Holy Archangels' Monastery near Prizren, Serbia

Discussion with an Albanian Islamic Fascist about Serbs and Kosovo

2006-08-24T22:25:00.000+02:00

I think these interviews - with Father Benedict and now with an
Albanian in Britain who has told me twice he is an "Islamic Fascist" - need
to be distributed all over the world. There are a lot of people out there
who only know what they have been told about Serbs. It never ceases to
amaze me that so much totally false information is believed in this world if
someone repeats it often enough. Serbs have proof that somehow never
tell the world about. I am often accused, as I am in this exchange below,
of being paid by the "Serb Lobby" for writing my articles. Had there BEEN a
Serb lobby 10 years ago when I first started writing about the break-up of
Yugoslavia, it would not have taken me so long to figure out what the real
arguments are all about in the Balkans!.

Mary Mostert

Discussion with an Albanian Islamic Fascist about Serbs and Kosovo

By: Mary Mostert
August 23, 2006

In the past few days I've been corresponding with an Albanian reader in
Britain, who identified himself as Genci Sala. He said he was "shocked" at
my interview with
<http://www.bannerofliberty.com/BOL-06MQC/8-13-2006.1.html> Father
Benedict, Abbot of Holy Archangels Monastery in Kosovo. He claimed my
questions and Father Benedict's answers showed that all I had written was
"put out by the Serb lobby there in the US."

He then challenged me to tell his side of the story. He wrote: "Are you
professional enough to discuss your article with me? I am one of those
Albanians that you call Islamic fascists. Exactly one of those Albanians
that saved all the Jews during the WW2. Never, and not at all one of those
Serbs, fighters of values that exterminated 95% of the jews living in
Serbia."

World War II ended in 1945, which is 60 years ago. Although I wondered how a
29 year old could have been "one of those Albanians that saved all the Jews
during WW2", I wrote back and suggested that he give HIS answers to the 11
questions I asked Father Benedict, plus a 12th question pertaining to
Albanians and Jews.
Question # 1 was: "Could you briefly tell our readers what was going on in
Kosovo back in 1343 and why King Dushan built the monastery?"

Sala's Answer: "Question 1 is wrongly formulated, and very biased in an
answer expectation. King Dushan never built any monasteries in Kosova. If he
built any, then, never, and I repeat, never would it be the monastery
mentioned there.
There's quite plain evidence that the monastery is way older than the year
in question, and there's plain proof that THAT MONASTERY HAD BEEN AN
ALBANIAN MONASTERY CENTURIES BEFORE THE SERBIAN invasion of the region. If
you had at least the minimal historical education, you should have been well
aware of the fact that Serbs weren't even close to Kosova at the time we're
arguing. If, in any occasion, by any chance, should you argue that, the fact
is that the iconography found in the inner, oldest layers of the monastery
walls appears to be of quite a different style from the Slavic style of
icons. Later it was covered, by Slavic iconography, after which we have the
transformation in mosques, and then again in orthodox shrines.
"King Dushan, (Stefan Dushan) spent his life since his early age fighting
against his father, Milutin, in first place, and then waging (sic) war
against Herzegovina, Constantinople (Byzantium), invaded Albania(Kosovo,
Macedonia and Eirus) thus proclaiming himself king of the Serbs and the
Greeks by stopping at the gates of Thessaloniki.

"Established the Serb patriarchate. He was a tyrant and a despotic ruler.
Still, I don't see what the hell this has to do with the resent, the
intervention of the freedom fighters (KLA and US), the Serb terror over
Albanians and the rest of non-Serb world. You have asked the devil where he
lives. Well, you found him. probably you should read more; maybe an
independent source wouldn't harm your wit."

Mary: Actually, the history and the royal line of the Serbian kings are
well-documented through recorded history and archeology. Stefan Dushan
became the king of Serbia and the Greeks in 1346 over lands which did
include Kosovo. Milutin was king of Serbia from 1282-1321 AD, and died when
Stefan Dushan was 10 years old. He wasn't Stefan Dushan's father. King
Milutin was King Dushan's grandfather. I doubt if 10 year old Dushan had
really been "fighting against his father, Milutin" from birth to age 10.

Question 2 asked Father Benedict to tell us about the History of the
persecution of Serbian Orthodox Christians during 500 years of occupation by
Turkish Muslims, and Question 3 asked him to comment on the fact that during
that 500 years somehow the Serbs remained faithful to Jesus Christ in spite
of having their sons kidnapped and raised in Turkey to be Islamic terrorists
to persecute their own people.

Sala dismissed questions 2 and 3, and questions 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 as
irrelevant. (Those questions are fully answered
<http://www.bannerofliberty.com/BOL-06MQC/8-13-2006.1.html> by Father
Benedict)
Question 4 was about a member of Holy Archangels community, Father Chariton,
who was kidnapped by the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1999 and beheaded. His
body, but never his head, was found in 2000 in an Albanian cemetery. I asked
"Has either KFOR or the Albanian government of Kosovo ever arrested and
prosecuted anyone for that atrocity?"
"Which atrocity? Priests, allegedly and supposedly should work for peace, to
spread the word of Jesus in this stupid world, and not engage themselves in
politics, especially when it treats the destruction of a nation and
proclaims the supremacy of another. It is the Serb Orthodox Church (that is)
to be blamed for most of the fires lit in the Balkans, for the atrocities
against innocent civilians, in Bosnia, in Kosova, in Croatia and elsewhere.
"It is now more than 300 000 heavy casualties, innocent lives that yoke upon
the "church" of Serb nationalism. But, of course ma'am, you are innocent
enough to buy whatever sold to you the cheapest! All the following questions
are way too stupid to deserve an answer. You in your "cunningness"(surely,
it is a plain effort of yours to martyred Serbs, especially by depicting
them as "loyal to Jesus Christ"... but, surely there's no intelligence used
in all this at all, as you should adapt your intelligence to the level of
your subscribed readers' IQ, which, honestly, is lower than Homer Simpson's"

Mary: After reading that incredible dismissal of the beheading of Father
Chariton, it struck me as a good example of the real issue at hand in
Kosovo. Genci does not deny that Father Chariton was kidnapped, tortured and
beheaded by the Kosovo Liberation Army, the group trained by Osama bin Laden
and armed by bin Laden and Iran and supported with air power by the USA and
NATO. He just tells me it wasn't an atrocity and follows that with a garbled
and totally bizarre definition of "what a Christian is." He not only claims
the Serbs "killed more than 400,000 people (up from the 300,000 that the
Serbs killed in the preceding paragraph) but even blamed it on the Serbs not
"caring about" Kosovo!
He then concludes by saying: "Let's jump now to the last section of your
interview with the man of "god"...ranting about how "the war claimed way
over 20,000 Albanian lives. . Belgrade doesn't care about Kosova! They know
Kosova has never been Serb, nor has it been part of Serbia, neither of
Serbian identity. Kosova is the richest region in the Balkans. It has never
been the cradle of the Serb civilisation; should it have been, all the Serbs
should gather and pray to Albanians as they appear to have been the very
creators of Serbian populace and nation."

My Question 8, which Genci would not answer, was,: What do you believe will
happen to the remaining Serbs, their churches and the monasteries in Kosovo
if the international community hands it over to the Albanian Muslim majority
as is being demanded?

He did, however, answer Question 12. If Kosovo becomes part of Albania or an
independent Albanian country, what will the policy in the new nation that is
formed be towards Jews, Serbs, Romas and other minorities and their
properties?
In World War II, the approximately 1000 Jews in Kosovo and in Albania were
transported to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in the summer of 1944.
Between 1941 and 1944, six hundred Jews from Greater Albania were sent to
their deaths in various concentration camps around Europe. Four Hundred of
them died at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. After the NATO bombing of
1999, all remaining Jews in Kosovo fled to Israel. Today, there are only 10
Jews in all of Albania and apparently non in Kosovo.
Since 1999, Albanians have burned down or blown up over 150 Serbian
<http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/mostert/060812> Orthodox Christian
Churches, many of them 700-800 years old.
Sala replied to that with a claim of Albanians having "a 5000 years long
documented history in the Balkans. Call it a new nation? Well, you should
have known Noah, probably Adam.... Israel was nowhere at the time when
Albanians were creating the European civilisation and nations." (!??) After
taking the credit for the civilization of the entire continent of Europe,
Sala concludes:

"What will happen to Serbs?
"I suppose, they should get their future in their own hands thereafter. They
should try to integrate themselves into the society. They already have more
seats than they should, according to the proportional vote in Kosova's
parliament. They have their counties, their seats in counsels, the central
government, in the parliament even in the staff of the president. They are
playing the "brave" game of boycotting, stringed and puppeted from Belgrade,
in order to 'assure stability' in the region; as they have always done, in
fact, only with the slight smear of some 400 000 killed civilians in less
than 10 years in their(Belgrade's) biography.

He ended with some advice to "Serbs of Kosova," who "should stop looking
towards Belgrade as their protector." If they really wanted to see a prosper
Kosova, if they really care about Kosova. They should start thinking about
the future of Kosova, if they really consider it the best part of their
national heritage... It is very weird the fact that it is Serbs who are seen
as timid and mistrustful towards Albanians... while Albanians were their
victims no longer than 7 years ago!"
Mary: In 1999 the American Air force bombed the Serbs for 79 days because,
President Bill Clinton said in an address to the nation on May 13, 1999, the
<http://www.cnn.com/ALLOLITICS/stories/1999/05/13/clinton.kosovo/transcript.
html> bombing was justified because
"Nine of every 10 Kosovar Albanians now has been driven from their home;
thousands murdered; at least 100,000 missing; many young men led away in
front of their families; over 500 cities, towns and villages torched. All
this has been carried out, you must understand, according to a plan
carefully designed months earlier in Belgrade."

Where did President Clinton get that figure and the wording that it was all
"designed months earlier in Belgrade? His words are almost the same as
Sala's, who tells me in an e-mail:

"I am one of those Albanians that you call Islamic fascists."
Other Albanians, leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) apparently
repeatedly told members of the Clinton administration officials such as
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Secretary of Defense Cohen, and
Christian Amanpour, a Muslim, who was reporting the story from Kosovo
worldwide for CNN, the the Serbs had killed hundreds of thousands of
Albanians, and that that they were buried in mass graves. That would have
been a remarkable feat since the Albanians not only had a large well
equipment army, the KLA, but also outnumbered the Serbs 10 to 1 in Kosovo.

In addition, while the Serbs had no lobby in Washington, the
Albanian-American lobby spent million lobbying Congress, with Bob Dole the
largest recipient of $1 million. The Serbs were hit from both sides of the
aisle.
To find the bodies and bury them with proper Muslim rites and to gather
proof of the genocide for use in the Hague trial of Slobodan Milosevic,
after the bombing was over, scores of forensic experts from other nations
were sent to Kosovo to uncover the "mass graves." After months of digging up
areas identified by Albanians as "mass graves" containing between 100,000
and 400,000 dead Albanians, Emilio <http://www.converge.org.nz/ma/scook.htm>
Perez Pujol, a pathologist who led the Spanish forensic team said: : "I
calculate that the final figure of dead in Kosovo will be 2,500 at the most,
including lots of strange deaths that can't be blamed on anyone." . . .
The quote above is from a paper published in New Zealand. The American
media, that was defending Clinton at the time, didn't think the American
people needed to hear about what those forensic exerts looking for the
"proof" of genocide in order to convict Milosevic and the Serbs DIDN'T find.
We live in a strange world. It appears that most Democrats who supported
Clinton are still sure that the Serbs needed to be bombed, have part of
their country confiscated and handed over to Islamic fascists, even after
the forensic exerts proved no "genocide" had taken place, while at the same
time they tell us that President George W. Bush was totally wrong to invade
Iraq (a href= http://www.usaid.gov/iraq/legacyofterror.html) where 400,000
bodies HAVE been found in mass graves, victims of the official terrorism of
Saddam Hussein's government.
As for the Serbs, they appear to be in much the same boat as the Israelis -
surrounded by hostile Islamic Fascists who seem determined to finish what
the Nazis and the Fascists of the 1930s and1940s started.
Other references:
1. See: A <http://historymedren.about.com/library/atlas/blatmaserb1.htm>
Central Intelligence Agency map which shows the boundaries of Kosovo and
Metohia in 1196 AD, 1356 AD., 1389AD and the International and Republic
Modern boundaries.
2. See Archeological
<http://www.rastko.org.yu/arheologija/djordje_jankovic.html> research shows
NO Albanian presence in Kosovo the Middle Ages.

[KIM-Info] Serb man beaten up in downtown Decani

2006-08-24T08:54:00.000+02:00

Subject: [KIM-Info] Serb man beaten up in downtown Decani

Decani, August 22, 2006

A Serb man named Vuko Danilovic (age 55), who was taking part in a
"multiethnic camp" program with a group of five Serb children, was beaten up
yesterday in downtown Decani. The "multiethnic camp" which began on August
21 brought together 30 Serb, Albanian and Roma children and was organized
for the purpose of enhancing cooperation among communities on the territory
of the municipality of Decani. Danilovic, a teacher in Decani before the
war, came with a group of Serb children from Berane (Montenegro), where most
Serb refugees from the Decani area have been living for the past seven
years.

"In the morning we visited the municipal building where we were very
courteously received by the mayor, Nazmi Selmanaj. After that we went to the
main town square, where we bought ice cream for the children. A number of
people approached me to say hello and shake hands because I had quite a few
Albanian friends before the war. Everything seemed peaceful and ordinary;
there were quite a few people in the streets. Suddenly, a young man
approached me and, while swearing at me, began to hit me with his fists in
the head and the stomach. As I attempted to defend myself another young
Albanian approached and likewise began to beat me. I fell to the ground from
the force of the blows. By the time my colleagues from the group ran to my
aid the attackers had disappeared. After receiving medical attention I filed
a report with the (Kosovo Police Service)," said Vuko Danilovic, who visited
Visoki Decani Monastery this afternoon with the children from the
"multiethnic camp".

Because of the shock they experienced the Serb members of the "multiethnic
camp" left for Montenegro this evening, where Danilovic will undergo a
thorough physical since he has a bad headache and does not hear anything
with his right ear.
The incident in downtown Decani demonstrates that necessary conditions for
free movement of the Serb population in this part of Metohija still do not
exist

One impression from Kosovo and Metohija

2006-08-22T21:18:00.000+02:00

KOSMET ONLINE FORUM

As said previously, we should all try to bring back our memories and testify about Kosovo being crucified. Though unworthy we suffered through hell on Earth, we have seen eyes of evil and opposite side of human medal.
Somebody told me long time ago that sad stories and poems are not to be told because no one would read it, but what about sadness wrapped around reality with thick ties, when darkness tries to swallow whole world, when hatred emerges in its worst shapes?
That would not be a sad story, but sort of a fairytale, modern one- cause life in Kosovo and Metohija for Serbs had been a fairytale of a long-lasting fight between darkness and the light.
When bombing started, all of our dreams, wishes and prayers became one: God please save me and protect me! No more school, no more music, no more books, only fear on the streets, buildings, cities and villages. Fear paralyzing our inner being, disbelief that in 20th century someone can bomb someone else just like that, and human lives to be considered for a collateral damage?!
My Albanian friends came to say goodbye, they did not explain me why they had to leave, later on I found out they all had a silent agreement to leave Kosovo when first bomb falls down in order to create picture of humanitarian disaster, persecution and presenting to all devils Medias how they allegedly suffered. Serbs remained living in basements that looked like graves, people fled from Pristina, Prizren, from whole Metohija towards the border with Serbia. No bread, no flour, no food…My neighbors were taken tranquilizers, despair ruled the world around me. Explosions, bullets, fire above our heads became only reality. When the NATO campaign stopped Albanians started returning to their homes. All allegedly killed people were pretty much alive and furious attacking us with rocks, hand grenades, hatred in every possible way. Walking on the street was forbidden, buying groceries, talking Serbian, people were taken away, abducted for only one reasons: they were Serbs. Pain grew stronger and year after year crimes got repeated: 2000 Serbs were kidnapped, harvesters from Staro Gracko were brutally killed- mutilated, children in Gorazdevac were murdered, Dimitrije was killed 10 meters away from a police station in Gracanica?! Suffer and pain, sadness and fear, only church bells awaked us not to sink to deep.
7 years after bombing stopped nothing really changed, only allegedly mistreated Albanian population has it space filled up with small factories, quickly growing flats and mosques, warehouses, expensive cars and big restaurants. Were those the same people pretending chaos and humanitarian disaster in tents over northern Macedonia? Were those the same people allegedly mistreated in last 10 years before ’99?
Well- no chance!
Albanian terrorist change their uniform so instead of wearing UCK/KLA suits they wore politician mannered outfit, they all jumped from a butchers to well dressed so-called Kosovo Government members. Devil knows how to conquer the world and unconsolidated souls. Seven years of vacuum. Seven years of waiting for the miracle to happen, looking at the worst variety of characters sent from all over the world. None of them was sent to help, only to earn, money as the only value accepted these days.

Crying out may help; there is no weapon that can change an abyss we had fallen into after ’99, only God and His armies of holy Archangels and Angels- suite of divine fighters lighting up the candles of our lives.
Same as Holy Kosovo Martyrs, Tsar Lazar and his soldiers we are all her to testify, to tell the story about lambs and wolfs, about good and evil, about Christ and his opponents. All of us are here to choose, and thank God love is our side.

by Raindonna (City of Grachanitza)

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

Church will never have peace with prince of this world

2006-08-17T10:47:00.000+02:00

ARCHBISHOP JOHN (JOVAN) OF VARDARIAN MACEDONIA AGAIN IN JAIL
His guilt - His Orthodox Christian Archdiocese is in unity with One Holy Apostolic Church
Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric

It has been 9 days since His Beatitude the Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje k. k. Jovan (John) has been imprisoned for second time in the central prison “Idrizovo”. The terror which the Macedonian government, in interaction with the state-sponsored schismatic MOC, has been conducting over its own citizens, not only does it not cease, but it increases in force. We remind you that the Archbishop has not embezzled any financial means, since all of the € 57.000, together with the interest of € 180, were timely handed over to the court of first instance in Veles, in the first moment when this was requested by Mr. Trifun Kostovski through the media, and who later testified before the court that Archbishop Jovan is innocent. Based on his testimony the Archbishop was twice liberated, and the third time, after a severe political pressure, he was sentenced to imprisonment.

The parasynagogue MOC, together with certain political residues from the past system and the proverbially corrupted Macedonian judiciary, as a matter of fact, do not cease to terrorise the canonical Archbishop in the Republic of Macedonia, His Beatitude k. k. Jovan, the bishops and members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, solely on the basis of their religious beliefs.

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

"War with Islamic terrorists" -- interview with Father Benedict

2006-08-13T13:54:00.000+02:00

Mary Mostert
August 12, 2006
Renew America
Banner of Liberty

On August 10th, as the news broke that a group of Islamic terrorists were plotting to blow up some more American airliners, President George W. Bush stepped to the microphone in Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay, Wisconsin and stated: "The recent arrests that our fellow citizens are now learning about are a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation." He then went on to praise the British intelligence efforts that lead to thwarting another deadly massacre of Americans. I think most Americans today would agree with President Bush's statement.

However, there is a group of people who have been battling Islamic fascists for literally hundreds of years — the Serbs. To this very day, the propaganda efforts of Islamic fascists have been every bit as successful, if not more successful, than the propaganda efforts of Adolf Hitler's fascists in the 1940s when they kept telling the world that the Jews, not the German fascists, were the group that were to blame for all the problems in central Europe.

