Some things are beyond their reach.
Posted on 03/20/2004 3:54:10 PM PST by ma bell
Below is a list of churches and church buildings for which the Serbian Orthodox Church has received information that they were destroyed by Albanians:
1. Orthodox Cathedral of the Most Holy Mother of God of Ljevis, 14th century (Prizren)
2. Church of Holy Salvation, 14th century (Prizren)
3. Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Great Martyr George, 20th century (Prizren)
4. Holy Archangels Monastery, 14th century (Prizren)
5. Church of St. George Runovic, 15th century (Prizren, courtyard of the Episcopate)
6. Church of St. John the Fore-runner and Baptist (Pec) with parish home
7. Church of the Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple (Belo Polje near Pec)
8. Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God (Djakovica) with parish home
9. Church of the Holy King Uros (Urosevac)
10. Church of St. Nicholas (Kosovo Polje)
11. Church of St. Catharine (Bresje near Kosovo Polje)
12. Church of St. Nicholas (Pristina)
13. Church of St. Nicholas (Gnjilane)
14. Church of St. Sava (Kosovska Mitrovica)
15. Church in Vitina (Vitina near Gnjilane)
16. Devic Monastery, 14th century (Srbica)
17. Church in Donja Slapasnica (Kosovska Kamenica)
18. Church in Brnjak near Bela Crkva (Orahovac)
19. Church of St. John the Fore-runner and Baptist (Pecka Banja)
20. Church of St. Elijah, 19th century (Vucitrn)
21. Church of St. Michael (Stimlje)
22. Church in Obilic (Obilic)
23. Church of St. Lazarus in Piskoti (Djakovica), damaged in 1999, now burned
24. Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary building (Prizren)
25. Episcopate - seat of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren (Prizren)
SPC has verified that the Albanians are removing the ruins of the Church of the Holy Trinity (Djakovica) blown up in 1999.
Some things are beyond their reach.
You are so right but let's not forget, our Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole was Clinton's #1 supporter in this fiasco...And don't forget, there are still American troops over there that Bush could pull out, if he wanted to...
It's a mystery to me...Why does our gov't support a bunch of drug running terrorist Arabs and just watch them destroy a country (Kosovo) and burn their Christian Churches???
Russia's Putin calls for tough action on Kosovo
MOSCOW, March 20 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday denounced violence in the Serbian province of Kosovo as "ethnic cleansing" of the region's Serb minority and said Moscow had to adopt a tough position to halt it.
Russia, traditionally sympathetic to fellow Orthodox Slav Serbs, firmly opposed the 1999 NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia after which Kosovo effectively became a U.N. protectorate with the presence of 18,000 NATO-led peacekeepers.
"Russia cannot merely watch what is happening there," Putin told a weekly ministerial meeting discussing the violence between Serbs and the region's majority ethnic Albanians. Excerpts of the meeting were shown on Rossiya state television.
"Even our Western colleagues acknowledge that this is nothing other than ethnic cleansing. There must be a corresponding tough reaction in this instance to defend Serbs."
Putin called for a clear Russian position to be drafted on the issue by new Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the longserving predecessor he replaced, Igor Ivanov, now Secretary of Russia's Security Council.
He also said he was sending Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, who deals with Russia's recurring calamities, to Serbia to tackle difficulties caused by the violence.
About 1,000 Serbs have fled their homes and sought the protection of the peacekeepers.
Addressing the same meeting, Lavrov said events in Kosovo "were clearly provoked. There can be no doubt about this."
Lavrov, Russia's former ambassador to the United Nations, said Russia would come up with proposals taking into account "the difficult processes occurring in Serbia and Montenegro itself, with the aim of maintaining the country's unity."
"There is an overall European dimension to the problem. The crisis is felt through Europe as refugees could move on," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
"On the whole, the Albanian factor in the Balkans is becoming more acute."
Russia has denounced any suggestion of Kosovo, with its overwhelming Albanian majority, becoming an independent state and warned of what it says are plans by Albanians to create a power base in various countries in the region.
They would never miss an opportunity to support the Marxist/Islamic fascists in the KLA.
