Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale940

law. It informs the competent agency of the civil administration accordingly,

in order that registration be made according to the applicable civil norms.

Article 3

Bosnia and Herzegovina guarantees to the Catholic Church and to her

juridical and physical persons the freedom to communicate and to maintain

contacts with the Holy See, with the Episcopal Conferences of other coun-

tries, and also with particular Churches, institutions and persons both within

the state and abroad.

Article 4

Respecting the right to freedom of religion, Bosnia and Herzegovina

recognizes the free exercise by the Catholic Church, and by her communities

of whatever rite, of her apostolic mission, in particular with regard to divine

worship, governance, teaching and the activity of the associations indicated

in Article 13.

Article 5

The competent ecclesiastical authority has the exclusive right to regulate

freely its proper ecclesiastical order, to establish, alter and suppress ecclesia-

stical provinces, archdioceses, dioceses, apostolic administrations, territorial

prelatures, territorial abbacies, personal prelatures, parishes, institutes of

consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, as well as other ecclesiastical

juridical persons.

Article 6

1. The Catholic Church is responsible for all ecclesiastical appointments

and the conferring of ecclesiastical offices, in conformity with the norms of

canon law.

2. The appointment, transfer and removal of Bishops is the exclusive

competence of the Holy See.

Article 7

1. Bosnia and Herzegovina guarantees to the Catholic Church the free-

dom to conduct worship.