As Hitler's fascism began spreading and seizing control of one nation in Europe after the other, the American people were being convinced by some powerful leaders that the future of the 20th Century would be best if the Germans "efficient" government was spread. Most Americans were isolationists and some of our most honored heroes, such as Charles Lindbergh, openly supported fascism. In a speech in Des Moines on September 11, 1941, 3 months before Pearl Harbor was bombed, Lindbergh criticized President Roosevelt, the British and the Jews for " "agitating for war." He was convinced that the Germans would win any war and warned the Jews that any effort on their part to oppose Hitler would cause them to lose their "large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio and our government." That rosy view of fascism was erased by the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

In the 21st century, not even the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, has awakened most of the Democrats and groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. Again we are watching as fascism, this time Islamic fascism, move rapidly as fascism did in the 1930s to take control of much of Europe. And, the one group that fought Hitler's brand of fascism while others in Europe either appeased or surrendered to Hitler, is again far ahead of the rest of Europe, and the rest of the world, in recognizing who the enemy really is.

Yet, the Islamic fascists are demanding and may soon be given a large chunk of Serbia in the near future. Since the Serb side of this story is NEVER told on American or European TV sets, radios or newspapers, I asked questions of Father Benedict, who is and has been living this story, to answer questions that I've pondered about for the past 10 years as I wrote about the break-up of Yugoslavia. One of my readers apparently sent to the Monastery an article of mine, published in February 2006, that was entitled: Why is a bombed mosque major news, while bombed churches are ignored? This interview consists of my questions and Father Benedict's answers on the subject.

whole interview

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

Today our Holy Church celebrates St. Angelina of Serbia

2006-08-12T10:09:00.000+02:00

http://www.roca.org/
(July 30, Julian calendar/ August 12, Gregorian)

The holy saint, Angelina, was the daughter of the Godly Orthodox Prince of Albania, the brave Scanderbeg. At that time most of the people of Albania were Orthodox Christians who were glorious in their defense of the Faith. At the court of her father who ruled this people the princess Angelina grew up, increasing in the gifts of the Spirit by the help of the Lord God, and her will made strong by the teaching of Christ. The name of her mother is not known, but we can see how she was brought up and what great care her parents gave to the training of her soul in the spirit of the Gospel teaching--and who but her mother would have given so much thought to the growth towards God of her heart and soul?
While she was living thus, growing in stature and the knowledge of the Lord, the young ruler of Serbia, Stephen, came to her father seeking refuge from those of his countrymen who wished to kill him. This Stephen was very gentle and God fearing and some years before had suffered the wrath of the Turkish Sultan who had unjustly punished him with blindness. Comforted by his clear conscience, Stephen bore his misfortune with a strong heart. Prince Scanderberg received him as a kinsman and before long Stephen felt himself to be a member of the household.
In view of his prolonged exile there and his godly character, it is not surprising that he won the sympathy of Angelina, and not only her sympathy, for their hearts came very close together. So strong was her love that she agreed to share the lot of the young ruler who was not only without a country but also without eyes• Having received the consent of her parents, the young couple received the blessing of the Church in the rite of marriage.
In the years that followed they had two sons, George and John. When they had grown up, the peace of that country was destroyed by the invasion of the Turks who began killing people with no regard to age or sex. Wherefore Stephen, with his wife Angelina and his two sons, fled to Italy where he lived out the remaining portion of his life until his repose in 1468. Angelina was left a widow. In her poverty she turned to the Hungarian ruler for help. He showed mercy and gave them the town of Kupinovo in Sirmie. So in l486 she came from Italy with her two sons, bearing the incorrupt body of her saintly husband, which she buried there in his Serbian homeland. The two sons also became saints. The first-born, George, gave his title as ruler to his younger brother John and became a monk by the name of Maxim; John was married but had no sons and died in 1503 when he was not yet old. His life was full of good works and it pleased the Lord to glorify him by working miracles through trace bestowed on his relics. Thus, her husband and both of her sons died during Angelina's lifetime. Already old and having drunk the cup of sorrow she took upon herself the "angelic way of life", and followed the rule of prayer as a nun for the salvation of her soul. When her time came she died quietly in the Lord, and was buried in one tomb with her sons in the church of the monastery of Krushedol in Frushka Gora, where to this day there is a service every year in her memory.
(Adapted from Lives of the Serbian Saints by Voyeslav Yanich; reprinted by Eastern Orthodox Books, 1974,)

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

Holy Archangels' Dream near Prizren, Serbia (Part Two)

2006-08-09T13:19:00.000+02:00

Nemanja Kijačić
HOLY ARCHANGELS

In a hurry to “Holy Archangels”,
The hart of spirituality,
On crucified Kosovo.

When I pass the gate of “Archangels”,
I cherish green brows of Shar-mountains,
As I walk a sound of clarity of a river I can find,
The smell of incense and candles, that I feel,
Then, I am sure,
I have entered in the house of God!

It was turning down by people, which are not,
It was turning down by centuries.
But, they can not crush it down!

Who was crushing down “The Archangels”,
He was crushing down himself.

God can’t be crushed down.
God is not in stones,
In woods or gold,
God is in his people,
In hart and wisdom.
You can not touch the God,
But you can feel and see Him.

In Belgrade,
March, 19th, 2006.

Nemanja Kijačić (1983, Prizren, Kosovo & Metohija) is student of Belgrade Law University. He is finishing a book “Godine nespokoja” (The years of anxiety). He lives in Belgrade, as refuge.

Translated by Vučko Vučković (1979, Pristina, Kosovo & Metohija). He is finishing a book «Invasion». He lives in Zemun, Serbia, as refuge.

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

Holy Archangels' Dream near Prizren, Serbia

2006-08-09T12:37:00.000+02:00

Milica Stanojevic
HOLY ARCHANGELS

City of Prizren quietly sleeps,
While over him fog moves,
On Kosovo, plane field,
In the heart of Metohija, exactly.

The big cloud is over him,
Dushan’s city quietly dreams,
The emperor from heaven is crying,
In his city there is no Serbs.

Enemy of the Cross is ruling the country,
Destroying churches and Christian homes,
The Cross is on bonfire, and the “moon” is exalted,
Turning down Serbian Sanctities.

In that night, big and dark,
Like dawn something shining,
Fighting the evil and unjustice,
“Archangels” are rising up!

And the walls of Emperor’s city,
Unconquered standing still,
Because, they are guarded by the Holy Force,
Dushan won’t lose his empire!

And don’t regret Serbian nation!
Yours wounds will be healed,
Strong faith will help,
God and Holy Archangels!

Milica Stanojević (1981, Zhegra near Gnjilane) published group of poems “Crying for shelter”, Belgrade, 2004. She works as professor in technical school in Gornje Kusce. She lives in village Budriga near Gnjilane, Kosovo & Metohija, as a refuge.

Translated by Vučko Vučković (1979, Pristina, Kosovo & Metohija). He is finishing a book «Invasion». He lives in Zemun, Serbia, as refuge.

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

The Bombers Dream

2006-08-08T13:16:00.000+02:00

Barna-Alper
The Bombers Dream, a 90 minute POV documentary, tells the extraordinary and controversial story of a century of strategic bombing. Of how bombers dreamt of using air power to precisely attack their enemy. But how civilians became the main victims of 20th century war. How we came to have such power. How it has changed with technology. Where it will go in the future. Director Barry Stevens explores how we abandoned the old rules of war but also looks at how people are trying to rebuild those rules.

www.ckcufm.com -- "Monday's Encounter" -- ON AIR on August 7, 2006 at 6:00
P.M. EST-- TO HEAR the show after the airing, click to:
http://f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/pertep (go to CKCU and pick the show)
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"THE BOMBER'S DREAM"- Documentary targets the issues and ethics of bombing
civilians. The documentary is a landmark, feature-length film that takes a
hard look at the hidden history of the most significant military innovation
of the past century. Directed by award-winning Canadian filmmaker Barry
Stevens, the film addresses the heated moral controversy of aerial bombing
and looks at a recent high-tech air strike that went tragically wrong,
resulting in the first-ever lawsuit by the victims against those who bombed
them. It tells the story of Vesna Milenkovich, who lost her daughter Sanya
when the bridge in Varvarin was bombed in a NATO air strike. Milenkovich
joins other injured townspeople to seek justice in a foreign court. Why was
he interested in making the movie and what is the massage of the movie? To
find out we are joined by:

- BARRY STEVENS - A writer, director, and producer of many documentaries,
Barry Stevens is perhaps best known for " Offspring " (2001). It was sold
to about 40 countries and nominated for an International Emmy, and received
the Donald Brittain Gemini for best social documentary, and other honors.
His writing awards include Geminis for Gerrie & Louise, (1997 International
Emmy for Best Documentary) and The Diary of Evelyn Lau (featuring the screen
debut of Sandra Oh). [*E]

"THE BOMBER'S DREAM" - will be shown on HISTORY TELEVISION, Canada Monday,
August 7, 8pm ET/5 pm PT (repeat at 12 midnight ET/9 pm PT).

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

A Bishop's Faith

2006-08-05T14:52:00.000+02:00

The Washington Times
Embassy Row
By James Morrison
August 3, 2006
His dwindling flock is scattered and under siege. His churches and cemeteries have been vandalized. The world appears to sympathize with his persecutors, but the spiritual leader of Kosovo's Orthodox Serbs says he cannot afford the luxury of feeling sorry for himself.
"To be pessimistic is not an attribute for a man of faith," said Bishop Artemije of Kosovo and Metohija, "particularly for a bishop."
But the bleak message the black-robed, white-bearded cleric brought with him to Washington last week showed how little political progress has been made since the 1999 NATO bombing campaign that drove Slobodan Milosevic's Yugoslav forces from Kosovo, leaving the province a de facto international protectorate until its final status is determined.
Kosovo's overwhelmingly ethnic-Albanian Muslim majority insists on independence from Serbia, while the Serbian government is equally adamant that the province remain under its control. Despite an effort by the United States and allied countries to strike a deal on Kosovo by the end of the year, desultory talks in Vienna have produced little progress.
Bishop Artemije is a frequent visitor to Washington, where he sounds the alarm over what he says are increasing attacks by Kosovo's Muslims on the minority Serbs and their churches. In a briefing at the National Press Club last week, he said Kosovo had become "a black hole of corruption and organized crime," a "rogue state" in the heart of Europe with growing ties to radical Islamic movements in the Middle East.
"Sacrificing our land and our blood cannot buy protection from jihad," he warned.
In the interview with our correspondent David R. Sands, the bishop said the more than 200,000 Kosovar Serbs -- two-thirds of his flock -- have been forced to flee the province since the war because of ethnic and religious intimidation and violence. More than 150 Christian churches and monasteries have been destroyed, and the remaining Orthodox Serbs live in small, often isolated pockets surrounded by hostile Muslim neighbors.
The opposite was the case during the Kosovo war that began in 1995, when Serbian forces retaliated against attacks by rebels of the Kosovo Liberation Army. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Kosovar civilians and about 3,000 Serbian civilians died in the conflict. NATO waged a 78-day bombing campaign to drive the Serbian troops out of Kosovo and destroyed bridges, power stations, factories and other civilian targets throughout what was then Yugoslavia.
Bishop Artemije said he found "a little more understanding" from Bush administration officials in his latest visit but acknowledged the difficult diplomatic and political landscape.
"If you look at the situation with human eyes, it can seem depressing and hopeless at times," he said.
"But if you look at Kosovo with the eyes of faith, hope is never lost. There is always hope that there is still honesty in the world, a world that seems to be asleep and that we will try with all our might to wake up."

Last news: Kosovo Albanians Stab 18-year-old Serbian

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In Her Own Words

2006-08-03T11:27:00.000+02:00

Saturday, July 29, 2006
ORTHODIXIE ... Southern, Orthodox, Convert, Etc.

Remember the former Priestess who was leaving the Episcopal Church for Orthodoxy?

Here's an explanation ... her own words.

The Episcopal Church is so removed from the Church Fathers that the word “tradition” on revisionists’ lips causes me to shudder. ECUSA’s new gospel is madness, and this same madness is sweeping through the liberal mainline denominations. It is not the gospel of Jesus Christ once delivered to the Church. Many will be fooled by this counterfeit gospel, but in the end falsehood begins to stink like the rotten fruit it is.

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

QUO VADIS UN – Are we, really, slaves of International Community?

2006-08-03T10:20:00.000+02:00

Frankfurt's news

The Incident of Steven Schook While Being Guest of TV Most

Branislav Krstic

Within the visit to the northern part of Kosovo and Metohija, the acting
SRSG, former American general Steven Schook was the guest of local Serbian
TV station "Most" in Zvecan. His hostess, a RTS journalist, Ljiljana
Jankovic says to Vesti that she did not want to provoke Schook in any way
who gave unprincipled answers and was extremely aggressive.

-I do not know why Mr Schook reacted that way, but I asked him the questions
that would any other Kosovo Serb resident raise. He left the studio visibly
upset and nervous, even blaming me that I had provoked him.
Also, in a moment, he asked me if I knew who was murdering Serbs throughout
Kosovo as he did not know, that is what he said., says Ljiljana Jankovic.

During the interview, while making remarks on the security situation in the
North of Kosovo, Schook said it was at a very high level and Belgrade was
not safer, too. Asked to make a comment on the last month's incidents in the
North of Kosovo, Schook said they were not resolved yet.

"Serbian MUP has promised us a help to investigate the incidents in the
North of Kosovo, but they failed to do so", said Schook which made Ljiljana
Jnakovic laughing.
"Can't be that the Serbian MUP is in charge of security and safety for
Kosovo Serbs', said Jankovic.

After 30 minutes of a quite tough and unpleasant discussion, Schook had a
look at his watch, stood up and said, " We had the 30-minute-deal and I am
leaving now as having other obligations, too. Jankovic asked him for two or
three additional questions that was refused by Mr Schook. However, he agreed
to have a seat again so that they could conclude the show.

As TV staff said, Schook has criticized them after the interview and while
leaving the studio, in the hall all the time was yelling and insulting
UNMIK' s head of the DPI, Alexander Ivanko from Ukraine and his first
spokesman Gyorgy Kakuk.

For more information:
Tatjana Lazarević
Press Information Assistant
OSRSG/DPI/Press Office Mitrovica
+381 38 504 604
ext.7302

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

Our Holy Church Celebrate Saint Prophet Elijah

2006-08-01T13:53:00.000+02:00

THE HOLY PROPHET ELIJAH

Saint Elijah, one who saw God, a miracle-worker and a zealot for faith in God, was born of the tribe of Aaron from the town Tishba for which he was called the Tishbite. When St. Elijah was born, his father Savah saw an angel of God hovering around the child, wrapping the child in fire and giving him a flame to eat. That was a foreshadowing of Elijah's fiery character and his God-given fiery power. He spent his entire youth in godly thoughts and prayers withdrawing frequently into the wilderness to contemplate and to pray in solitude. At that time the Jewish kingdom was divided into two unequal parts: the kingdom of Judah consisting of only two tribes, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin with their capital in Jerusalem and the kingdom of Israel consisting of the remaining ten tribes with their capital in Samaria. The first kingdom was governed by the descendants of Solomon and the second kingdom was governed by the descendants of Jeroboam, the servants of Solomon. The greatest confrontation that the prophet Elijah had was with the Israelite King Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel. For they, Ahab and Jezebel, worshipped idols and were turning the people away from serving the One and Living God. Before this, however, Jezebel, a Syrian, persuaded her husband to erect a temple to the Syrian god Baal and ordered many priests to the service of this false god. Through great miracles Elijah displayed the power and authority of God: he closed up the heavens, so that there was not any rain for three years and six months; he lowered a fire from heaven and burned the sacrifice to his God which the pagan priests of Baal were unable to do; he brought down rain from heaven by his prayer; miraculously multiplied flour and oil in the home of the widow in Zerepath, and resurrected her son; he prophesied to Ahab that the dogs will lick up his blood and to Jezebel that the dogs will consume her flesh, all of which happened as well as many other miracles did he perform and prophesy. On Mount Horeb, he spoke with God and heard the voice of God in the calm of a gentle breeze. Before his death he took Elisha and designated him as his successor in the prophetic calling; by his mantle he divided the waters of the Jordan river; finally he was taken up into the heavens in a fiery chariot by flaming horses. He appeared on Mount Tabor to our Lord Jesus Christ together with Moses. Before the end of the world St. Elijah will appear again to put an end to the power of the anti-Christ (Revelation, Chapter 11).

Bishop Nikolai Velimirovch
The Prologue from Ohrid
© Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of Western America

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Germans and St. Bishop Nikolaj of Serbia – The Story After Canonization (part III)

2006-07-31T12:43:00.000+02:00

PART I, PART II

However, the story continued in 2003. Church formally canonized St. Nikolaj. Monks from Holy Archangels’ Monastery attended the canonization. A penitent future archbishop of Ohrid, bishop Jovan, came from Nikolaj’s former eparchy Ohrid, where communist (and even churchmen and their followers) besmirched Nikolaj most. Now the door was open to pan-orthodox celebration of bishop Nikolaj. The monastery “Soko-grad” (Falcon-city), which was being build during that time, was dedicated to him. Above the monastery, at the top of the mountain, a 14 meters high cross shines. That cross was the present of a German family Wrobel as a symbol of German penitence, as well as a memory of innocent victims of NATO bombing.

And now we finally reach the outcome of this story. St. Nikolaj of Zica and Ohrid passed away on March 18, and his relics are ceremoniously moved to Serbia on May 3. These two dates church celebrates as a memory of him. The religious celebration in Orthodox Church begins with an evening service shortly before the saint’s day. Therefore, on March 17, 2004. on the eve of Nikolaj’s first religious celebration, a very specific “evening service” was held in his first church in the monastery near Prizren, in Kosovo&Metohija. Following the example of their Islam and Roman Catholic leaders, Albanian extremists set fire to all orthodox churches in Kosovo, as well as to Holy Archangels’ Monastery and St. Nikolaj’s church. The crowd of 500 aggressive Albanians reached the monastery’s gates, face to face with German soldiers and guards. One thing that nobody could have expected actually happened. German headquarters ordered that monks should be evacuated. Monks carried St. Nikolaj’s relics in their hands, but the icon which had looked at the painful spiritual wounds of the German “atheist” could not have been moved so quickly from the iconostasis. Monks were taken on the other side of the river to a nearby German barracks, and than a bloody feast ensued, the bloody feast which is almost impossible to describe in words.

Soldiers were not ordered to protect the monastery, but to leave it and to seek for the refuge on the nearby hill. Albanians broke into the monastery and set fire. First Nikolaj’s church was burnt down on his day. While angels in heaven celebrated the One chosen by God, people on Earth burned his icon with the fuel from German generator. Did they, by doing it, burned the eyes which saw God?

I do not know where this soldier is today. He is somewhere among you in great Germany. And not just he, but thousands of young soldiers and their officers who marched through the Holy Archangels’ and St. Nikolaj Monastery of Serbia near Prizren. I wonder if they remember the church which once was there, and how do they remember it? Do gentlemen Hintelman and Brinkman sleep tightly? The gentlemen, who were supposed to protect the Monastery during the fire. Are all those soldiers who were part of that army proud of the medals they have received for the “excellently accomplished mission”.

One part of the monastery was renovated after the March 17, 2004. On St. Elijah’s day, August 2, 2004. a German military dredge started the renovation. Serbian people renovated one part of the monastery with the help of German and Italian KFOR. But not St. Nikolaj’s church. Colonel Buehler, who was the leader of German KFOR during the renovation was happy to see the new dormitory with a small chapel “Lazarus’ resurrection”. Above the monastery you can still see German flag and religious services are taking place every day. The song “A gold-mouth preacher of resurrected Christ” can be heard every day.

(completed on May 9, 2006, on the occasion of the triumph over fascism, during the terror of Albanian mafia in Kosovo&Metohija, while on heaven rules our God Christ. Glory to Him in ages of ages. Amin).

translated by Masha Krsmanovic

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Germans and St. Bishop Nikolaj of Serbia – Life After Death (part II)

2006-07-31T11:53:00.000+02:00

PART I

...His sojourn in Dahau, the camp of death, presents to the world the best book ever written about Nazism and German people - “The Neverland”. He clearly makes distinctions between these two notions, pointing out that basic instincts have led German Reich towards the suicide of its own people, and that in every man, or in every German, there is a Christwise soul which longs for Justice and Truth. At the same time, this is the most delicate book ever written about its enemy and the most bitter critique of the modern rooted corruption.