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - NATO forces surrounded a key Kosovo town Saturday in efforts to separate Albanians and Serbs and prevent a resurgence of attacks that killed 28 people and wounded 600, the worst bloodshed in the province since the civil war in the Serbian province ended in 1999.
Thousands of fresh NATO forces began taking up positions late Friday and throughout Saturday in the occupied province after every major city was hit by riots, arson and gunfights that started Wednesday. It took days for the extent of the violence to become clear, further demonstrating the breakdown of law and order.
The situation appeared to have calmed by midday Saturday and no incidents were reported overnight, said Derek Chappell, a UN police spokesman.
The commander of NATO forces in southern Europe, U.S. Admiral Gregory Johnson, declared the violence "essentially amounts to ethnic cleansing." He demanded an end to "mob violence, thuggery and criminal activity."
"I know in my heart of hearts that all Kosovars are better than this," he said.
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the violence, calling it ethnic cleansing and adding protection must be given to Kosovo's minority Serbs. Russia has strong cultural ties to the Serbian people, sharing the Orthodox religion and Slavic roots.
"Russia can't watch indifferently what's happening there," Putin told top officials at a regular meeting shown on state-run TV on Saturday.
"It's also acknowledged by our western colleagues as nothing but ethnic cleansing and there should be a suitable tough reaction in this situation to protect Serbs."
Russia's legislature passed a resolution Friday condemning the failure of international organizations to stem the violence in Kosovo and said military forces from Serbia-Montenegro's government should be allowed to help defend the Serbs.
Though riots abated, Albanians looted villages and apartments abandoned by Serbs on Saturday. Some 110 homes and at least 16 Serbian Orthodox churches were destroyed by arson.
The continuing violence underscored the divisions that have polarized Kosovo's majority of mostly Muslim Albanians, who want independence from Serbia, and Orthodox Christian Serbs who consider the province their ancestral homeland.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said a division of the province along ethnic lines is the only long-term solution for the region. Kosovo's prime minister, Bajram Rexhepi, rejected the proposal.
Rexhepi and other Albanian leaders urged their people to end the protests but did not directly condemn attacks on Serbs.
Unable to provide a secure environment, NATO gathered Serbs and sheltered them on bases across the province. The peacekeepers created makeshift camps for Serbian evacuees but the threatened minority insist the time had come to abandon hope of ever living together in Kosovo with the Albanians.
Trying to get a grip on the situation, NATO bolstered its 18,500-member peacekeeping force with reinforcements from Austria, Britain, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy and the United States, urging restraint in Kosovo and elsewhere in the turbulent Balkans.
Peacekeepers ringed the divided town Kosovska Mitrovica on Saturday and blocked a main north-south road that leads to the town. The violence started there Wednesday, when Albanians, blaming Serbs for the deaths of two children, began rampaging in revenge. The ensuing violence reignited long simmering tensions between Serbs and Albanians that have spilled beyond Kosovo's borders.
The collapse of order triggered the worst violence since the Kosovo war that killed about 10,000 people, mostly Albanians. That conflict ended in 1999 after NATO air strikes halted Yugoslavia's crackdown on Albanian separatist rebels.
The province is UN-administered but remains part of Serbia-Montenegro, the loose federation of the states remaining after the Balkan wars that broke apart Yugoslavia.
Kosovo's final status is to be decided by the United Nations. Albanian separatists are frustrated international officials have failed to deliver independence.
Thank God for Putin and Alexey. On my knees.
Russia is going to be there shortly, and things will change after that
I hate to disagree with you, dear sister in Christ, but all Russian government ever did for the Serbs was to be sympatheitc. There were instances one could count on the fingers of one hand when Russia lived up to its outrage and actually hepled the Serbs. Most of the chest-thumping and hoopla of the Duma is for domestic consupmption, a "feel good" apprach to doing good.
On another note, B92, a vassal Serbian station owned by the West, reports that the Albanian legilature "condemned the violence" and "promised to rebuild houses and churches [sic!]" that were burned."
How does one "rebuild" a 14th century church?
