Sarajevo by cardinal archbishop Vinko Pulijc, at the presence of apostolic nuncio Luigi Pezzuto, as well as the organizing committee and institutional representatives.

The eighth international trip of the Argentine pontiff - the third in Europe after trips to Tirana and institutions in Strasbourg - will be sealed by a mass at the city's stadium and by five meetings under the motto ''May peace be with you''. The pope's flight is leaving at 7:30 am from Rome's Fiumicino airport and arriving after an hour and a half in Sarajevo, where he will be officially greeted.

A ceremony to greet the pontiff has been organized in the square in front of the presidential palace, then a visit to the presidency and authorities is scheduled, during which Pope Francis will pronounce the first of five speeches on the agenda.

At 11 am the pope will celebrate mass at the Kosevo stadium with the Catholic community and pilgrims from across the country. In the afternoon, after the meeting and luncheon in the apostolic nunciature with the bishops of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Francis will talk to the clergy, priests and seminarians in the cathedral and then chair an ecumenical meeting with other religious leaders at the International Franciscan student center.

Finally, he will greet the new generations at the youth center ''John Paul II'' before a ceremony of farewell at the airport and the departure at 8 pm for Rome's Ciampino airport.

In a ''border land'' like Bosnia Herzegovina - where from 1992 until 1995 the first war since WWII was fought in Europe with hundreds of thousands of victims and a huge number of war crimes probed by international tribunals - in a martyr city in European history, where 100 years ago World War I was sparked, the themes of the pope's trip stem from an impulse towards cohabitation and cooperation for the common good even amid deep religious, ethnic and historic differences. John Paul II travelled to Sarajevo in April 1997 while on June 22, 2003, he travelled to Banja Luka.(ANSA).