The Second World War was over, after being released from Duhau, St. Nikolaj was declared by communist regime to have been the greatest enemy of the communist Yugoslavia and was exiled to America, but the spiritual bond between him and Germans was not broken by that act. Furthermore, it was further intensified after his death. After a certain time distance, the meeting between late but alive Nikolaj and Germans were continued in a new way. This is a story which could not be made up by even the most imaginative writers:

Years have past after the bishop’s death in 1956, but his glory and the awareness of the importance of his work increased among the members of an Orthodox church. Many people saw him as a saint even when he was still living and turned to him in their prayers as to a bold intercessor to God, which continued after his death. People were delighted by him, called him in their prayers, painted icons of him, although he was not formally pronounced a saint. (At the same time, his name was besmirched in communist Yugoslavia). Being aware of the power that this not deceased man had, a well-known writer and a communist servant Miroslav Krleza advised the leaders of communist propaganda that: “It is better not to write anything about Nikolaj and to forget him, since it is impossible to dispute with him”. Nevertheless, his books were published abroad (in Germany and America), religious people kept his books in hiding places, and his icons were painted all over America. Authoritarian regime died in Yugoslavia, as well as everywhere else in the world, when Lord was pleased. In spring 1991. Serbian Orthodox Church and Nikolaj’s nephew Tiosav moved the bishop’s relics from America to native Lelic near Valjevo – to a country wounded by sinful acts.

At the time, a new monastery “Soko-grad” (Falcon-city) was built in his native land, a monastery which was to be dedicated to St. Nikolaj. But it raised a question – to whom it was dedicated – to Nikolaj of Myr- Licia or the Serbian one who was not named saint yet. The first nun in this monastery became an orthodox German woman, the descendant of a German general Ler, who was the commander of Belgrade during The Second World War. In the other part of the country, in Kosovo and Metohija near Prizren, or Serbian Jerusalem, former communist authorities allowed bishop Artemije (who was, just like Nikolaj, born in village Lelic) to renovate medieval monastery “Holy Archangels”. The great church demolished by Islamists during the five centuries long captivity was impossible to renovate. Therefore, a small chapel was built for the purpose of monks’ religious services. Bishop Artemije unscrupulously took an unexpected step: He dedicated the first church to the honor of St. Nikolaj of Zica, Ohrid and Serbia. The sanctification of church and dormitory took place during the war, in the last moment which was possible – when Kosovo was the scene of conflict between Milosevic’s police and Albanian separatists. In no time, NATO supported Albanian separatist and took over province Kosovo. Albanian terrorists murdered many Serbian people as a revenge for their losses during the war. The first monk who entered the monastic order in “St. Nikolaj’s” church was kidnapped and murdered, after which a general who was in charge for the Prizren region made a decision: among the other orthodox objects German army will protect Holy Archangels’ monastery as well.

Monks have spent five years with Germans who protected St. Nikolaj’s church. Among other icons, there was the icon of St. Nikolaj who watched them. Soldiers passed like tourists by the church and Nikolaj’s relics which were stored in this monastery, acknowledging that the artist who painted it was indeed a great artist. I do not know if any of them have ever heard of him or prayed in front of this icon. But…

“O God, thou are beautiful within your saints”. 1999. or perhaps 2000. Among those who protect the monastery there is a young atheist soldier. “There is no God. I do not believe” – he was explicit in his religion. Nevertheless, he accepted the suggestion of other soldiers to enter the church, since a monk was about to sing something for the religious service. During the service nobody present noticed anything strange. Everybody except the “atheist” started leaving church. “Why do you look so frightened?” – his friends asked him. - He looked at me. “Who?” – HE! – the frightened soldier answered while an internal change was taking place within him. - He turned the head on the icon, looked at me and then moved the head to the former position – answered the German, pointing out at bishop Nikolaj.

After his mission, he bought incense and some other religious things and promised that he would go to church when he comes back to Germany. Will he meet there St. Nikolaj and God as well?...

PART III

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Germans and St. Bishop Nikolaj of Serbia – an immortal relationship (part I)

2006-07-31T10:45:00.000+02:00

On the day of Saint Prophet Elijah (July, the 2nd) in 2004. started rebuilding of our monastery.

Dedicated to all honest German soldiers who were on the "gate" of Holy Archangels' Monastery

Is the hatred between Germans and Serbs something natural, something achieved through history or something imposed?
It is hard to describe bishop Nikolaj in one text. This saint is a spiritual ocean, as well as his spiritual ancestor was - the one he was named after - St. Nikolaj of Myr-Licia, whose holy relics rest in Bari, Italia. Here we only mention what is significant for our monastery, the first monastery in the world which had a church built in its honor (the church which is gone now).

St. Nikolaj had two doctorates, Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Theology. He became the Doctor of Theology in Bern, a German speaking area of Switzerland. Ever since then, and during his earthly lifetime, the bishop had contacts with Germans. He, as the opponent of the European atheistic culture, a culture more and more inclined to nihilism, presents “Pan-human” Christ, as an ideal of all human love, against Nitzche’s Superhuman, the spiritual creator of Nazism.

“There is no doubt that that the principles and forces of European culture and civilization are anti-Christian. The modern man type had been built for a long time, so that it could eventually replace Godman Christ with its philosophy and science, with its politics and technique, with its religion and ethic. Europe used Christ only as “a bridge between uncultured and cultured barbarity, that is, between illiterate barbarity and literate one.”
(Bishop Nikolaj, around 1930. : Words about Pan-human, page 334.)

Nikolaj always inspired people with his modesty and ingenuity. Never did anyone remain indifferent in his presence. When looking at a man, never did he see a Serb, a German, a Jew, a Gypsy, a communist, a democrat, an educated or uneducated peasant, a man or a woman, but simply a Man. For that reason, he won the respect and love of those who did not approve his life principles. Journalist Milan Jovanovic Stoimirovic describes a meeting with bishop Nikolaj, around 1935:

I think I was in Ohrid at that time, visiting Doctor Nikolaj together with late Vinaver (a Serbian writer) and a great German architect, a celebrity of his time who traveled around Macedonia so that he could see the old Balkan architecture (which he liked very much for its room layout and its exterior).

Bishop Nikolaj spoke about the problems of Germany, as if he had dealt with them for all of his life, and never did he allow to be interrupted, nor anybody dared to interrupt him. One could tell that Nikolaj precisely knew complete German philosophy and the cultural history, as well as the modern crises of German Reich and German society. “By estranging from God” – Nikolaj said, “Germans are moving towards a great national risk”. Then the German started asking questions, and Nikolaj gave him the answers. That dispute lasted for ten minutes or so and Nikolaj had the intellectual superiority. The German became more and more cordial and obedient. Afterwards he summarized the experience he gained during that meeting and said - Beispiellose Anspruchlosigkeit, - which could be translated as “unique unpretentiousness” and which referred to the house and furniture, the host and his work, his bearing, as well as to all those shining emanations which he unobtrusively gave off through his words and which at the same time won our hearts.

Afterwards, the German kept asking about Nikolaj, looking for the explanations about his family, career and everything else. I told him what I knew, and he asked for the literature. When I told him there was none, he was astonished and said that Nikolaj, the thinker, should be introduced to Europeans.

During the time when the record number of peace conferences took place, the world faced the one thing bishop Nikolaj had been warning about: The Second World War. Saint Nikolaj is one among few Slovenes who received a medal from Hitler, maybe the only one. And he deserved it because he insisted on the arrangement of German military graveyard in his eparchy of Ohrid and Bitolj. “That is not the graveyard of our enemies, but the graveyard of those who tragically died serving their fatherland. It happened shortly before The First World War broke out. But, the same man lead the demonstrations of Serbs, the only nation in the world which totally rejected the Pact with Nazi Germany signed by their government, the government which was soon afterwards overthrown. The British and their press praised the Serbs as heroes, and by the end of the war they betrayed those heroes to soviet communists. The kind of man Nikolaj was indeed could be described as a Pan-human. Is there any other man in the world who received the medal from Hitler, after that was arrested and even sent to notorious prison “Dachau”? Nikolaj did.

Never did Hitler and Nazis forgive the bishop’s part in the rejection of Pact. But being acquainted with his influence among the people, they wanted to take advantage of that fact and to make him join their side. “To force him to work for them”, but the Man of Christ belongs to Christ because he is dead for the rest of the world, because he is immune to any kind of blackmail or bribe. His only way is to witness the truth. Eventhough his life was in great jeopardize during the time of war, never did he remain silent. Furthermore, he fought to save innocent lives by protesting at occupying authorities, and literally hiding people under his mantle. Some of the witnesses whom Nikolaj saved are still alive (the Jew, Ela Trifunovic Neuhaus wetness in the movie about Nikolaj). Of course, he did it for all endangered people, regardless of their nation and religion. Those honest Germans who found themselves serving Nazism because of their weakness, recognized Nikolaj’s righteousness and tried to help him as much as they could and diminish the evil that Nazism spread...

PART II, PART III

translated by Masa Krsmanovic

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

In Holy Archangels' Monastery Celebrated Monastery Patron Day

2006-07-28T12:41:00.000+02:00

Prizren, July, 26th (Beta) - Today is festal celebrated Monastery Patron day of Holy Archangel Gabriel in Holy Archangels' Monastery near Prizren. Participants were 600 believers from whole Serbia.
On Holy Liturgy were serving monks of Ras-Prizren Diocese, and as emissary of Metropolitan of Montenegro and Littoral abbot Luka from Cetinje Monastery.
"All of them asked when the monastery will be reconstructed. I told them that someone are observing obstruction. No one came with "proclaimed" plan for reconstruction of burned dormitory at March 2004. None of destroyed churches in very city of Prizren are repaired." abbot of Holy Archangels Monastery Benedict told to Agency Beta.
"Coming of so many believers means that Serbian people remaining to be faithful to their cradle, holy places and Serbs didn't forget us the monks of Serbian Christian Church here in Kosovo", he said.
"So, there is hope that (regardless of abnormal conditions*) we can survive in this region", he added.

* comment by Monastery staff

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Let it be like before, in shining Orthodox-Christian medieval

2006-07-24T10:38:00.000+02:00

Reminiscence of patron-feast of the Monastery in last year

(July, 26th, 2005.)
"It is not easy to be human even in a world of men, let alone in a world that wallows completely in evil. But there have always been those who even during difficult times have remained human. What sort of consolation would we have if the times were pleasant and carefree, and we were to lose our honor and our soul. Our Lord and Holy Archangels and all the Saints, help us to truly remain on the narrow and difficult path that leads to life eternal and that we may find ourselves on the side that Christ will recognize and acknowledge as His own. Lord, help everyone, including ourselves. Help all people of good will throughout the world," said the Patriarch Pavle of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Holy Archangels, where he served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy with Bishop Artemije (Radosavljevic) of Raska and Prizren, and Bishop Teodosije (Sibalic) of Lipljan, the vicar bishop of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren, together with the priests and monks of this Diocese. (more)

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Blind Eyes Over Kosovo

2006-07-20T10:40:00.000+02:00

By Doug Bandow, The American Spectactor
Published 7/20/2006 12:07:14 AM

PRIZREN, Kosovo -- Being a monk is never easy. But Brother Benedict, a friendly 29-year-old with the ever-present beard that characterizes Orthodox Christian clerics, cheerfully welcomed three foreign visitors to his humble abode.

The original Monastery of the Holy Archangels was destroyed in the 16th Century by the invading Turks. Four centuries later the Orthodox Church constructed a small church, residence, and workshop among the ancient ruins. Two years ago a mob of 600 descended from Prizren, just 1.5 miles away, burning down the buildings and destroying anything that remained. Earlier they wrecked churches, the presiding bishop's residence, a seminary, and private Serbian homes in town.

Although the monastery was nominally guarded by German soldiers serving in the international Kosovo Force (KFOR), most of them packed up when the crowd began crossing the shallow creek separating the monastery from the road. They took the monks along but left the buildings and contents unprotected; a few remaining soldiers played tourists, photographing the monastery's destruction. This shocking behavior was the norm on a day of violence around Kosovo. Complained Rachel Denber of Human Rights Watch: "In too many cases, NATO peacekeepers locked the gates to their bases, and watched as Serb homes burned."

Since then the Church has built a small two-story building on the site of the workshop, where Brother Benedict and five other monks worship, eat, and sleep. The site is now surrounded by barbed wire, though Brother Benedict has little confidence in his supposed protectors. After the monastery's destruction the German commander downplayed a mob attack on one of his units as it guarded a German TV crew. After the monks publicized the incident, their "protectors" left them isolated for two weeks. Even now the KFOR soldiers refuse to escort the monks to buy food in Prizren, suggesting instead that they turn to the Kosovo Police Service -- which includes many former Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas. Instead, the monks drive substantially further to the nearest Serbian community for supplies.

Unfortunately, any Serb who travels outside of few remaining enclaves does so at his own risk. At the quasi-border dividing Serbia from Kosovo (which nominally remains part of Serbia), drivers routinely replace their Serbian license plates with ones marked Kosovo to disguise their identities. To do otherwise would risk not only their cars but their lives.

Even foreigners are at risk. Some British tourists recently were roughed up and their car was destroyed because the vehicle had been rented in Belgrade. Had they been Serbian their lives probably would have been forfeited. More than 900 Serbs have been murdered since the allies took control and ethnic killings continue in the territory. But you will look long and hard to find an ethnic Albanian jailed for committing the crimes.

HIGHLIGHTING THE PLIGHT OF THE MONKS at the monastery, as well as other Christians in Kosovo, is a delegation led by Bishop Artemije (Radosavljevic) of Raska and Prizren, which is visiting the U.S. this week at the invitation of the Religious Freedom Coalition. The visitors are hoping to slow the apparent administration rush to grant independence to Kosovo.

Kosovo is an unpleasant bit of unfinished business that the West would prefer to forget. A fair and sensible resolution is well nigh impossible, especially since the behavior of Washington and NATO has been truly disgraceful. Far from creating a tolerant democracy, the allies have presided over one of the largest episodes of ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. And if the U.S. continues on its present course, virtually everyone expects the ethnic majority to complete the job in just a few more years, if that long.

Like most of the Balkans, the problem of Kosovo goes back centuries. Serbian identity is rooted in both Kosovo's military history, particularly the 1389 defeat by the Turks in the Battle of the Blackbirds, and spiritual significance, represented by ancient churches and monasteries.

Over the years history was unkind to the Balkans, torn by conflict as the Ottoman Empire declined and in both World Wars, and then mostly dominated by communist regimes until the end of the Cold War. During the 1980s the territory (in Yugoslavia) enjoyed substantial self-rule and resulted in ethnic Albanian mistreatment of Serbs (behavior covered in the New York Times, among other publications). Roughly two decades ago Slobodan Milosevic launched his grab for power with a speech in Kosovo that played upon Serb nationalism. Then it was Albanians who suffered, leading to an increasingly bitter guerrilla war and NATO military intervention in March 1999.

The 78-day air war never made sense. Over the years most European states had mirrored Yugoslavia in fighting to suppress secessionist movements.

Although the conflict was ugly, it was nothing compared to the simultaneous humanitarian disaster in Sierra Leone, which killed a quarter of a million people but was ignored in the U.S. and Europe. Moreover, it was NATO intervention that sparked the worst Serbian crackdown and the mass Albanian exodus.

In any case, Western officials, starting with American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, developed policy in a dream world. They thought that a couple days of bombing would bring Belgrade to heel, completely missing the nationalism that animated most Serbs, even democrats and human rights advocates. Worst, the allies believed that they would be able to concoct a multi-ethnic Kosovo in which Albanians and Serbs would join hands singing Kumbaya around communal campfires. In fact, having used their American-supplied air force to eject the Serb military units, the victorious ethnic Albanians saw no need to compromise.

After the war -- under the occupation of the West -- the Albanian community kicked out a quarter million Serbs, Roma, Jews, and non-Albanian Muslims. Over the next five years isolated Serbs were killed, beaten, and kidnapped. Even Serbian enclaves were vulnerable to drive-by shootings.

Although Serbs disappeared from much of Kosovo -- roughly 40,000 in the capital of Pristina turned into about 120 mostly terrified elderly residents today -- around 100,000 remain, with many concentrated in the north, around the town of Mitrovica. In March 2004 a series of coordinated riots and assaults broke out, killing 19 people, injuring about 1,000 more, displacing 4,000 Serbs, destroying 36 churches and monasteries, torching numerous homes and farms, and despoiling cemeteries. (All told, about 150 churches, monasteries, and seminaries have been destroyed since 1999. "They destroy them, we rebuild them," commented one determined Church member.) With good reason many Serbs called the March violence Kristallnacht, after the infamous Nazi assault on Jews the presaged the eventual attempt to exterminate the entire people.

Human Rights Watch's Rachel Denber observed that "This was the biggest security test for NATO and the United Nations in Kosovo since 1999, when minorities were forced from their homes as the international community looked on. But they failed the test." The events two years ago resulted in much hand wringing, but little else. No one was prosecuted and jailed for their crimes. Today many Serb refugees remain in small camps, unemployed and living in containers turned into homes.

The Albanian political leadership includes guerrilla leaders almost certainly guilty of atrocities. No one denies the explosion of organized crime, including sex trafficking, in Kosovo, which has been called the "black hole" of Europe. Radical Islam, too, may be on the rise -- more than 200 mosques have been built since 1999, and some unashamedly fly the Saudi Arabian flag. "Sex, crime, terrorism, it's all there," opines one U.S. diplomat stationed in Belgrade.

AS A POLITICAL ENTITY, KOSOVO is less ready for independence today, based on its commitment to a multi-ethnic republic with human rights guarantees, than when it was "liberated" in 1999. Warns Joseph Griebowski of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, "the present record of rule of law, protection of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities, and the return/resettlement of internally displaced people by the Provisional Authority of Kosovo -- all of which are indispensable for democratic governance -- have been gravely unsatisfactory."

So what to do? Final (or future) status negotiations have begun under the tutelage of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari, and it is obvious that officials in the West would like to take credit for their "success" in Kosovo, run a victory lap, and go home. The U.S. and Europeans have been pressuring the Serbs to voluntarily yield Kosovo and collect EU membership as their reward. Tod Lindberg of Policy Review reflects the conventional wisdom when he argues that "Serbia needs to decide whether its future is Western integration or instead a return to dead-end nationalist politics." Some Europeans have spoken of finding a win/win, or at least win/no lose, solution.

However, it doesn't exist. Roughly two million ethnic Albanians now live in Kosovo -- it's hard to know how many for sure, since the local authorities have no incentive to prevent a large in-migration, further strengthening their hold over the land. Understandably, none of them want to live under Serbia.

But Serbs, no less than Americans and Europeans, want to amputate historic lands from their country. On his visit last week Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica indicated that independence was not an option, instead offering "the greatest possible autonomy." Belgrade may not be able to prevent the allies from dismembering a sovereign nation, but it will not acquiesce in the act.

Moreover, no sane Serb (or Roma) in Kosovo wants to live under Albanian rule. Indeed, the Serbs who now dominate Mitrovica, north of the Irba River and close to the rest of Serbia, probably would forcibly resist Albanian rule. Even the Crisis Group, which remains dedicated to the mythical ideal of a multi-ethnic Kosovo, admits that the allies would have to make integration happen, somehow (the group suggests -- and I am not making this up, to quote humorist Dave Berry -- a PR campaign.)

Allied officials continue to talk in grand terms. Last year Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told Congress that "Failure to secure a multi-ethnic Kosovo would be a failure" of years of effort. Yet the likely result of full independence is clear. A top U.S. official told me on my visit that he figures not a Serb will remain within five or ten years after independence, or even the status quo. That is, granting Kosovo independence means completing the process of ethnic cleansing that started seven years ago. Worse, since the West has been in charge, granting independence means ratifying the very process that the allies went to war to prevent.

IN ORDER TO GET AROUND this rather embarrassing dilemma, Western governments are talking about conditional independence, that is, independence only after ethnic Albanians meet certain standards. Perhaps proponents of this perspective are so naive as to verge on the delusional; more likely, they are cynically maneuvering to get out of Kosovo with a minimum of public embarrassment.