It was a rebellious and spontaneous act by our Orthodox brothers which drew the ire of the then Russian defense minister and was a slap in the face of the Yeltsin's Quisling regime of appeasement.
But in the long run what did that do? Nothing. Kosovo could have been divided into enclaves, with Russians defending the Christian and non-Albanian population and NATO their islamist Albanian thugs. But, aside from the in-your-face demonstration of defiance, the Russian "help" fizzled.
I never doubted the resolve and the love of Russians for their Orthodox kin in Serbia, but the Russian government has done little if nothing to help Serbs.
Yugoslavia begged Yeltsin for missles that could reach high-flying NATO bombers. He refused. The Serbs were forced to take the pounding without being able to strike back.
Sure there were daily spontaneous demonstrations in support of Serbs, there were volunteer units that went to fight with the Serbs in Bosnia and were prepared to fight in Kosovo, but those were the actions of the Orthodox people of Russia for their Slavic Orthodox kin, not the Russian government.
The Russian government has steadfastly vetoed many resolutions at the Security Council, in defense of Serbs, but these were never reported in American media. They also did next to nothing for the country of 10 million people besieged by the mightiest alliance of the history of mankind.
And, since then, the Russians suffered unnecessary causalities in Kosovo and withdrew because they didn't want to be party to the crime being committed there on NATO's and UN watch. But in the meantime they did nothing to strenghten Serbia's resolve to resist.
Instead, Serbia ended up with a Quisling regime of its own -- the DOS -- that was expressly concerned only with keeping its positions by whatever means and providing whatever services their paymasters asked for.
Let Russia arm Serbia with its sophisticated weapons and countermeasures so that Serbs can defned their own turf and they will. Let Russia establish a politicla and military balance in the Balkans, and then we can talk of real help. Veto resolutions and wagging their finger at the West while letting the West do whatever it wants is no help. Thanks but no thanks.
I'd love for the Swiss Government to publicize Clinton's Swiss Accounts.
Memorial Service for victims of the atrocities occurring in Kosovo and Metohija served in St. Catherine the Great Martyr Church
March 20, 2004
On Saturday evening, March 19th, the clergy and faithful of St. Catherine the Great Martyr Church, the Representation of the Orthodox Church in America joined together in prayer for the departed victims of the current "pogrom" (as termed by the Serbian Orthodox Church) against the Serbian people of Kosovo and Metohija. Immediately following the panikhida for the departed, a service of prayer (moleben) was served for the "peace of the whole world" and specifically for peace in the lands of Kosovo and Metohija.
These two services, immediately prior to the beginning of the All-night Vigil, were served by the Representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church (Archimandrite Antony) and the Orthodox Church in America (Archimandrite Zacchaeus). This con-celebration witnessed to the fact that all Orthodox Christians, despite differing nationalities are united together in Christ. Before beginning the services, Archimandrite Zacchaeus addressed those present with a call to prayer. During his short sermon, Fr. Zacchaeus remarked on the appeal for support to the Serbian Orthodox Church given by both His Holiness, Patriarch ALEKSY and His Beatitude, Metropolitan HERMAN to their flocks. After the service, Archimandrite Antony offered words of thanks to the parish for hosting such an important sign of prayerful support to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Fr. Antony also offered remarks about the current situation in Kosovo.
Sermon before Moleben for Kosovo
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
My Beloved brothers and sisters:
As the news media over the last few days has brought to our attention, terrible atrocities are now occurring in the Southern Serbian Province of Kosovo and Metojiha. Numerous monasteries and churches, some dating to the 14th century, are being destroyed, and faithful Orthodox Serbs are being kidnapped, tortured and killed. These atrocities have been termed an "unthinkable pogrom" by the Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The Holy Serbian Orthodox Church, under the wise spiritual guidance of that man of prayer, His Holiness, Patriarch Pavle, has called for an end to the violence occurring in these sacred lands. This call goes out to the entire world, to the International Community, to local governments, to leaders of the military and indeed to each and every one of us. As Orthodox Christians, whether we be Serbs, Russians, Americans or other, we are called to respond to this appeal by His Holiness, Patriarch Pavle and the Serbian Orthodox Church. His Holiness, Patriarch ALEKSY and His Beatitude, Metropolitan HERMAN both have issued statements of support to Patriarch Pavle and the Serbian Orthodox faithful. We following the lead of our spiritual leaders, and Fathers in Christ, join together in prayerful support to the Serbian Orthodox Church.