After all, if things are, as claimed by Kosovo's allied occupiers, better today than in 1999 or 2004, it is mostly because so many Serbs and other minorities have fled. The easy ethnic cleansing already has been done. There is less opportunity and reason to target minorities.

However, despite all the right public promises from Albanian officials, there is little reason to believe popular attitudes have changed. Bishop Artemije sadly observed simply: "Crimes happened not just seven years ago but are happening now as we speak." One resident of a refugee camp who fled deadly mobs two years ago told me that "we see people living in our homes and sleeping in our beds talking about how good democracy is."

And if seven years of tutelage by the allies under military occupation isn't enough to teach the majority Albanian community good human rights manners, how will a few verbal promises and some corresponding paper threats do the job? Nor will any conditions be enforced. The idea that the allies would get tough and block independence, or even return the territory to Belgrade, if the standards were not met is a fantasy. The West has done little to protect the Serbian community over the last seven years; to the contrary, the allies have allowed the Albanians to ethnically cleanse most of the land. Today the heroic humanitarian crusaders of 1999 simply want to finish the occupation, withdraw their 17,000 troops, and move on.

At the same time, conditional independence, by leaving the issue formally open while effectively dispossessing the Serbs, is likely to radicalize both parties. Ethnic Albanians have been growing impatient. The group Self-Determination! has been leading non-violent protests against UN targets (for which some demonstrators actually went to jail, in contrast to those who murdered Serbs). More ominously, there have been attacks on allied vehicles, and resentment at more years of apparent indecision could spark more serious assaults on KFOR and UN personnel. Leading Kosovar political figure Adam Demaci has threatened the allies with "violence of such dimensions that 17 March 2004 will be forgotten."

As for Serbia, detaching Kosovo is likely to bring down the Kostunica government. Waiting in the wings is the Serbian Radical Party, a populist-nationalist movement headed by Vojislav Seselj, now awaiting trial for war crimes at The Hague. The U.S. will not even allow diplomatic personnel to meet with Radical members of parliament, terming the party "undemocratic." Yet some polls show it with 40-plus percent support, putting it within easy reach of dominating a new coalition government.

What a pretty picture this all would be. Ethnic Albanians step up attacks on Serbs and begin targeting allied forces in Kosovo. Serbs in Mitrovica fortify their enclave and look north to Belgrade for support. Hard-core, anti-Western nationalists take power in Serbia. Then what?

Like so many conflicts, it was a lot easier to get into Kosovo than it will be to get out. But there's still time to draw back from the brink. The West should insist on a genuine negotiation in which a variety of options are freely considered. An allied diktat, especially one mandating independence, will not be fair. Nor will it bring the regional stability that everyone desires. Only the residents of Kosovo and the rest of Serbia can find a lasting solution.

Doug Bandow is the author of Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire (forthcoming, Xulon). A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is a member of the Advisory Board of the American Council for Kosovo.

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We are waiting for celebration of HOLY ARCHANGEL GABRIEL

2006-07-15T09:09:00.000+02:00

The main patron feast of our monastery is Day of Holy Archangel Gabriel. Even, in this days of persecution of Christians in Kosovo&Metohija, like it was before, a hundreds and even thousands of Orthodox people, with similar number of "peacekeepers" (military escorts and guard of KFOR and police) are gathering to celebrate this "Commander of the heavenly hosts".

THE HOLY ARCHANGEL GABRIEL
This great archangel of God is celebrated on March 26. On this day however, he is celebrated and honored for his appearances and miracles throughout the entire history of man's salvation. It is believed that this celebration was first established on Mt. Athos in the ninth century, during the reign of Emperor Basil and the Empress Constantina Porphyrogenitus and Patriarch Nicholas Chrysoverges, on the occasion of the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel in a cell near Karyes where he wrote on a stone tablet with his finger, the hymn to the Birth-giver of God, "Worthy It is meet," [Dostojno Jest Axion Estin]. As a result of this, even today, this cell is called the cell of "Axion Estin." In connection with this, other appearances of the Archangel Gabriel are also commemorated: the appearance to Moses while he was tending the flock of Jethro and, at which time, he related to this great one called of God, how the world was created and all the rest which Moses recorded in his Book of Creation (Genesis); his appearance to the Prophet Daniel and revealing to him the mystery of future kingdoms and of the coming of the Savior; his appearance to St. Ann and the promise that she will give birth to a daughter, the All-blessed and All-pure Holy Virgin Mary; the very brief appearance to the Holy Virgin while she lived in the Temple in Jerusalem; the appearance to Zacharias the High Priest and the tidings concerning the birth of John the Forerunner and the severe punishment of Zacharias with dumbness because he did not believe his words; again, the appearance to the Holy Virgin in Nazareth and informing Her of the good news of the conception and the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ; the appearance to the righteous Joseph; the appearance to the shepherds near Bethlehem; the appearance to the Lord Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane when he strengthened our Lord as a man prior to His passion; the appearance to the myrrh-bearing women and so forth.

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Kosovo: There is no moral in politics

2006-07-08T12:28:00.000+02:00

or The real test of U.S. foreign policy

Posted: April 5, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern, but extremely actual today

By Aleksandar Pavic
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

If you want to see a place where Christians are outside of the law on their own ancestral land – come to Kosovo.

If you want to see American troops committed to establishing a narco-Islamic state on Christian land – come to Kosovo.

If you want to see Christian churches, monasteries and cemeteries desecrated on an almost daily basis, under the noses of thousands of Western soldiers – look no further than Kosovo.

Seven years after William Jefferson Clinton launched a bombing campaign against a European Christian land in support of the Islamic terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army, it's as though the bombs have never stopped falling on the Christian remnant in Kosovo. Whether Clinton did it to divert attention from a burgeoning sex scandal, or whether it was part of a global anti-Christian campaign by Western liberals with a cultural death-wish, the results for the Kosovo Christians – and all non-Albanians in Kosovo – are the same.

And the U.S. State Department is doing everything to make sure it stays that way, with a strong supporting role of the United Nations, Britain and Germany.

That's right, the might and the resources of U.S. diplomacy are being used to tear away a Christian European nation's spiritual and historical cradle and hand it over to a terrorist-breeding, white-slavery peddling, heroin-pushing narco-Islamic camarilla in Kosovo, which has, by all accounts, made the province into "Afghanistan in Europe." During the current U.N.-brokered talks on Kosovo's "final status," U.S. diplomats are tirelessly promoting the "necessity" and "inevitability" of Kosovo's independence.

There are well over 1,000 Christian churches and monasteries in Kosovo, many filled with priceless medieval frescoes from the Byzantine era, in which Italian art historians have spotted the beginnings of the Renaissance about a century before it appeared in Western Europe. At least 150 have been destroyed by Muslim Albanian mobs since Clinton's post-bombing deployment of NATO "peacekeepers" in 1999. The rest are menaced on a daily basis. Those that are lucky enough to be protected have armed NATO troops and barbed wire around them.

In its drive to secure Kosovo's independence from Serbia, preferably by the end of 2006, U.S. (and U.N.) diplomacy has helped install Islamic hardliners to top Kosovo political posts – people with gallons of Christian (and Roma, and moderate Albanian) blood on their hands. It has supported the revocation of international arrest warrants against them, as in the case of new Kosovo "Prime Minister," Agim Ceku, a man whom Canadian U.N. troops wounded in Croatia in 1995 to stop a killing spree against unarmed Serbian villagers in another "U.N. protected area." Ceku had an Interpol warrant against him lifted in March "in line with his new duties of prime minister." And U.S. diplomacy brings other terrorists, such as Hashim Tachi, aka "the Snake," to Washington, D.C., as it did this January, to promote the cause of narco-Islam on Christian soil in the highest forums of American foreign policy.

Why?

It is said that more than 600 years ago, when the first news of the Battle of Kosovo came to Western Europe, telling of a victory of the Christian Serb army against the Ottoman Turks, the bells of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris rang out joyously in celebration.

Actually, this fierce battle on the Field of Blackbirds (the meaning of the name of Kosovo) ended in a draw, with both the Serbian Prince Lazar and the Turkish Sultan Murat being killed in battle. But the weakened Serbia, pressed from the north by the rival Hungarian kingdom, never recovered. It is then, as the story goes, that the bright red peonies that bloom by the millions each year on Kosovo's plains made their appearance, growing out of the soil consecrated by the spilt Christian blood. And it wasn't only Serbian blood that would be shed in the coming centuries. It was not until combined Slavic and German forces threw back the huge army commanded by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha at the walls of Vienna in 1683 that the tide against Ottoman Turkey began to be turned back and the Christian West could finally breathe easier.

Now, 323 years later, the West's secularized elites are doing everything to help Islam – an especially aggressive and corrupt variety of it – make a big comeback in Europe, with the United States taking the leading role.

Why?

Some say that it is because the State Department, at least the part dealing with the Balkans, is still staffed with Clinton-era secular globalists pursuing their own agenda. But this cannot be an excuse for an administration that sees itself as Christian. We know what the Bible says about pragmatism when moral issues are at hand: Better that you are hot or cold than lukewarm, for you shall be spewed out like salt that has lost its flavor. And that's the present U.S. policy in Kosovo.

To what end this "pragmatism" (if that's what it is) except straight to Hell? There is no getting around it. Jesus said, "Whoever is not with me is against me." So, what of those who actively or passively give aid to the burning of His churches on Kosovo? What sayest thou, Christian soldiers?

Where were you when Christian Kosovo burned? Did you cry real tears and help, or give aid and comfort to His enemies? Take heed, Christian Americans: A great anti-Christian crime is currently being committed in your name on Christian Kosovo. You cannot say that you haven't been warned. Now it is up to you to do something.

You cannot in good conscience support Kosovo's independence. For that shall mean its final destruction as a Christian land. What can you do? What is the only consequent Kosovo policy for American Christian policy makers? Demand that the destruction of churches, monasteries and cemeteries stop, that anti-Christian persecution stop, that Christian Serbs and other non-Albanians be allowed to return to their ancestral homes protected by their own armed forces. Help them renew their houses of worship, which were destroyed under the "protection" of U.S.-led international troops.

You can support Kosovo's autonomy within Serbia, with equal rights for all. But not independence for the Islamic narco-bosses running the place and their brand of anti-civilization. That's the current State Department agenda, the same as the agenda of the United Nations and European secularized, suicidal elites. That would be abomination. And, make no mistake, that would, ultimately, be the end of Christian America. For this crime will not be forgiven in the only place that counts.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aleksandar Pavic covers the Balkans for WorldNetDaily.com.

svarhangeli@hotmail.com

Former Ukrainian rocker and now an ordained priest brings young people to church by setting up village rock groups

2006-07-05T12:41:00.000+02:00

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=1656

Former Ukrainian rocker and now an ordained priest brings young people to
church by setting up village rock groups

Moscow, July 3, Interfax - Rev. Georgy Streltsov, a young rector of the
church in the village of Ocheretino, Donetsk region, successfully
implements a missionary method of combining church sermon and rock music.

Trud newspaper reports Monday that before entering the Kievan theological
seminary he was a drummer of an Ukrainian Side Effect pank group.

Having been ordained and assigned to the parish in a small village, the
young priest did not abandon his hobby, but regarded it as an opportunity
to make contacts with the local youth.

'They drink and smoke not because they are hopeless, but because nobody has
planted good seeds for them,' Rev. Georgy explains his attitude to the
problems of the youth to those who are skeptical about his intention to
bring young people to the religious faith.

Young priest's main initiative as a missionary was his proposal to the
local youth to set up a rock group. The village teenagers accepted the
proposal with enthusiasm.

The newspaper writes that 'young alcoholics began reading the Bible and,
encouraged by their teacher, attending church services. The repertoire of
their rock group is changing from couldn't care less and nihilist songs to
philosophical and religious ones.

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Many black Christians join move to Orthodox traditions

2006-07-01T09:54:00.000+02:00

Gannett News Service/ The Baxter Bulletin

After a lifetime in traditional black churches, Robert Aaron Mitchell discovered the sights, smells, sounds and ancient traditions of the Orthodox church.

"I discovered Orthodoxy while I was on the Internet one day back in 2001, and I was so drawn to it that I had to go attend a liturgy," Mitchell says. "I had no frame of reference for these traditions, but suddenly, I felt like this void was filling in my life. I felt like I was finally coming home."

Mitchell, 48, a project manager for AT&T in Detroit, is among a small but growing number of black Americans, many of them professionals, who are joining Orthodox churches. That's the branch of Christianity that split with Rome about 1,000 years ago and is known for colorful icons and the ethnic traditions it preserves in religious customs.

The attraction, Mitchell says, lies in discovering that for thousands of years, Africans played a vital role in the Orthodox world.

The Rev. Moses Berry, an Orthodox priest and pastor of Theotokos "Unexpected Joy" Orthodox Mission, Ash Grove, Mo., began his career as a Protestant preacher, a family tradition reaching back into the 1800s. Then, in 1983, he visited an Orthodox church in Atlanta and was so moved that he retrained to become a priest in the Orthodox Church in America. He also helped to organize the coalition of clergy, scholars and lay leaders coming to Detroit.

"Reconnecting with the Orthodox tradition connects us with the earliest Christian traditions," Berry says. "It means that, when our ancestors were brought here as slaves, they didn't arrive here with just a collection of tribal religions. They didn't all discover Christianity here. In fact, many Africans already were part of the ancient Christian church."

"The Orthodox church fills your senses," Mitchell says. "You smell the incense, see the icons and the candles burning, and there's movement, too. People are crossing themselves. There are processions sometimes. So much is happening all around you in the church."...

..."It's a little difficult to explain all of this to most Americans. At first, when I tell people I'm Orthodox, often they don't understand me and think I'm Jewish."

Originally published June 24, 2006

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Russian statistic

2006-06-30T14:53:00.000+02:00

Duh hristianina (The Spirit of Christian)
www.christian-spirit.ru

Question: Are you agree with US politics in Balkan?
Yes-----1%---------No--83%-----I don’t know--16%

Q: Do you think that Kosovo must to be Serbian?
Yes----84%---------No---3%-----I don’t know--13%

Q: Does NATO countries have to rebuild destroyed holy places of Serbia?
Yes----86%---------No---5%-----I don’t know---9%

Q: Do you recognize that Tribunal of Haag has credibility?
Yes-----6%---------No--81%-----I don’t know--13%

Q: Do you think that Albanian terrorists of Kosovo must be stopped?
Yes----93%---------No---0%-----I don’t know---7%

Q: Do you think that Kosovo events are indirectly aimed to destroy Orthodox Christianity in Russia?
Yes----72%---------No--12%-----I don’t know--16%

Q: Is imperative for Russians to be active in protection of Serbian people?
Yes----91%---------No---0%-----I don’t know---9%

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Bishop Artemy calls Kosovo a Serbian Jerusalem

2006-06-29T12:10:00.000+02:00

Moscow, June 29, Interfax - Administrator of the Raska and Prizren diocese of the Serbian church bishop Artemy called Kosovo ‘a spiritual and cultural cradle’ of the Serbs, ‘a Serbian Jerusalem.’

‘The entire Serbia is a church, while Kosovo is this church’s sanctuary,’ the hierarch said at the divine worship in the Gracanica monastery, Vremya Novostey daily writes on Thursday.

Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica visited the monastery last Wednesday. He met with the leaders of the Serbian community and had a meal with the brethren. His visit was timed to the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo between the Serbs and the Turks on 28 June 1389.

An expert of the Serbian Academy of Sciences Institute of History Slavenco Terzic said that the defeat of the Serbs tragic implications for the entire Balkan region.

He noted that the Ottoman yoke had delivered a ‘strong blow on the rich heritage of the Christian nations in the Balkans. Their political, social and cultural elite was exterminated, and medieval towns, Orthodox churches and other monuments of culture had been destroyed.’

The tragedy was exacerbated by the fact that the coming of the Ottoman Empire to the Balkans ‘had brought about contacts of the Balkan people with the militarized branch of Islam, rather then with high achievements of the Arab Muslim civilization,’ the scholar added.

Deputy director of the Institute of Slavonic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dr. of history Andrey Shemyakin said that from historical perspective Kosovo was indeed the cradle of the Serbian statehood and Orthodox culture. ‘If these are taken away from the Serbs, they will never accept it and will be quite right,’ he underscored.

Vidovdan in Gauteng, South Africa

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About Monastery

2006-06-29T10:42:00.000+02:00

History of Monastery:
-History before reconstruction
-RECON- STRUCTION OF THE MONASTERY
-RIOTS ON 17TH MARCH 2004 - AN EVIDENCE
-Martyrdoom of Father Chariton

columns:
-Mary Mostert, Why is a bombed mosque major news, while bombed churches are ignored?

How to donate

Monastery on the OrthodoxChristianity FORUM

LINKS SUPPORTING SURVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION IN KOSOVO/METOHIJA:
BANNER OF LIBERTY
AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR KOSOVO
SALVA I MONASTERY
KOSOVO CROCIFISSO
KOSOVO.CERKIEW.PL
KOSOVSKAJA GRAMOTA

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On 15./28. June our Holy Church celebrates THE HOLY MARTYR LAZAR [LAZARUS], SERBIAN PRINCE, SAINT EPHREM, SERBIAN PATRIARCH, BLESSED AUGUSTINE...

2006-06-26T13:44:00.000+02:00

1. THE HOLY MARTYR LAZAR [LAZARUS], SERBIAN PRINCE

Lazar was one of the Serbian noblemen who ruled the Serbian empire after the death of Tsar Dushan. After the death of Tsar Urosh, Patriarch Ephrem crowned Lazar as the Serbian king. Lazar sent a delegation to Constantinople with the monk Isaiah to implore the patriarch to lift [remove] the anathema from the Serbian people. He fought against the Turkish powers on several occasions. Finally, he clashed [fought] on the Field of Blackbirds [Kosovo Polje] on June 15, 1389 A.D. against the Turkish Emperor Amurat where he was beheaded. His body was translated and interred in Ravanica, his memorial church [Zaduzbina] near Cuprija and later was translated to Ravanica in Srem and from there, during the Second World War (1942) was translated to Belgrade and placed in the Cathedral Church of the Holy Archangel Michael where it rests today incorrupt and extends comfort and healing to all those who turn to him with prayer. [In 1989, on the occasion of the six-hundred year anniversary of his martyrdom, St. Lazar's relics were again translated to the monastery of Ravanica in Cuprija]. St. Lazar restored the monasteries of Hilendar [Mt. Athos] and Gornjak. He built Ravanica and Lazarica [in Krusevac] and was a benefactor of the Russian monastery St. Pantaleon [Mt. Athos] as well as many other churches and monasteries.

2. SAINT EPHREM, SERBIAN PATRIARCH

As the son of a priest, Ephrem from an early age yearned for a spiritual and ascetical life. He fled to Mt. Athos when his parents wanted him to marry. Later, he returned and lived a life of asceticism in the Ibar gorge and in the monastery of Decani [Kosovo]. When rivalry and war broke out concerning precedence in the State and, unfortunately even in the Church, the Assembly [Sabor] chose Ephrem to succeed the deceased Sava as patriarch in 1375 A.D. When he was informed of his election, he wept bitterly but was unable to refuse. He crowned Prince Lazar as Tsar in 1382 A.D., renounced his throne and turned it over to Spiridon and again withdrew to the wilderness. Following the death of Spiridon in 1388 A.D., Tsar Lazar begged him to accept the throne again. He governed the Serbian Church in the difficult time of the defeat at Kosovo [1389 A.D.] until 1400 A.D. when he died in the eighty-eighth year of his earthly life and took up habitation with the Lord Whom he loved. His relics repose in the monastery of Pec [Kosovo].

more

Bishop Nikolai Velimirovch
The Prologue from Ohrid
© Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of Western America

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Bless My Enemies O Lord

2006-06-21T09:54:00.000+02:00

Bp. Nikolai Velimirovich,
OrthodoxyToday.org

No endorsement implied.

Bp. Nikolai Velimirovich was a Serbian bishop in the last century who spoke out courageously against Nazism until he was arrested and taken to Dachau.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.
Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.
They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself.
They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.
They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself.
They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.
Bless my enemies, O Lord, Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish.
Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf.
Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.
Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.
Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.
Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:
so that my fleeing to You may have no return;
so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs;
so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul;
so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins, arrogance and anger;
so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven;
ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.
Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself.
One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.
It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies.
Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and enemies.
A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.
For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life.
Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them.

From Prayers by the Lake by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, published by the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of New Gracanica, 1999.This article can be found on the Regeneration website.

Last post on Prizren: Heroin stolen from Prizren authorities

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Children of Kosovo Bishop hunting in Africa

2006-06-20T10:45:00.000+02:00

Until Serbian Church is very persecuted in Kosovo&Metohija and Vardarian Macedonia (FYROM), It bear fruits in other parts of the world: In USA (California, Alaska) a number of monasteries with native Americans went to jurisdiction of SOC, the most of French Orthodox people with few monasteries is part of SOC, the Spanish Orthodox priest padre Nectari (Church of Saint Nektarius of Eguina, the first called from Navata (Girona), in Spain) said in recent letter:
Our parish belongs to the Serbian Patriarchate and our bishop is Vladika Luka (Kovacevic) of Paris.
We are attentive to all the news that arrive of Serbia and we pray for Kosovo, cradle of our Church.
I give thanks to God for the new Martyrs and I pray to them that they intercede for the Serbian people that has been accused wrongly of so many wrongs.
The truth will prevail on the lie. The day of the Terrible Trial many will be embarrassed by their wickedness...
On the end of this story are fathers Panteleimon and Spyridon (who was in Monastery of Holy Archangels during Kosovo Catastrophe in 1999.) , parish priests in Serbian church "Saint Tomas" in South Africa. About their missionary you can read in recent post of our brother in Christ deacon Steve Hayes:
-Youth day - 2006

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Remembering Kosovo's New Martyrs

2006-06-16T08:43:00.000+02:00

http://byzantinesacredart.com/blog/

Father Hariton Lukic
(1960-1999)
Today is the seven year anniversary of kidnapping and subsequent brutal murder of Serbian Orthodox monk, Father Hariton (Chariton) of the Holy Archangels Monastery near Prizren in Kosovo and Metohija, Serbia.

Fr. Hariton was kidnapped by the KLA Albanian extremists on June 15th 1999 in the streets of Prizren. His body was found one year later on August 8th 2000, in an unmarked grave in the cemetery of the Albanian village of Tusus near the city of Prizren. According to the post mortem report, Fr. Hariton's body was decapitated and severely mutilated. He was stabbed several times by knife. With his clothes the investigators have found Fr. Hariton's barely legible ID and the praying rope, by which his monastic brethren have identified him. The perpetrators of this murder have not yet been found.

Father Stefan Puric
A month later, on July 19 1999, Hieromonk Stefan Puric of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Budisavci near Klina in Kosovo and Metohija, was also abducted by the armed UCK (KLA) terrorists. According to the witnesses, father Stefan was violently tortured and subsequently murdered by Albanian terrorists. Fr. Stefan's body has never been found. By the information obtained from the Albanian side by Fr. David (Perovic), Fr. Stefan's mutilated body was thrown in an empty well and covered with animal carcasses.

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Danish cartoon is over!

2006-06-15T11:38:00.000+02:00

Last news: Bin Laden and Kosovo

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Churches are burning and none is interested

2006-06-15T10:30:00.000+02:00

We are witnesses of indifference of literally Christians for something which is best in their culture. Kosovo islamists (a white Al-Qaida) in last 7 years destroyed more then 140 churches. After everything they did they are not punished but rewarded for this by Western World.
But, some of children of this "W.World" are not mute.
In last months several sites published short movie of destroying of Christianity (Church of Holy Prophet Elijah) in Kosovo.
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Life is hard because we are not free - Christian children of Kosovo&Metohija

2006-06-02T13:20:00.000+02:00

How live Orthodox Christian children in Kosovo&Metohija region. After 7 years of abusing of their dreams, they sometimes have a chance to live in freedom. Mr. Timos send us a story they had expressed:In my area, we've got a mlticultural festival.

The News presented a short article on a young Serbian dancer's thoughts and feelings on dancing and the Kosovo situation:

By Julia Le

"Conflict Weary Yong People Come to Dance"

Children shouldn't grow up seeing bombs and living in fear. For many teens in a town in Kosovo though, that's all they've ever known.
"Life is hard because we are not free", said 17 year old Christina Petcovic.

She said she feels like a bird in a cage. She's not allowed to go to other cities because the majority are Albanian-dmoniated and she fears conflict.
Petcovic is one of twenty teens who arrived last wednesday for a 10-day visit to perform traditional Serbian dance in Toronto and Mississauga. Included are this weekend's Carassauga Festival at the Serbian Pavillion @ St. Sava Serbian Centre.

Rada Micic, who arranged the trip, said the children are from Kosovska Kamenica in Kosovo, where they are isolated and live in restricted conditions.
"They don't have freedom of going anywhere else. They go home and to school," said Mimic, 49. "They always fear that violence will spark...dark comes down and they can't go outside."

Mimic, a Brampton resident, attends All Serbian Saints Orthodox Church in Mississauga regularly. She was touched emotionally by the children while on a trip to war-torn Serbia.
"Hope still lives on even though 3 or 4 years have passed", said Mimic.

After seeing children living in poverty while on a trip to Kosovo, Mimic decided she wanted to help them see a better life.
"The next step was to open the door to show them another world", said Mimic.

Along with her husband, Mimic spent the past year doing stage performances in the Serbian community across the GTA. The performances raised $25,000 for the children's airplane tickets.
Petcovic said she's happy to be in Canada.

"It's so different from my country", said Petcovic."...I'm going everywhere here and it's very fun".
She and the other have been to Canada's Wonderland, Niagara Falls, the CN Tower, and the Ontario Science Centre.

"These children are so precious, so innocent and pure and so humble with everything they've seen here already," said Mimic.

Mimic said the Carassauga performance means more than just a dance and song for the teens.
"It's dancing for a future, for hope. It's not just your regular folklore group", said Mimic. "This is what they live for. This is the only way they will reach out somewhere else other than their home and school."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Greek dance group goes and dances at the Serbian pavillion and then they come and dance at ours. We do the same thing with the Cypriots, so it's really nice to see other orthodox people performing something.

Timos

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Banana Republic of Kosova!

2006-05-28T15:05:00.000+02:00

by Prishtina team

No comment!

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A housing boom with no buyers

2006-05-27T12:36:00.000+02:00

(from archive - exactly 2 years ago)
by Mark Almond
29 May 2004, New Statesman

"Hands up!" the young east German soldier ordered at the sturdy military bridge leading to the ruins of the monastery of the Archangels outside Prizren. "Empty your pockets." He was looking for explosives or incendiary devices.

Nowadays Brits are so used to NOT talking about the war and regarding modern Germans as models of a post-military society that it came as a shock to be barked at by a real German.

"Fotografieren verboten!" the sergeant shouted.

As if to emphasise their no-nonsense approach to peacekeeping in this south-western corner of Kosovo, the German KFOR troops had put up signs proclaiming:
"This building/site is protected by law. Any act of vandalism and looting will be considered as a criminal offence of the utmost gravity" and "KFOR Area - Prohibited Area ! Danger authorized use of firearms."

What the German is for "locking the stable door after the horse has bolted" I forget, but this Prussian severity was made comic rather than intimidating by the tragic scene next to the Bundeswehr's formidable armoured cars. The Monastery of the Archangels was a burned out ruin.

Placed between a fast flowing river sweeping down from the high mountains dividing Kosovo from Macedonia and protected by a steep cliff behind were the remains of not one but two Monasteries of the Archangels. The older one was built in the mid-fourteenth century and then largely demolished by the Ottomans to provide stone for the elegant Sinan mosque in the centre of Prizren.

The monks only moved back in in 1998 _ hardly the most auspicious moment to re-establish monastic life there. But their newly built church and cells survived the collapse of Serbian rule in June, 1999, unscathed. In fact, the Byzantine and medieval Serbian orthodox churches in Prizren were virtually unscarred by the war as were the local mosques. Only the important Albanian monument to the nationalist League of Prizren was blown up after NATO started bombing _ and it has been restored now.

Almost exactly five years after NATO's war against Milosevic began widespread violence erupted again in Kosovo. On 17th March, the monks received a mobile phone call from an Albanian (as they judged from his accent in Serbian) warning them that a mob of 500 Albanians were marching up the road from Prizren three miles away. Already the churches of Prizren and scores of Serbian houses which had survived the 1999 war were on fire..

German troops had guarded the monks since 1999 and had built the broad bridge across the river to carry their heavy vehicles and supplies. At the other end of the monastery a high gate blocked access by the traditional route across the river. However, though the Germans loaded the monks into an armoured car and took them to safety (for which they were very obviously grateful), according to their sergeant they had "no mandate" to block the bridge or to use force against the arsonists who poured into the monastery grounds. Helping themselves to fuel from the KFOR camp supply, the crowd set fire to the church and monks' cells.

Since the situation has cooled down, the German soldiers have reverted to Hun mode in an effort to make up for the ineffectiveness on the day when local policemen in Prizren complain too that they were left trying to control the sudden eruption of anti-Serb violence without military assistance. Their mantra about the lack of mandate recalled the sorry days of the EU's foray into peacekeeping in Croatia and Bosnia more than a decade ago when it was the Croat or Bosnian victims of Serb paramilitaries who went unprotected because no-one authorised their defence by the tens of thousands of NATO soldiers on the ground. Now in Kosovo it is the Serbs turn to suffer from the mandate.

By contrast the local Albanian para-military mafias have understood the situation in Ksovo and globally. By mid-March the US and British armies were sinking into the Iraqi quagmire. Kosovo was not a priority any more. Of course, a few reinforcements were rushed out to calm the storm, but everyone knew they were not coming to stay. German and American soldiers both said to me, "We cannot stay for ever."$$$

Knowing how desperate NATO is to avoid trouble on the Balkan front, the rioting in March was a classic mafia way of upping the price for quiet. And it is being paid. After a tailing off in aid supplies over the last five years, now each day a mile long queue of trucks waits to enter Kosovo from Macedonia. It was like a return to the boom days of 1999 when international aid flowed to the 1.6 million Kosovars as if they were twenty times that number.

While Serb historical monuments go un-repaired and will probably fade from view due to neglect and vandalism, the landscape of Kosovo has been transformed by shed-loads of bright red German bricks donated by the EU and other aid agencies. Where once fields, orchards or vineyards stood, now the outlines of countless three or four story houses march across the land.

A housing boom on green field sites unimagined even by John Prescott is transforming Kosovo into a suburban sprawl. Yet there is something odd about the new houses. It is not that they are large, nor even that they are empty. It is that so many are unfinished and don't seem designed for human habitation. They lack sewage channels and water pipes or points for electricity cables. Many have straw on the floors even of upper stories and are obviously used as stalls for animals.

Since many Albanians admit that their young people, especially young men have gone abroad to Western Europe, there are fewer people needing these grand houses but up they go nevertheless. Sometimes a father has three or four multi-story shells around his old house waiting solemnly for the return of his sons.

For Albanians Kosovo has become a cargo cult which actually delivers but the province is in reality an architectural and ecological disaster. But the landscape is haunted by empty jerry built structures with no obvious purpose, a kind of Balkan Easter Island.

In two thousand years time, archaeologists and anthropologists will puzzle over the purpose of these buildings and why people sent tons of bricks and mortar every year from northern Europe as tribute to the cult. Maybe they'll even find the ruins of the Archangels' monastery and be confused by carbon dating placing its un-restored remains in precisely the same era as the building boom.

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"Orthodox Christians" also may to persecute

2006-05-20T13:11:00.001+02:00

We are witnesses of a huge torture continuously being enforced against our bishop and spiritual father, his grace Artemy. He is being obstructed in every possible way, even by members of Serbian Orthodox Church. By putting pressure towards him they know that they are at risk of the Kosovo&Metohija region staying a Christian land. This proves that those people do not hesitate by any means in their aim to eliminate him.
The reason to prosecute him is his zeal for morality in Church. (A month ago it was published by some media that Albanian narco-mafia blackmailed Serbian bishops: “If you don’t stop Artemy in his battle for Kosovo we will publish proofs of sexual immorality of some of your church's bishops.”)
Another reason may be his zeal for truthful doctrine of the Church. He clearly unmasks heresy of “Ecumenism”. Because of this he is a thorn in the eye of many. Last year, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, on Orthodox bishops' session from throughout the world, acclaimed him: -It was referred to me by Belgrade: "Unfortunately, bishop of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo&Metohija went to schism.”
Fortunately, his Belgrade sneaks were not well informed.
With that being said and also knowing that many of his spiritual children are trembling before “mighty” rulers of this world we MUST say our word and defend our spiritual father and eminent Christian leader. The following text, which we are taking from Orthodox Christian Information Center clearly reveals not only uncompromising veraciousness of our beloved bishop but also reasons of enemies of Christianity to hate him:

The Serbian Orthodox Church Vis-á-Vis Ecumenism

A talk presented at the September, 2004 conference "Ecumenism: Origins, Expectations, Disenchantment", sponsored by the School of Pastoral Theology, The Aristotelian University, Thessaloniki, Greece. Translated by Snezana Ivanisevic De Berthet.
Ecumenism is a child of the 20th century. It was born at its outset, experienced a metamorphosis in the World Council of Churches around the middle of the century and by its end, it was on its last breath being fiercely rejected. Unfortunately, it survived this crisis, and continues to trouble the Church of God in the 21st century.
This theological conference on ecumenism, in our humble opinion, is long overdue but not hopelessly so. Therefore, we thank God, as well as all those who worked to make this eminent gathering possible, in order that the issue of ecumenism may be considered from various perspectives, which should be of great help to all local Orthodox Churches, as well as the Church as a whole and every faithful person. It will help the Church take the proper position toward this, not only the latest, but also the most dangerous ecclesiological heresy, which our well-known theologian, Fr. Justin Popovich, consequently called pan-heresy because it encompasses all heresies previously known in the history of the Church...more

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Why Serbia's elite are willing to give up everything for God

2006-05-11T13:36:00.000+02:00

(from archive)
Neda doesn't like talking about the rift with her parents. The denim-clad 24-year-old bows her head and shrugs; she cannot understand why her family disapproves of her lifestyle.

The arguments do not centre on drink, drugs or Neda's choice of boyfriends; in most households in Britain the young artist would be considered a paragon of virtue. But Neda Kovinic lives in Serbia and her mother and father are upset because their daughter has become a devout Christian. Worse, she is considering becoming a nun.

The bright-eyed young woman is typical of a huge number of well-educated twenty and thirtysomethings who are turning to the country's Orthodox Church to find meaning in lives blighted by war, NATO bombings and the heavy hand of the Belgrade regime. In the past many disillusioned young Serbs moved abroad to escape what has become a sanctions-strapped pariah state. Now a groundswell of youth has found a new escape route from shortages and the corruption endemic in the Serbia ruled by President Milosevic - they are retreating to Orthodox convents and monasteries.

Their parents are often hurt and baffled; many middle-aged Serbs were brought up as atheists or agnostics during the Communist heyday of the Tito era, and they regard the Orthodox Church with suspicion or hostility. They also realise that they are unlikely to become grandparents if their offspring become nuns and monks.

"My parents were not at all religious," says Neda. "I first became interested when older friends started attending church about ten years ago."

Neda, a student of fine art, architecture and interior design, explains: "I thought that art would help me to find my place in the world and teach me how to express myself. I have now realised that art is not serious enough to express the deep things in my life."

Neda sits in a small, neat apartment in Belgrade with her friends Vesna Vesic and Dusan Radunovic, who are also contemplating taking religious vows. Unusually for Serbs, they do not smoke and they drink coffee, eschewing the bottle of slivovitz offered to guests.

"Now I fast and go to church every week," says Neda. "It is the only way I can understand the dangers of life in Serbia. Fear of death, which can paralyse people, can be overcome with faith in eternal life. Fear of death is everywhere in the world but, here in Serbia, especially during the bombing, it has been extreme. Living as a nun would offer me a very pure way of living."

Vesna, also 24, was baptised into the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo three years ago: "It completely changed my life," she says. "It changed the nature of my life and work. Before that I was looking for meaning in classical music and philosophy, but it was not enough."

Vesna, a student of fine art and sculpture, produced one of only two Yugoslav entries chosen for the Venice Film Festival last year - a video she made of her own tears. "It is a close-up of my tears of repentance. I wanted to do a video about fear, but after my baptism it became clear to me that I needed to concentrate on repentance. I wanted to make a film about real tears, not simulation. The repentance is my personal repentance for my sins."

Dusan is a serious, postgraduate student of comparative literature at Belgrade University and his Roman Catholic girlfriend, Sanja Buhan, sits at his side as he explains why he is considering becoming a monk. "My family is agnostic," he says. "I am trying to find some deeper, more ethical way of life. The crisis in this country over the past few years has created a deeper need for a spiritual life. I often go to a monastery to talk to the community there and try to fulfil my intellectual and emotional needs. Will I become a monk? You always have that thought in your mind."

Neda cuts in: "This change in young people is connected with the naked life we live here now, without comfort. We cannot travel, so we travel within ourselves."

"We all have big problems with our families," says Vesna. "Our faith isn't strong enough to stop bad things happening. If our faith was stronger, maybe these things wouldn't have happened."

Five or ten years ago Serbian Orthodox churches were usually full only at Easter and other key dates in the Orthodox calendar. Now it is estimated that three times as many people attend church regularly, most of them young, urban and educated. They can be seen on weekdays as well as Sundays emerging from the ornate churches of Belgrade having attended long Orthodox services where the congregation stands throughout.

"People are giving up successful careers to go into the Church," says Dusan.

"This does not usually mean jobs that pay well, because those jobs are scarce in Serbia and often involve criminals and the mafia," says a photographer friend of Dusan. "But most of those joining convents and monasteries are people with fulfilling work, those with good degrees and who enjoy their professions. They are not escaping from dead-end jobs."

The Church Synod has called on President Milosevic to resign, but religion is generally treated with indifference bordering on contempt by the ruling family, especially by Milosevic's wife, Mira Markovic, who is a stalwart Communist of the old order. The Church is also highly critical of NATO, blaming the alliance for failing to protect scores of churches that have been destroyed in Kosovo by vengeful ethnic Albanians.

Serbia's young people are sickened by the destruction of the monasteries and churches in Kosovo and cannot understand why the West has raised barely a whisper of complaint. They take heart, instead, from the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, who has launched an appeal to protect historic Christian monuments in Kosovo. "Since the arrival of . . . peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, Albanian extremists have damaged and totally destroyed more than 80 Orthodox churches and monasteries in the region, [some] of them dating back to the Middle Ages," Archbishop Christodoulos said last month in a letter to Tony Blair. A Greek Orthodox official in Athens said that the same text had been sent to President Clinton, the United Nations and leaders of other European Union and NATO nations.

The monastery that Dusan is considering joining as a monk lies on the edge of the sleepy, snow-blanketed village of Kovilj, a few miles south of Novi Sad. [A New Zealander, Fr Sava, has been at Kovilj for 8 years] Twenty monks, with an average age of 29, spend their days in quiet contemplation, reading, farming, making icons and candles, which they sell, and praying. All the monks have faced opposition from their families over their decision to join the monastery.

"Some parents have come here to try to force their sons to leave," says Father Isihije [Hesychios], a senior brother known as the priest-monk. "Some do not talk to their sons for six or seven years."

Father Isihije, whose name dervies from the Greek word for "quietness", was ostracized by his own family, including his father, who was a diplomat. The 6ft 2in priest-monk speaks fluent English "because my family spent time in Washington".

So what sort of lives do these ostracised young men lead? The monks rise at 4.30 in the morning, then pray for nearly four hours before eating a simple breakfast at 8.30. Their only other meal is at 6.30 in the evening.