We will now serve a Panikhida for those who have lost their lives as a result of these abominable acts against not only the Serbian, or rather more specifically, the non-Albanian population in the lands of Kosovo and Metojiha, but indeed against humanity, for these horrendous acts are indeed attacks against all that is good, and all that is sacred for us as humans, including human life itself. And then, immediately following, we will direct our prayers in a service of intercession (moleben) to the Almighty God, the King of Peace, to grant "peace to the whole world", and especially in the troubled lands of Kosovo and Metojiha, where there is now a specific uprising of terror and atrocity.
His Holiness, Patriarch Pavle has termed the land "crucified Kosovo", and rightly so. We as Orthodox Christians now find ourselves in the time of Great Lent - a time leading us towards the Crucifixion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. However, we know that there is something more. We know that after the crucifixion come resurrection. May this knowledge give us strength and hope in the current situation. May we be inspired to fervently pray for the people suffering in the lands of "crucified Kosovo", so that God in His Mercy, grants them to also see the resurrection that comes after the crucifixion.
We are very pleased to welcome into our midst this evening, the Very Reverend Archimandrite Antony, the Representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church. His presence here is a sign of solidarity, of unity that is so ever present in Holy Orthodoxy. Peoples of three great nations are represented here today - Russia, Serbia and America. May we, in some small way, bear witness to this unity, so necessary for peace, which we are granted in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And May our Lord and God hear our ardent prayers and quickly bring peace to the lands of Kosovo and Metohija, and comfort to the much suffering Serbian Orthodox people.
Amen!
Archimandrite Zacchaeus
ROME, MARCH 19, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Leaders of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have spoken out to condemn the violence taking place against Serbs in Kosovo.
Sixteen Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries, many of them treasures of medieval architecture, have been demolished in Kosovo since confrontations broke out Wednesday, the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade announced today.
In Pristina, U.N. police and soldiers of the multinational force (KFOR) used tear gas on Thursday night to disperse a group of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo who were setting fire to the Church of St. Nicholas.
According to U.N. sources, violence since Wednesday has left at least 31 dead and some 500 wounded. Hundreds of Serbs have been evacuated by MINUK, the U.N. Mission in Kosovo, and by KFOR.
The Greek Orthodox Church expressed its "particular concern" today in regard to the events and said it is prepared to give all its help to the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Voices of the Catholic Church have called for a halt to the confrontations. On Vatican Radio, a religious who works in the area and who asked to remain anonymous, appealed for calm.
"Anyway, it must be clarified that the latest confrontations have nothing to do with religion or faith. It is a purely political question," the religious said.
International Volunteers for Development, a Catholic group present in the area, appealed to the international community to resolve some of the outstanding problems that led to the outbreak of conflict in the late 1990s.
"After five years of Slobodan Milosevic's Operation Horseshoe and of the NATO bombings over Kosovo and Serbia, the Balkans region is experiencing the revival of confrontations between the two ethnic groups," said Antonio Raimondi, president of the group.
"This is what happens if after a conflict there is no action taken on the most profound causes," he added. "It is not enough to guarantee a forced pacification with an international military presence, in Kosovo since 1999 and in Bosnia since 1995. Instead, it is necessary to work to promote social justice and reconciliation, essential elements for a genuine and lasting peace."
"Kosovo is going through great political and economic uncertainty," Raimondi said in a statement received by ZENIT. "In fact, the future of the region is still unknown: a region with strong autonomy in the republic of Serbia and Montenegro or independent state. At the economic level, suffice it to recall that unemployment affects 57% of the active population."
The president of International Volunteers for Development added that when an appeal is made for greater commitment by the international community in the region, especially of Europe, all say that "today there are other priorities: Afghanistan and Iraq." He added: "I would like to remind everyone -- yes, everyone -- of the tragic scenes that were with us in the 1990s."
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