"The centre of our life is Church services," says Father Isihije. "We have services for five hours a day and we spend several hours doing our daily chores, which we call obediences. Everyone takes a turn in the kitchen, painting icons, making candles or looking after the cattle. We also have private prayers in our cells using our prayer ropes [an Orthodox version of rosary beads]."

During their private prayers the monks sometimes prostrate themselves on the floor. The lifestyle is not intended to be punishing, however, merely modest. "We have central heating and we do not go hungry," says Father Isihije.

Before taking their final vows, monks and nuns spend between two and five years as novices and up to half of them drop out during this probationary period. This still leaves a vast number who go on to pledge their lives to the Church. Figures are not kept for the whole of Yugoslavia, according to a church spokesman, but members of the synod estimate that the number of young people entering monasteries and convents has tripled in the past ten years.

With no end in sight to the woes and upheavals in the Balkans, it is a trend that seems set to continue.

Eve-Ann Prentice
The Times, March 7, 2000
Taken from http://holy-trin.org/serbia.html

RECENT NEWS: The Washington Times: Kosovo consternation, By James "Ace" Lyons Jr., May 9, 2006
Renew America: Why opposite Policies for Christian Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, Mary Mostert, May 11, 2006

BOOM of natality in "Independent State of Kosova", or something else?

2006-05-05T08:40:00.000+02:00

In 1999. Kosovo became de facto independent Albanian state, with UN administration. During last seven years all but 20 elder Serbs left town, number of Turks, Roma comunity, Slav-Muslims decreasing, but...

GazetteerPrizren
type of geographical entity
city, town or place

name variants: local, historical, original or foreign names
Призрен

geo-coordinates in degrees (decimal)
42.23°N
20.74°E

population figures
year-----population----type----source
1981------61 801------census----other
1991------92 303------census---secondary
2006-----165 227----calculation

NEWS: By Aleksandar Pavic © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Kosovo: The real test of U.S. foreign policy

Ceku’s request denied | 09:58 April 20 | B92

2006-04-20T22:06:00.000+02:00

Agim Ceku

PRISTINA -- Bishop Artemije has denied Agim Ceku’s request to attend Easter church services in Gracanica.

The Rasko-Prizren Bishop reminded the Kosovo Prime Minister that he has been living himself as a refugee for the past seven years and that his residence and cathedral were burned to the ground in March 2004, along with many other landmarks of the Orthodox Church.

“We told him that, considering that we have been living with the status of refugees for nearly a full seven years, outside our residence in Prizren, which was burned in the March 17, 2004 riots, along with our cathedral and many other holy places, we are not able to welcome Mr. Ceku before we have returned to our restored residence, and our people have return to their homes.” Bishop Artemije said.

Ceku sent a letter yesterday to Bishop Artemije asking whether he could attend the Easter liturgy in Gracanica and wish all Orthodox Christians a happy Easter.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiju wrote and sent a similar request to the monastery in Visoki Decani.

The U.S.-NATO Military Intervention in Kosovo,GlobalResearch.ca

Interestingly, KLA commander Agim Ceku had previous ties with the U.S. military. The Nation reported,
Ceku refined his brutality as a general in the US-backed Croatian Army during the Balkans war and was trained by Military Professional Resources Inc., a private paramilitary firm founded in 1987 and based in Alexandria, Virginia, with former high-ranking US generals and NATO officials on its board.
Canadian soldiers have also witnessed the results of Ceku's prior actions in Croatia, which included the rape and murder of civilians, and attacks on refugee columns.After the war, Ceku was placed in command of the UN-backed "Kosovo Protection Force," where he escalated attacks against the Serbian population.

More news: Cries for an Autonomous Roma Community in Kosovo, 21. 4. 2006
Mass of conflicting property claims since war leads many Kosovars to try solving disputes with guns.
By Krenar Gashi in Pristina (Balkan Insight, 26 Apr 06)
Boris Mitik UNMIK TITANIk wins Balkan Black Box film fest
Apr 30, 2006, 11:05 GMT
Wednesday, May 03, 2006,Religious leaders issue rare joint appeal for unity in rebuilding Kosovo

Could it be that left hates America?

2006-04-19T20:24:00.000+02:00

Stephen Brown, SUN-SENTINEL, South Florida
greenacres
Posted April 13 2006

During the Clinton administration, American warplanes annihilated the Serbs, killing thousands of innocents. The supposed reason was to stop Serbian aggression against the supposedly peaceful Muslims. It is a fact that al-Qaida was helping us to kill Serbs. It is documented that two of the 9-11 hijackers were veterans of the Bosnian war.

Why was it OK for the U.S. military to help al-Qaida attack the Serbs? Where are the anti-war protests on behalf of the innocent slaughtered Serbs? Did the Serbs ever threaten anyone outside their own country? Did they ever threaten the United States? They didn't. In contrast, Saddam Hussein threatened the U.S. repeatedly and tried to assassinate an American president. Hussein menaced the United States for decades. His speeches were fraught with visions of destroying America. He openly applauded the attacks of 9-11.

Saddam Hussein's blatant hostility toward the United States and his documented atrocities do not matter. Any death or crippling of any innocent Serb is meaningless in the eyes of the left when compared to any innocent Iraqi, even though the latter was for the sake of removing a vicious tyrant whose stated goal was the destruction of America.

It seems to me that U.S. military action is only acceptable to the left when it is directed at white Christians and done to help people who hate Americans and want to destroy America by the killing of as many innocents as possible. Could it be that the left hates America as much as the Islamofascists do?

7 YEARS OF INDEPENDENT KOSOVO - O, LORD, IT IS ENOUGH !!!

2006-04-18T13:12:00.000+02:00

Kosovo & Metohija is by all documents part of Republic of Serbia, de jure.
Kosovo & Metohija is by all meaning part of Albanian narco-prostitution mafia, de facto.
After 500 years of pain during Ottoman Islamistic administration, after 60 years of pain during communist administration, 7 years of pain during UN administration are beginning of END of Christian civilization. GOD SAVE THE PEOPLE!

DAILY TIMES, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 18, 2006: ‘Al Qaeda men have been transiting Balkans for years’

In Kosovo and Metohija, Suffering of Eastern Orthodox Serbs Continues

2006-04-18T11:31:00.000+02:00

Author: His Eminence Metropolitan Josif (Bulgarian Orthodox Church)
Source: PRAVOSLAVIE BG

An official delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) that is visiting the United States had a meeting with the representatives of The Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) in New York City on March 21, 2006. SCOBA’s guests from the Serbian Orthodox Church were His Eminence Bishop Jovan of the Diocese of Sumadija (Central Serbia) and His Eminence Bishop Teodosije of the Decani Monastery (Diocese of Raska and Prizren, Kosovo & Metohija), together with hieromonk Fr. Irinej Dobrijevic who is in charge of the SOC’s Holy Synod’s Committee for Kosovo and Metohija. The testimonies by these three representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church about the recent and ongoing events, and especially the suffering of the Eastern Orthodox Christian inhabitants of the southern Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija, were deeply moving. Most of us, their American hosts, were brought to the verge of tears while listening to the accounts of terrible sufferings of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its faithful in Kosovo and Metohija.

With warmth as well as a deep Christian concern for their faithful in Kosovo and Metohija, our guests from the Serbian Orthodox Church testified about the troubles and suffering in Kosovo and Metohija, and asked us for our moral support and especially for our prayers on their behalf. With truly bleeding hearts they told us about the ongoing systematic destruction of the Eastern Orthodox churches and monasteries, as well as about the continued vandalizing and destruction of the Orthodox Christian cemeteries throughout the province of Kosovo and Metohija. The statistics about these gruesome incidents speak for themselves:

250,000 Orthodox Christian Serb residents of Kosovo and Metohija still cannot safely return to their homes in the province;
140 Eastern Orthodox Christian churches have been destroyed throughout Kosovo and Metohija [since the summer of 1999];
some 40 monasteries have been dynamited;
some 70 Orthodox Christian cemeteries have been vandalized, severely damaged, and/or destroyed;
[as an example of ``freedom of movement’’ in today’s Kosovo, the guests told us that] the monks of the Decani Monastery in western Kosovo & Metohija can safely go out of the monastery property to get the drinking water only if accompanied by the armed peacekeepers from KFOR.

It should be stressed that The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, in cooperation with the Serbian government, is trying to do everything within its power to make American and other Western leaders (as well as the general public) more aware of what has been going on in Kosovo and Metohija. These efforts to alert the world to the situation in the southern Serbian province were one of the primary reasons for sending an official delegation of SOC to Washington, DC, as well as to the United Nations’ headquarter in New York City. With the blessing from His Holiness, [Serbian] Patriarch Pavle, the delegation informed both the political leaders in Washington, DC and New York City, and us in SCOBA about the ongoing suffering of the Serbian Orthodox Christian people in Kosovo and Metohija. [His Eminence] Archbishop Dimitry from the Greek Archdiocese [of North America], [His Eminence] Metropolitan German from The Orthodox Church of America (OCA), and Yours Humbly did our best to provide the spiritual comfort to our brothers in Christ from the Serbian Orthodox Church. We told them, that their unjust suffering is not in vain, but serves the higher purpose of defending the Holy Orthodoxy that, as we are all well aware, is experiencing rather testing times.

We also encouraged our brothers and promised them that at the next general assembly of SCOBA we shall carefully consider the Serbian Orthodox Church’s ten-point document* [about the ongoing negotiations on the final political status of Kosovo and Metohija]. His Eminence Archbishop Dimitry [of the Greek Orthodox Church] will ask President Bush for concrete measures regarding Kosovo and Metohija when he meets with him in early April for the occasion of celebrating Holy Annunciation and Greek Independence Day. In my humble opinion, concrete assistance by the US government and its allies is quite realistic and feasible in a number of domains, including:

- stabilizing the volatile political situation in the province;
- allowing all refugees and people expelled from Kosovo and Metohija [over the past
seven years] to safely return to their homes;
- providing security guarantees and protection of life, liberty and property of all
inhabitants of the province;
- guaranteeing human rights of all inhabitants of the province;
- securing religious freedom, including the right to safely worship, for all inhabitants;
- protecting the right to normal life and freedom of movement throughout the province;
- reconstruction and rebuilding of all destroyed Orthodox Christian churches,
monasteries, and graveyards throughout Kosovo and Metohija;
- introducing laws that would explicitly protect all historical monuments and places of
worship throughout Kosovo and Metohija.

At the end of the meeting with our guests from the Serbian Orthodox Church, we prayed to the Lord Almighty to bless the province of Kosovo and Metohija which, after greatly suffering from war and destruction, now truly needs peace, reconciliation, mutual tolerance and understanding, as well as spiritual, economic, and every other form of recovery.

Josif [Joseph], Metropolitan of America and Australia [Bulgarian Orthodox Church]

*We need to point out that the Serbian National Committee (SNC) of Kosovo & Metohija, which includes His Eminence Bishop Artemije of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren, opposes this ten-point document on the grounds that the document unintentionally and implicitly supports what the SNC refers to as “The Jihad Republic of Kosovo”. We quote SNC’s public announcement on March 4, 2006: “Serbian National Committee is deeply worried about the positions presented in the document `The Basic Principles of The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church Regarding the Upcoming Negotiations on the Future Status of Kosovo and Metohija’, which was recently made public. This document was accepted with a great deal of approval by the so-called International Crisis Group (ICG), which in its report from February 17, 2006, titled “The Challenges of Transition”, openly supports the concept of an independent Kosovo. The Serbian National Committee firmly believes that the primary problem to be addressed in the upcoming negotiations is the status of the Kosovo Albanians, as an ethnic minority in Republic of Serbia, and not the status of the Kosovo Serbs in the province of Kosovo and Metohija, which is an integral part of Serbia. The ethnic Albanians already enjoy individual, ethnic and religious freedoms regardless of what part of Serbia they reside in, as well as a considerable self-rule in Kosovo and Metohija. However, by framing the problem of the final status of Kosovo and Metohija chiefly as the problem of minority rights for the Kosovo Serbs, we would implicitly accept that Kosovo is de facto separate from Serbia, and that all that the Serbian negotiation team and the Serbian government can do in the negotiation process is to represent interests of and offer some limited protection to its citizens who live in a foreign country.”

Plan for assasination on bishop Artemy of Kosovo/Metohija

2006-04-08T10:27:00.000+02:00

"The victory of jihad in Kosovo would be a local triumph pointing the way to
further victories to come, eventually to a worldwide victory. They would
point and say: "Where is their God?" As Christians, our hope of victory is
not an earthly one. "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will
remember the name of the Lord our God." I remind you that in our part of the
world, we suffered centuries under shari'a rule, and no man knows the
numbers and names of all the martyrs from those times. We do not prefer to
repeat that nightmare, but we are prepared for it if it comes. But my plea
to you, as American citizens, is that your country would not help hasten
that day for the Christian Orthodox people of Kosovo."

, bishop Artemije

http://www.danas.co.yu/20060408/hronika1.html#2

Grachanica, Belgrade - Head of UNMIK office in Grachanica Tomas Kontogeorgos confirmed for newspaper "Danas" that in Thursday afternoon received a letter of Rada Trajkovic, deputy of Serbian National Concil of K/M. In letter is said that from international sources from Kosovo she received information of attempts of terroristic group in Podujevo region. "They are preparing assasination on bishop of Ras and Prizren Artemy". Kontogeorgos said that he imediately informed responsible ones in seat of UNMIK in Prishtina.
Nirage Sing, Unmik envoy, doesn't want to answer on our question if headquarters in Prishtina received information from Grachanica, and what are next actions. "In such situation we don't give comments for medias".
Unofficial information is that SNC of K/M informed Government of Serbia, and look for cooperation between Govermant and International community to prevent posible attempt. J.T.

MORE NEWS: Inquiry faults Kosovo's UN governor on corruption
Reuters.uk - UK
UNMIK gets ultimatum for protecting Visoki Decani Monastery

His Grace Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije (III part)

2006-04-06T20:16:00.000+02:00

All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. (Matthew 26:31)

Many of them scattered from Kosovo/Metohija and many abandon their shepherd. Bishop Artemy with remains of his flock is still on the Christ path:

His Grace Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije (Radosavljevic) estimated that the representatives of the International community in Kosovo were only efficient in protecting Albanian minority in Serbia.
• Your Grace, you have initiated the action "LET THE PRAYER HELP US IN
RENOVATION OF THE SHRINES". It started, albeit with many complications,
with the Zociste monastery, without any support provided by the international
community. In the mean time, Banjska monastery was reconstructed;
and similar action is underway in Socanica, again without any support from
the international community. Could you, please, tell us about the renovation
of the shrines in Kosovo and Metohija? Do you expect any assistance from the
international community during future activities?
You see, since last year, when His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle
in the name and on behalf of the Serbian Orthodox Church signed the
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF
SERBIAN ORTHODOX RELIGIOUS SITES with the Ministry of Culture
Youth and Sports of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in
Kosovo ("PISG") then the international community, according to a particular
project and through its own funding took part in the renovation which
includes only the churches destroyed during March pogrom. However,
the renovation is in progress, according to the information available. First
phase was already completed - it covered the activities of cleaning up the
debris from certain sites where the churches used to be and some less
serious repairs were performed. But, if continued in such a way, as far as
I am concerned, this will not be the real renovation. You know, a church,
which was not brought to its original function, cannot be considered as
renovated. And it cannot be brought to its function without the return of
exiled.
According to need we build new churches. Last year we have consecrated
three newly built churches in our diocese. Two of them are in the
vicinity of Novi Pazar, and one, dedicated to Saint Demetrios was built in Kosovska Mitrovica. Several churches are in the phase of construction
in Supnje near Raska, in Socanica a parish hall will be built, in many
monasteries the building is ongoing, many monasteries were renovated,
like Banjska monastery, Konculj, Djurdjevi Stupovi, Duboki Potok, Saint
Archangels…
Now we have planned the renovation of three nother monasteries -
Svetih Vraca (Saint Healers) near Lesak, Sveta Petka (Saint Paraskeva)
monastery near Leposavic and Presvete Bogorodice (Saint Virgin) monastery
- Devine Vode near Zvecan. The construction already started last
autumn, and as soon as winter is over and when the conditions become
convenient it will be continued.
This is the construction and renovation of monasteries, not of those
destroyed in this period, but those that were demolished during history.
Now the time has come to renovate them, and several monasteries were renovated until now, bringing new life into them and chanting.
• These days, Your Grace, there is plenty of talk about the future status of Kosovo and Metohija. Looking through the old issues of the Herald, one may find that as early as 2000 Richard Goldstone and his commission suggested the conditional independence for Kosovo and Metohija. Some eighteen months later the International
Crisis Group also made a list of possible solutions for the Kosovo and Metohija issue. Soon after, the USIP published a similar list. What is your opinion about such
trial balloons that are now getting the outlines of real solutions?
What do you think about the final status of Kosovo and Metohija?
With such a huge problem, it is natural that for its solution
many different viewpoints and suggestions are being circulated. This
applies to every opinion launched from time to time by the international
community - Crisis Group, Washington, Brussels or whomever - this is in
fact an attempt to resolve the problem in a certain way. More or less all
those attempts boil down to one alternative - to grant independence to
Kosovo and Metohija, which would mean to satisfy the requests and the
historic dream of Kosovo Albanians to create, in the first stage, a second
Albanian state in the Balkans with the next step leading to unification of
Kosovo with Albania and the creation of a Greater Albania.
What will be the outcome, what will be the final status of Kosovo
and Metohija - it is difficult to talk about that right now - the negotiations
should start soon. It is inadmissible and incomprehensible position of the
international community, which itself insists so much upon the negotiations
to start as soon as possible, and to include both the representatives
of the authorities from Belgrade as well as the representatives of Kosovo
PISG, at the same time many are giving the proposals which in advance
indicate the result and talk about an independent Kosovo. In this way
they prejudice the results of the negotiations that are yet to take place.
Recently Doris Pak said that Serbia should pay more attention of its birth
rate rather then take care about its "lost” territories. In this way she gives
in advance, before the negotiations even started, the opinion that Kosovo
is lost territory for Serbia and the Serbs. From where did she get that right
? Only from the position of power, sole power.
If this is so, why negotiate at all? If the international community has
the opinion that Kosovo should be independent, let them do it, let them
grant independence to Kosovo, but without our consent.
However, the international community has that in view in any case,
but its intention is to talk Serbia and representatives of Serbian negotiation
team to agree or to force them to accept the independence in order
to give the legitimacy to the independence of Kosovo and by that consent
the validity of this act.
In my opinion Serbia cannot and must never accept that act. International
community can do whatever it likes, it can force upon us any solution
it wants, but with clear knowledge that what was forced upon by raw power cannot last for long. What was grabbed by force, it would be taken
back by force. Whenever.
• What would be your comment, Your Grace concerning three events in January-
Declaration by Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, death of Bishop Mark Sopi,
and death of Mr. Rugova?
Unfortunately, it is an obvious intention of those three municipalities
from Southeast Serbia to use the negotiation period about Kosovo and
Metohija and achieve some of their political goals. In my opinion, they will
garner the sympathies and support for their intentions by the international
community. Because this is also to the detriment of Serbia, too.
How far they will succeed is still to be seen.
Concerning other events, the death of Mr. Sopi and of Mr. Rugova
which happened within ten days, they for sure represent large changes
in Kosovo and Metohija and one can expect certain turbulences. That
might happen, most of all, in the Albanian community, as there will be
the struggle for the prestige of Mr. Rugova's position. During that struggle
Serbs could become the collateral damage. It is to be seen whether the
international community will allow something like that to happen. According
to my sense, it seems to me that the international community will not
allow the struggle to burst into flames in Kosovo and Metohija, as this will
jeopardize the negotiations. Since the international community cares deeply about the negotiations, I believe it will find the ways and means to solve the issue of Mr.
Rugova's inheritance in a peaceful manner. We shall see.
• It seems like there exist a certain cyclic manner not only in the repetition of and in leaving the promises unfulfilled, but also in the crimes over Serbs, especially children. Do you think that the quote from the beginning could be applied today, too?
Completely. As I said, there is difference in quantity, but not in quality. As I already said, there are, in number, by far less crimes at the moment. The reason for this situation is in much lower number of Serbs that remained in Kosovo and Metohija, and on the other hand, the circumstances under which Serbs live has stabilized in a certain way, and they also learned to take a bit more care of themselves in the meantime. Anyhow, such attacks still do occur. You see that the children were beaten in Mogila, hand grenades were thrown at the house of Mr.
Todorovic in Cernica, and many and many other incidents which happened until today. Especially now, after the death of Mr. Rugova, we do not know what else may happen in
Kosovo and Metohija. The International community promised and foreswore that it will not allow the violence or pogrom on the scale as it was on March 2004, or any
violence in Kosovo and Metohija at all. However even after March there
were numerous different assaults or murders, and they certainly meant
they would not allow such massive outbursts of violence. We will see what
will come out of it. Our hope is in our Lord, our God, we are devoted to
Him, we live and we try to survive in Kosovo and Metohija. Our intention
is to help the exiled Serbs to return to Kosovo and Metohija in as many a
number as possible and as fast as possible. We rely upon the assistance
of our state, the representatives of our authorities, as well as upon the
international community. Only through joint efforts, I hope, the return of
the exiled to Kosovo and Metohija could become more stable and could
expect a better outcome. This problem cannot be resolved by forced
solution, and the issue of Kosovo and Metohija will not be and cannot be solved by any self proclamation of independence.

to be continued

New sites of supporting Christian survival in Kosovo and Metohija:
Russians for justice
Polish for justice
Italians for justice

Farce over restoration of Monastery

2006-04-05T11:26:00.000+02:00

Elder of the monastery Holy Archangels unhappy with restoration.
PRIZREN, April 1, 2006 (Beta) - Hieromonk Benedict, elder of the Prizren Monastery Holy Archangels, whose night-quarters were burned in the March unrest and disorder of 2004, expressed pessimism in the outlook of restoring the burnt or ostracized Orthodox churches in Prizren."Restoration of the monastery Holy Archangels has not started because restoration has not begun for any church in the area of Prizren. It is mentioned that restoration has begun on the churches of St. George, the episcopal house, Theotokos Ljevissk but this is not correct" he said on Beta communications agency.According to his words the church of St. George has only been cleaned but it is not covered, and the same has been done in the episcopal house. Hieromonk Benedict estimated that the reason for such a situation is because of the beginings of discussion about the future status of Kosovo, so the restoration was thrown into a second or third plan. Except for the sleaping quarters of the monastery of Holy Archangels, which is a few kilometers from Prizren, on the road to Brezovitza, which was burned in the March disruptions and unrest two years ago, five other damaged Orthodox churches including Theotokos Ljevissk have been put on hold. In the monastery a new workshop has been built where, for years already, the six-member brotherhood lives.

Contact to Monastery: svarhangeli@hotmail.com

The West vs. Christianity?

2006-04-04T10:36:00.000+02:00

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Pyotr Romanov.) - While recognizing the universal and appropriate appeals for tolerance for Muslims, I'd like to draw your attention to the strange attitude of the Western political elite, which has recently become so acute. I do not know what stands behind the lack of foresight, but too many of the political elite's actions have dealt a devastating blow to Christianity.
I read the latest report: Andreas Abuna, Auxiliary Bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, said the strength of the Christian communities of Iraq was diminishing at a shocking rate. Despair, constant fear and lack of hope are compelling more and more Christians to leave Iraq. People do not want to leave their country, but they have to go because of the situation, he said. Christian rights and the status of believers went from bad to worse after the parliamentary elections last December. Iraq is flooded with police, their number is constantly growing, especially in the suburbs of Baghdad, but the protection they offer is very mediocre, said the bishop.
U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair say Iraq is becoming more democratic and the situation is improving, but eyewitnesses of what is happening there are not rejoicing over the democratic parliamentary elections or the growing number of the local police. Under the plan of the founders of Iraqi democracy, the latter should replace occupational troops.
The blood of many of our brethren has been spilled and many of our children have become orphans. Although there are still many believers in churches, if you go out into the street, you'll understand that Christians in Iraq have been done away with, the bishop said. The latest statistics put the number of Christians in Iraq at around 750,000, as compared to about a million before the U.S. invasion, according to The Universe Catholic Newspaper.
Thus, the U.S. invasion of Iraq has put an end to Christianity there. Those Christians who have not yet run away from U.S. bombings, will flee from the U.S.-trained new Iraqi police, which is less enthusiastic about defending Christians leaving church on Sundays.
After the Western coalition intervened in Afghanistan and the Taliban was defeated, the Afghans "liberated" by the West were ready to pass a death sentence on a compatriot for converting to Christianity. When the man was eventually freed after international pressure, crowds of local people vehemently protested his release. Experience shows that even if there are positive changes in Afghanistan, they have nothing to do with Sharia, or Islamic law, and have little effect on the mentality of most of its citizens. Much time will have to pass in Afghanistan before its residents understand that Christians are also human. This will not happen under President Karzai or Bush. It's doubtful that we'll see another Afghan convert to Christianity anytime soon. It is easy to see that after this saga the attitude of Afghans to Christianity has not become any better.
I could cite Europe as an example. The European Union has deleted any mention of Christianity from its constitution, as if it has not shaped European civilization. European bureaucrats think that they have been politically correct to appease "new Europeans," but in fact they have distorted the historical truth and offended many "old Europeans." Such omissions are far from harmless - they are changing the image of Europe, and I'm not sure this change is for the better.
Here's an abstract from an article written by one of my readers: "Imagine, new mosques are mushrooming up here, in Scandinavia, a country where people have not heard of anybody but Thor and Christ for millennia." He goes on to say that the police squelch the discontent of the local Protestants - a Protestant is liable for a fine of 4,000 euros and a suspended term in prison of two to three months. At the same time, dozens of mullahs in mosques are urging the destruction of Jews and Christians, but in this case the law is silent.
If this is not an exaggeration, it appears that a Christian cannot feel safe even in the center of Europe. Who is to blame for this situation then besides the Europeans?
Or take one more example: Slobodan Milosevic, who recently died in the Hague Tribunal prison, might have been a true dictator, but this fact is no excuse for ousting all Christians, this time Orthodox ones, from Kosovo. Christian churches are desecrated and burnt down by Albanian Muslims with the connivance of the "peacemakers." Meanwhile, we are in the 21st century, and Kosovo is an ancient center of Christian culture. Perhaps these are not the right "peacemakers" and this is not the right policy?
It is high time to understand that selective political correctness is not political correctness, but a hypocritical imitation. If you pity Muslims, pity Christians as well. If you pity Catholics, pity Orthodox Christians, too. If you pity the Blacks, pity also the Whites. If you pity Palestinians, pity Israelis, too.
Finally, in walking into the fire that is Iraq or Kosovo, the West has no right to forget about their residents - common civilians. They have nothing to do with political disputes. A total of 250,000 Christians had to flee Kosovo during the U.S. intervention. Basically, all those wearing a cross had to leave.
I don't agree with the many critics who think Canadian film producer Paul Haggis did not quite deserve his recent Oscar (for his film Clash). I'm convinced that he has exposed the main headache of our time - the clash of people belonging to different civilizations, but having to live under one roof.
The world is approaching a point where everyone needs protection. Black racism is in no way better than white and religious fanaticism is awful no matter what its origin. The Western political elite and human rights champions should adjust their compass. The time has come, or rather has come again, for Christians to be protected in real earnest.

His Grace Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije (II part)

2006-04-03T09:18:00.000+02:00

All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. (Matthew 26:31)
Many of them scattered from Kosovo/Metohija and many abandon their shepherd. Bishop Artemy with remains of his flock is still on the Christ path:

His Grace Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije (Radosavljevic) estimated that the representatives of the International community in Kosovo were only efficient in protecting Albanian minority in Serbia.

• What has happened to the Committee for the return of Serbs - the members
were Mr. Kouchner, you as president of SNC, representatives of KFOR,
UNHCR, and OSCE? What is your standpoint today concerning the return of
Serbs to Kosovo? Should one insist on return and then on reconstruction, or vice versa?
Such a Committee does not exist any more. It was established during
the time of Kouchner, but it did not bring any positive results. It simply
extinguished itself, we did not meet any longer nor did we even talk any
more about it.
I would not know when it exactly stopped working, but in any case it
did not last long. According to the results it achieved, its effect was equal
to zero.
My standpoint is that the living church should return first, this means
that the people should return. After that, the people themselves, through
the assistance of our state, of course, and the international community
will rebuild their holy objects. It seems to me that this is the only proper
approach and the only way to implement the return and to rebuild what
was destroyed.
However, the houses are being repaired, especially those damaged after March 17, from the funds of different international organizations or the Council of Europe, by the Albanian companies. This repair and rehabilitation was never brought to the end nor fully completed, despite the fact that this activity was highly praised and manipulated with. The fact is
that no Serbs persecuted and exiled on March 17 ever returned to these so called renewed houses or renewed villages. The houses would be covered with something, the doors and windows would be installed, but the houses remain empty. Nobody could return to them, especially in such an environment where one feels unsafe and many dangers threaten. Then
somebody uses this opportunity and suggests to an owner: ?Since you do
not intend to return, come and sell it. ? In this way the ethnic cleansing of
Serbs from Kosovo will be completed and legalized.
• After many promises of the international community, which were given but
were never fulfilled, as early as year 2001 you had very serious objections
concerning the appeal to the Serbs to participate in the Parliamentary elections
in Kosovo. Just after the Haekerup-Covic agreement was signed you
appealed to the people to participate in the elections. But even this agreement
remained without results, and Haekerup's successors did not care about it. Is
it known whether the international community ever completely honored even
one agreement?
I cannot say decidedly either positive or negative. Those agreements
which were, mainly, signed by the international community and
by either representatives of Serbs from Kosovo or by representatives of
Coordination Center from Belgrade, but it seems to me that none was
ever honored.
Even I have signed, with Kuchner, the first agreement, sometime during year 2000, and nothing ever came out of it. All promises remained only promises.
• After October 5, 2000, there were great hopes in a new approach by the international
community towards new, democratic authorities. The same expectations arose
concerning Kosovo. It was said that there would not be any more talks about Kosovo without participation of democratic Serbia. Were those expectations fulfilled? Was there any joint meeting of the representatives of Serbian government and Serbian politicians from Kosovo concerning political unity?
There were several meetings since October 5, 2000. The representatives of Serbs from Kosovo met with the representatives of the Serbian government. Several meetings were held, there were talks and agreements, but without any concrete results ever concerning the topic in
question.
• In September 1999, the first edition of the brochure CRUCIFIED KOSOVO was
published and 52 destroyed churches were recounted within that publication.
In the second edition, published in November of the same year, this number
increased to 75, and in the third edition, published in 2002 that number
reached 102. That list does not contain the churches destroyed in March
pogrom from 2004, as well as those destroyed up to the March violence. One
may calculate with the figure of about 150 destroyed churches. As early as
year 2000 you gave your blessing concerning the activities geared towards the
protection of the cultural heritage. What is the present status of the agreements
for their protection?
CRUCIFIED KOSOVO was published three times. Even after the third edition, until March 17, the number of destroyed churches had increased to 115, and during March Pogrom another 34 churches were destroyed, thus the total number of destroyed churches and monasteries reached the figure of approximately 150.
Some time ago there were initiatives, even by the representatives of the Albanian authorities,
to rebuild certain churches in the places where no Serbs resided. I did not agree with that, saying that first of all my exiled faithful people should return. Then they would rebuild their churches themselves supported by those authorities who are responsible and those who must participate in their rebuilding, because they have been responsible for the destruction of the churches. Primarily, I mean the international community. I have never accepted the principle that those who destroyed them should rebuild our destroyed holy objects and cultural heritage.

to be continued

New sites of supporting Christian survival in Kosovo and Metohija:
Russians for justice
Polish for justice
Italians for justice

Christian haritage of Kosovo - common responsibility

2006-04-01T13:24:00.000+02:00

Last month Polish members of Europian parliament visited our monastery and Kosovo/Metohija. After this trip they set up an exhibition of today's reality of Kosovo in Polish parliament. You can see their pictures here. Last 11 pictures are from our monastery, except very last.

His Grace Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije

2006-03-28T12:44:00.000+02:00

Spiritual father of Holy Archangels' monks gave an interview for "Herald of Kosovo and Metohija"
OUR HOPE IS IN OUR LORD, OUR GOD, WE ARE DEVOTED TO HIM, WE LIVE AND WE TRY TO SURVIVE IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

His Grace Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije (Radosavljevic) estimated that the representatives of the International community in Kosovo were only efficient in protecting Albanian minority in Serbia.

Bishop: Eleven days were enough to give freedom to Albanians, the right and possibility to act, as they will under the protection of the international community.
And after 11 months they still act in that manner towards the Serbs. Yesterday one man was killed in Pasjane, Bishop Atanasije said. On Good Friday my church in Grncare was destroyed. One elderly woman was strangled in her apartment in Gnjilane…All this was permitted to them as a certain jeopardized minority; theinternational community enabled everything. Great injustice was done in Kosovo after the arrival of the international community.
Kouchner: It is absolutely right, and I deeply regret all that, for every
person that was killed and dead. But it was easier to bomb from the air
and to go to war than to protect every single person / it is absolutely
impossible. We cannot post a guard in front of every Serbian representative
or other community.
Bishop: Find the criminals. Dismantle the crime; do not protect the individuals. Who was identified as a criminal until now? Provide the names. Mr. Lavrov asked the same question.
Kouchner: We have about 400 men imprisoned.
Bishop: Correct - but it is not known what they were charged for. The Court did not process them.
Kouchner: The justice system is unable to work sufficiently after only two months.
Bishop: I understand this. That is the reason we request international judges.
Kouchner: We talked about this, but I myself cannot be a judge. We have to bring them. We had a conversation with the international representatives of the Security Council about this issue. I promise you they will come. Although I do not know when.
Bishop: If the Albanians would be the judges, no Albanian will be found guilty, but every Serb would be guilty. You know that even I was
accused as criminal in Orahovac.
Kouchner: I was accused, too. I am always together with you.
• Your Grace, the mentioned conversation happened some five years ago. Bernard Kouchner was gone, as well as Hans Haekerup, Michael Steiner, Harri
Holkeri. Now the SRSG is Mr. Jessen Petersen. Did anything change since then;
did anything improve for Serbs and other minority communities?
(His Grace quoted one epic poem suuing that he has to tell only truth.)
I would be very happy if I could say that after 6,5 years the situation in
Kosovo became peaceful, that it has improved, that the Serbs enjoy their
rights, that they move freely, that nobody provokes them. It would be luck
if it were so and if I were able to say so.
In essence, nothing has changed since the time that the conversation
with Mr. Kouchner took place, six years ago. If we may talk about any
change, it is a change in quantity, not in quality. This means there are not
as many murders as it used to be, but the attacks on Serbs happen even
now. Even today there is no basic safety and security in Kosovo, there is
no freedom of movement. The murders of young men, last summer, near
Strpce, two days ago young men were beaten in the churchyard in Mogila
near Kosovska Vitina - these events can testify to the above mentioned
statement. The same holds true of the recent throwing of hand grenades
at the house of the father of Mr. Milorad Todorovic, vice-president of the
Coordination Center of Serbia. Every day some attack on Serbs, men
and children or their property in Kosovo happens and this could be used
as testimony, too. This means there are no basic human rights for Serbs
and other non-Albanians. There is no proper health care - the hospitals
are unapproachable to Serbian doctors as well as to the Serbian patients.
The issue of the education of Serbian children is still unresolved. In many
villages the lecturing, if it could be called lecturing, is held in private
houses or cellars.
The only places where Serbs can claim that they live slightly more
normally are larger enclaves, which are overwhelmingly Serbian environments,
such as Gracanica and Crkolez with surrounding villages in
Central Kosovo, bigger villages in Gnjilane region, Strpce in Brezovica
or the Northern Kosovo. Observing the life of the Serbian people, it could
be said that the life in these parts is nearly normal. Because there, in
these surroundings, in those enclaves, they feel free and safe. But the
feeling is that these are islands, either small or big, and this produces the
impression of uncertainty. Anywhere else that the Serbs move from that
particular enclave, they move at their own risk, their lives are in question.
The incidents from last summer and autumn happened in such way.
• After this conversation international representatives promised that " a cruel clash with the culprits of violence shall follow". The NATO secretary at that time, Mr. Robertson, said: "We will defeat every extremism." Have they apprehended any murderer? Have they identified anyone involved in the destruction of monuments and houses?
Only the murderer of Dimitrije Popovic from Gracanica, who was killed
a year and half ago, was apprehended and arrested. This happened only
because one young Serb was in vehicle that followed the car that the murderers drove. He alarmed the police and the murderers were caught.Thus, they were the only murderers who were discovered and caught. One of them was sentenced and the other was acquitted.
But as far as those who destroyed the Serbian churches or houses or villages in Kosovo are concerned, nobody, up to the present day was discovered, nobody was brought to face the justice. The promises of the international community that they will defeat any extremism most probably concerned and meant the Serbs and Serbian
extremism, not the Albanian. It is quite obvious that under the authority
of the international community so many evils and troubles happened in Kosovo, in the past six and a half years. These facts contradict all their promises, or as Serb say: Empty promises mean nothing. Serbs do not believe any more in those promises, since they had enough of empty talks and promises, we are waiting to see practical actions and the results of their presence in Kosovo. Unfortunately, nothing
happened and it is questionable whether the international community will ever play an unbiased role - to treat everyone equally.
• Your Grace, you might know why it became customary for the Serbs in Kosovo
to be called a minority community? How could it have happened that one
nation in a part of its own country became a minority?
In my opinion this is premeditated. Exactly by launching such a designation for the Serbs in Kosovo the status of Kosovo is being prejudiced in advance. Serbs may be designated a minority in Kosovo only in the case that Kosovo becomes an independent state. As long as Kosovo is a component part of Serbia, Serbs cannot be a minority in their own state. On numerous occasions I have reiterated this fact to many interlocutors from the international community. Not so long ago, a meeting was held in Gracanica and the chief of UNMIK police, during a conversation mentioned several times of the Serbs - minority, minority. I interfered and said: "Sir, the Serbs in Kosovo are not a minority, since Kosovo is not an independent state. With such expressions you prejudice the future status of Kosovo. " Thus I reacted sharply. Therefore this became a custom, since this suits the international community in order to proceed with its goal. It also suits the Kosovo Albanians. However, it is quite unexplainable why the Serbian diplomacy and the Serb representatives did not always react properly when such a designation for Serbs from Kosovo was used. If they have had reacted adequately, certainly this name would not be used any longer.
• Long before anybody undertook any action, you have had, Your Grace, the talks in Washington, in the Department of State, about the plans for the return of Serbs. At that time you said: "The plan is that the Serbs first return to the already established enclaves, and not to the places in Kosovo where they would be immediately killed", and you have added that: "Mrs. Albright has decided to persist in the implementation of the programme". What has happened since then and what has influenced the fact that until today only 13,500 IDP-s have returned, as this is the official name for the exiles from Kosovo?
This is an official statement of UNMIK that 13,500 IDP-s have returned. But it is far fetched that all of them are Serbs. This figure represents all exiles - Roma, Ashkali, Muslims, and others. Therefore, out of this number I do not believe that more than 3000 or 4000 are Serbs, a maximum 5000 returned to Kosovo in the period of six and half years. In the same period many more Serbs have left Kosovo compared to
those who have returned. The sale of Serbian property in Kosovo continues, under pressure or in certain other ways, thus it absolutely cannot be said that the return
process has brought any positive results. Concerning what was said in the beginning, we simply did not want to wait for years to pass, but we wanted the exiled people to return as soonBabus or any other village, starting from Gracanica than from Kragujevac, for example.
One should keep in mind that when we suggested proceeding in this
way, with the intent of speeding up the return process. But there was
no willingness on the part of the international community to support this
idea, as well as by the representatives of Albanian Interim Institutions in
Kosovo. However, today it is said that Serbs may return to the present
enclaves, not only to where they have originally lived - I will never accept
such a suggestion. This would mean that, in fact, we accept ethnic cleansing
of the Serbs, and through such an act we go against the UN SC Resolution
1244 which guarantees to the exiled persons the right of return to
their homes. That means the return to where they used to live, not again
to reside in certain ghettoes, enclaves or protected zones, either around
monasteries or in any other way. This cannot be accepted, since this does not represent a proper return. Even when the Albanians returned, nobody placed limits on where they would return or counted how many of them returned. So it happened that along with the Albanians who have returned many of those who never lived in Kosovo arrived as well. Several hundred thousand Albanians from Albania came to Kosovo and most certainly thanks to them such persecution and pogrom of Serbian people took place...

to be continued

New sites of supporting Christian survival in Kosovo and Metohija:
http://www.kosovopole.ru/index.php
http://www.kosovo.cerkiew.pl/

I was in Holy Archangel Monastery, I was in Kosovo/Metohija

2006-03-19T12:17:00.000+01:00

A thousands of international tourists and Orthodox believers visited Holy Archangel Monastery. What they have seen there? This part is dedicated to you who are between them. Freely express your fillings and thoughts about Monastery through comments.
Also, send photos you've made here.

Sincerely yours.
svarhangeli@hotmail.com

"I can speak at length about Kosovo, and it was difficult to know if the politicians or the press were telling us the right thing," (James Blunt - a pop singer, ex British soldier in Kosovo)

Related articles:
What for, KFOR - We continue through Kosovo

Why is a bombed mosque major news, while bombed churches are ignored?

2006-03-01T13:42:00.000+01:00

Mary Mostert
February 26, 2006
The front page of my local paper last Thursday was taken up with color pictures and the Los Angeles Time article about the bombing of the Shiite Golden Dome Mosque of Samarra, Iraq and the repercussions of that bombing — presumably by radical Sunni Muslims.According to the media, this battle between Muslim sects may lead to civil war. I haven't written about it because I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out why the bombing of one mosque in Iraq in 2006 is a worldwide news event, but the bombing of more than 150 Serbian Christian Churches and monasteries in Kosovo by Albanian Muslims didn't even make it to the back pages of most American and European newspapers?FAR more is being reported about the bombing of this one Shiite Mosque in Samarra than has been reported in US and European media about the Albanian Muslim attacks on 150 Serbian Orthodox Christian Churches that have been bombed, or set afire and vandalized in Kosovo?Kosovo has been under the governmental control of NATO since the 1999 bombing of Kosovo and Belgrade ordered by President Clinton. In 2004, under the watchful eyes of NATO troops, from March 17-20, Albanian Muslims totally destroyed or badly vandalized 30 Christian Churches in Kosovo. Twelve Christian Churches in Prizren, the only ones that had not been destroyed by Albanian Muslims in the previous 4 year of NATO control, were blown up or torn down during those 4 days.In Samarra, the fire was still smoldering at the Muslim Shiite Mosque when President Bush led the Western nations in condemning the attack on the Shiite Mosque and promised to provide funds to rebuild it. In Kosovo, not only have those Serb Churches, many of which contained historic art, not been rebuilt, the international community seems to be getting ready to reward the Albanians for their vandalism by taking Kosovo away from the Serbs and GIVING it to the Albanians, although most of them are actually from Albania — not Kosovo. Over a million Albanians fled their country when its economy collapsed in the early 1990s.What will happen to the remaining Serbs in Kosovo if the Albanians who burned down their churches are in control and NATO withdraws? Rev. Archimandrite, a Greek Orthodox priest in Boise, Idaho who is President of the Relief Fund for the Decani Monastery in Kosovo, predicts the following after a visit to Kosovo:"If Kosovo and Metohija becomes independent and the UN withdraws it's shall then be end of the lives of the Serbian people, as all property including homes, land, and farms, as well as hospitals and schools, all will be lost. Apparently all the blame is put on the Serbians and no one else! Why are the Serbian people all to blame and who told the world that it's the fault of the Serbian people? When shall the hour of truth be revealed? The reality is that Kosovo and Metohija is falling before our eyes and we pay no attention to this fact, but we judge just the Serbians and no one else. Enough! Let the Serbian people be free too! Let the Serbian people live among their brothers! Serbia within the Providence of Kosovo and Methojia desires not to hear the words of Independence."When we speak of the losses of Kosovo we must include the Serbian Orthodox monasteries (for both nuns and monks), churches, and cemeteries. Martyrdom is rampart and bodies are not found, as was the situation with the Hieromartyr Hariton the New Martyr of Serbia, who himself was buried in the sacred grounds of Kosovo without his head."Everything Serbian will be excluded in this new call for independence. All Serbian language and culture will be extinguished from Kosovo. Already we are finding blacked out signs written in Serbian along the road sides, even those directing the faithful to the Decani Monastery?"Death will be rampart, the loss of lives will be too high to count and no one will pay attention to this factor in the media. ...This independence is not for the Serbians but for the non-Serbian, Albanian Muslims, intent on taking over the sacred fields as they continue to pressure the free world."It is unbelievable to me that so many people talk about how Kosovo and Metohija should live. Even today some think that the best way to accomplish independence for Kosovo and Metohija is simply to banish the Serbian population from the region. To this day it is well known that more than 250,000 Kosovo Serbians have left the region, being forced out by the atrocities perpetrated upon them by the ethnic Albanian populations. Yet even in light of this forced exile so many western politicians and religious leaders lend their groundless opinions and keep offering their ideas, but they never realize that Kosovo and Metohija are simply Serbia!"Why are we hearing every day that Serbians better leave now or that it's their last hour?"Why are we hearing every day that even the electricity is shut off, does anyone really realize how freezing it is in Kosovo and Metohija in winter!"Why is there barbed wire surrounding towns and villages to protect Serbians, because if these barbed wires come down it's the last hour for the Serbians!"Why have we seen constantly UN Peace Keeping forces in these same said regions, because if they leave at the hour, again it's the last hour for the Serbians!"Why have soup kitchens been set up in these regions? Because the Serbians cannot go about getting food, because once they go beyond a certain border, rocks and gun fire occurs at the hour, and the lost of lives which no one really hears about in the media."Why does no one care or pay attention to the fact that more then 150 Serbian Orthodox Churches and Monasteries have been destroyed, and that one or two are repaired just to make someone look good?"Why is it that the Serbian population has pre-fabricated homes, while other non-Serbian homes have beautiful three story brick houses!"Why is it that the Serbian population cannot simply come home, and live in their homes, and on their farms that belonged to them in the first place?"Why is that so many refuse to hear the truth of the Serbian Orthodox Cemeteries that have been destroyed? Is it because of how truly tearful we would be reeling in shock as the number keeps rising and rising? I saw these graves myself. The number I was quoted by a local Bishop was 126 cemeteries."..."Is this the type of independent Kosovo that should currently exist?"Is it, indeed? Why, indeed, have we so shabbily treated our valiant World War II ally, the Serbian people, who saved the lives of more than 500 American pilots who were shot down when Yugoslavia was occupied by the Nazis? Who are we listening to? Could it be we are listening to the wrong people — those who burn down churches and behead Christians?How can we get so upset over one Shiite Mosque and totally ignore 150 Serbian Christian Churches and monasteries that have been bombed?For pictures of some of the destroyed churches, which never appeared in the US media, go to http://www.kosovo.com/churchdamaged1.html
Mary Mostert
Mary Mostert is a nationally-respected political writer. She was one of the first female political commentators to be published in a major metropolitan newspaper in the 1960s. After working in President Lyndon Johnson's failed War on Poverty programs in New York state, she became a Republican. She ran, unsuccessfully, for the New York State Senate and became campaign manager for a number of candidates. She once served as the secretary of "Positive Action NOW!"--a South African women's group that sought to reduce the hostility among South Africa's various racial, religious, and political groups.In recent years, Mary has researched, written, and edited articles for national talk show host Michael Reagan's Information Interchange on the Internet, and for The REAGAN MONITOR, a monthly newsletter that provides in-depth information on key issues. Her book, COMING HOME - Families Can Stop the Unraveling of America," was published in 1996 by Gold Leaf Press. Mary maintains a political media site, Banner of Liberty. She can be contacted at
here for more information.© Copyright 2006 by Mary Mosterthttp://www.renewamerica.us/columns/mostert/060226

New articles:

March 14, 2006, The convenient death of Slobodan Milosevic
March 20, 2006, How to survive 600 years of terrorism and 60 years of communism
March 30, 2006 Hispanics in Los Angeles and Albanians in Kosovo demand legalization of their crimes

ON 17TH MARCH 2004 – AN EVIDENCE

2006-02-26T18:42:00.000+01:00

On 17th March 2004. a part of mob which destroyed orthodox churches, houses in Prizren came by foot to Monastery. They came face to face with German guard. When monks asked Bishop what to do, he said to surrender in KFOR hands because they are responsible.Monks were asking themselves why KFOR didn't blocked a road from Prizren to Monastery. Completely unprepared for such an event? This was a time when most of internationals were coloring reality in Kosovo, together with KFOR stuff. In incidents before (kidnapping a monk, bomb above Monastery, stonening a monk) none of perpetuators were punished. One month before riots appeared, escorted monks have been attacked in KFOR vehicles (It is recorded by German Zepo film company). KFOR simply cover event mislead public. Instead of improving security KFOR was trying to promote Kosovo institutions. Monks were pushed to ask Kosovo Police for escorts (most of their members are connected with terrorist incidents, in 2005. year they organized three attacks to their own Serbian colleagues). Monks refused this suicide possibility.So, on 17th March soldiers were ordered just to save monks lifes, and not monastery building together with church and religious and historical values. They did exactly this and left site. During mob were destroying Monastery with petrol of KFOR generator, soldiers watching them from mountain above.After a month monks came back to live in Monastery ground in containers given by Serbian Red Cross. Instead of real and simple help to restore Monastery, international community and Albanian Kosovo institutions start one political game. There were many stories, issues, agreements, promises (specially before media), and on the end even donation conference but not restorations. Instead of restoration, in a basic document which was made by Council of Europe experts with their Kosovo colleagues it is said that our Monastery should be closed, monks evicted (means expelled), and to become archeological site (Integrated Rehabilitation Project Plan / Survey of the, Architectural and Archaeological heritage (IRPP/SAAH)).In 26th July 2004. KFOR general Errico with his deputy Mr. Buehler made an initiative to restore Monastery. So, with their help (construction machines and more), with help of Orthodox people (donations and voluntarily work) and some Slavic Muslims from Kosovo, and on the end Serbian government, one part of old building was restored.It was real triumph to restore such a building with such a beauty with no capital, and no continual support. Few commissions of Council of Europe were coming during restoration with no comments but their Albanian counterparts asked how we dare to restore our own house out of their plan. Kosovo/Albanian institutions try to stop restoring of house saying we didn't have administrative permission for such a thing. But, in this case KFOR supported monks, and their attempts failed.…The young monastic brotherhood is full of religious enthusiasm and remains confident that one day Holy Archangels will be completely reconstructed.

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MONASTERY

2006-02-26T18:36:00.000+01:00

With the arrival of Bishop Artemije to the throne of the Orthodox bishops of Raška and Prizren, a momentous reconstruction of monasteries and coenobia in Kosovo and Metohija began. Thus, with the blessing of His Grace, in the 1990's the reconstruction of Holy Archangels near Prizren began, too. The necessary infrastructure was built and within the old walls a new residential quarter (konak) was built for the brotherhood of monks. A chapel was built inside the konak dedicated to Holy Bishop Nicholas of Žica. The first monks arrived in 1998 and the monastery since then has gained an important role in the spiritual life of the Serb people, especially in this area.Full reconstruction was interrupted by the war in this region, which has not spared the brotherhood of the Holy Archangels. In June 1999 a monk from the monastery, Fr. Chariton, was abducted. Immediately afterwards, a dozen of monks, together with the majority of the Serbs from this region, left the monastery. The headless body of Fr. Chariton was found in mid 2000 and buried in Crna Reka Monastery. After the arrival of KFOR the brethren gradually returned to the monastery. German soldiers surrounding the monastery complex maintain a security zone.The life of the monastery unfolds in complete isolation and consists of everyday services and monastic duties. The woodcarving workshop produces miniature carved items which are very rare and have become well-known abroad. The tailoring workshop is also busy and the monks are learning to work with computers. Today the monastery has become a spiritual center gathering the remaining Serb Orthodox people from Prizren and Sredacka Župa. The young monastic brotherhood is full of religious enthusiasm and remains confident that one day Holy Archangels will be completely reconstructed.

History before reconstruction

2006-02-26T18:09:00.000+01:00

"You showed me the church of Yours as the source of
health" Dusan's gift charter

In Prizren where he had frequently resided King Dusan set about founding the large monastery of the Holy Archangels in the spring of 1343, three kilometers south of the town. The very place on which the monastery was being erected - on the left bank of the Bistrica, on an expansive plateau formed in the gorge by the river's fast course - had previously been the site of a church dedicated to archangels Michael and Gabriel. It was shielded by an old fortress towering above it, standing on one of the lowest slopes of Mt Sara. The majority of the monastery holdings spread over the region of Prizren, but a considerable number of them were situated in a broader area, in the environs of Skoplje and Tetovo, in Albania, and on the coast around Scutary. Stefan Dusan's prohibition, to which the lessee of the mine in Trepca refers in March 1349, that lead was not be sold to anyone before the needs of the monastery of the Holy Archangels were met is, therefore, not surprising. The main church, dedicated to the "strategists" and "leaders of the heavenly powers," Michael and Gabriel, was - as evidenced by the ground plan - one of the grandest monuments of Serbian architecture.Holy Archangels is a monastery complex encompassing an area of approximately 6,500 square. It was encircled by massive walls and connected to the fortress of Višegrad, added to the Monastery for defensive purposes in times of war. In addition to the large Church of the Holy Archangels, residential quarters, library and other buildings, within the Monastery there was another, smaller church, the Chapel of St. Nicholas. In the Monastery Charter one can read that a separate building within the complex was designated as the infirmary. The main church is based on the shape of an inscribed cross with three altar apses topped by five domes, which is typical of Byzantine architecture. The "Prizren floor" as the chroniclers named it, is unique in the land of Serbia. Its geometrical ornaments have analogies in the floors, the portals and the stone furniture in the churches on Mount Athos, in Sicily and in southern Italy. Parallels for the figures are to be found in the church of the Pantocrator in Constantinople, in the St. Giovanni Baptistery in Florence and in that city's church of San Miniato al Monte. The emperor's tomb was erected in the southwest corner of the naos. The monumental refectory was cross-shaped with an apse on the eastern side. A bridge across the Bistrica River connected the Monastery with Dušan's castle at Ribnik and the royal palace in Prizren.The monks whose number is unknown to us had their cells in the dormitory riased by the ramparts towards the river. According to the typikon, they gathered twice a day in the refectory. As one might expect of the monumental endowment of the most powerful Balkan ruler of the age, it housed no less than 200 monks and its first abbot, the blessed Metropolitan Jacob, who was responsible for the construction of the monastery.Tsar Dušan was interred in the main monastery church. The reconciliation of the Serbian Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which took place in the Monastery, is the most important event after Dušan's death. The historian Constantine Jiricek wrote that in 1375, after the reconciliation of the Serbian and Greek Churches, representatives of both Churches served a Divine Liturgy at the tomb of Tsar Dušan and on that occasion the Greek representatives removed the anathema from Dušan, Tsar Uroš, and Patriarchs Joanikije and Sava. At one time the Monastery was the residence of St. Jefrem, the Serbian Patriarch in the time of the Battle of Kosovo.During Turkish rule the Holy Archangels, like other monasteries, lost large estates and struggled on the verge of subsistence level. Their misfortune, however, was even greater: at the outset of the 17th century, Sinan Pasha ordered a large mosque in Prizren to be constructed with remarkable dressed stone taken from the churches on the Bistrica. After that, the monastic complex fell completely into ruin, and, in the course of time, became largely covered with earth deposited from the hill-side. The numerous remains of its cross-sections - a large number of which have been incorported into the Prizren mosque - indicate that the drum may have had twelve or even sixteen sides. The windows piercing the drum, perhaps double, measuring almost one metre in width, afforded sufficient light to the spacious and clearly articulated interior. The dome, however, after the Constantinopolitan practice which had left but a few traces in Serbia, was of a melon shape.This appearance of the monastery became deeply entrenched in people's memory and for centuries they concocted legends about it and lit candles on its ruins. Twice a year, on the feast days of the Holy Archangels, in summer and autumn, they gathered from afar at night, and waited for the sunrise praying with priests. One traveller left an exciting descripiton of this ancient shrine in darkness, with the contours outlined solely by the candlelight of the faithful.In 1927 Dr. Radoslav Grujic conducted extensive research and archeological excavations of the Monastery and he transferred the articles found to the present-day Archeological Museum in Skopje.Because of its strong association with Prizren and Tsar Dušan, as well as its unfortunate fate, the Holy Archangels Monastery was a frequent motif in Serbian art. Chroniclers from the 14th century who had the opportunity to see the building in its full splendor claimed that nothing under the sun was equal to it. There are also stories about the suffering and punishment which befell Sinan Pasha for destroying the Monastery.

Martyrdoom of Father Chariton

2006-02-24T12:52:00.000+01:00

A Brief Account Of The Martyrdom Of The Holy New Martyr Hariton (Lukic) of Serbia
Kidnapped on June 14th, 1999
Body found August 2000

Father Chariton (also spelled Hariton) was a monk in the Holy Archangels Monastery near Prizren. He was born on November 21, 1960 in central Serbia and became a monk in Kosovo in 1995. Father Chariton was kidnapped by armed persons wearing UCK (KLA) forms and insignia on June 16 in the streets of Prizren. In the time of his disappearance the German KFOR troops have already entered Prizren area. Unfortunately they were followed by armed gangs of UCK extremists who have killed and kidnapped a dozen of Serbs in the city during the first days.

The body of Fr. Chariton was found near Prizren on August 8th, 2000. They body was decapitated and severely mutilated. The head of Fr. Chariton has not yet been found. (Editors notes: Father Chariton's burial service took place without his head).

According to the forensic report the remains of Fr. Hariton was found in an unmarked individual grave in the cemetery of the Albanian village of Tusus near Prizren. These are many evidences that the body was left in open air after the murder because only skeleton remains. Several ribs are found broken as well as the left hand. The head and a few vertebrae are missing. The body was found dressed in the clothes displayed. The sweater is found cut in the front side which might suggest that Father Hariton's belly was ripped. The holes around the area of heart are found which also might suggest that he was stabbed by knife. In any case it was a painful death. With his clothes the investigators have found his ID and his praying rope. All evidence and the forensic report have already been handed over to ICTY investigators who will proceed the investigation of this crime.

information for donations

2006-02-23T13:02:00.000+01:00

The aim of this blog is to inform people and make financial support to Holy Archangels’ Monastery near Prizren, in troubled Serbian province Kosovo and Metohija. We survive war, exodus of 200.000 Orthodox people from Province, destroying of Monastery and else. About this events there is many articles in Serbian, but the most of international medias stayed dumb over this. Why?
After Kristalnacht and Pogrom of Serbs in 17. March 2004. our onlyone source of income, woodcarving workshop was destroyed. Our parishioners are just few remained elder Serbs. So we will be very grateful if you would support us to persist destroying of one European civilization.
Brotherhood

INSTRUCTIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS TO ACCOUNT
RAIFFEISEN BANK KOSOVO
The transferring bank ( bank of the remitter) should be given the following instructions: Beneficary's Bank :

Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo SHTERPCE SUB-BRANCH

SWIFT CODE: RBKOCS22

Beneficary's name: MANASTIR SV. ARHANGEL

Beneficary's account with RBKO: 1504021000296373

Trough the following corresponde:

RAIFFEISEN ZENTRALBANK OESTERREICH AG
VIENNA-AUSTRIA

Contact us: svarhangeli@hotmail.com