Catholic, Orthodox bishops urge 'good-faith' solution in Kosovo

WASHINGTON – A group of Catholic and Orthodox bishops asked Serbian and Kosovar leaders to negotiate in "good faith" over the political future of Kosovo, a breakaway Serbian province currently under U.N. administration.

The bishops also called for the safe return of 200,000 Serbs and other minorities who left after major fighting broke out in Kosovo in the early 1990s.

"Only through a real dialogue of mutual respect and good-faith negotiations can justice become a reality in Kosovo," said a statement issued by the Joint Commission of Orthodox and Catholic Bishops meeting in Washington June 21-23.

The commission is composed of U.S. Catholic bishops and Orthodox bishops from Canada and the United States and deals with ways in which the two churches can cooperate on practical issues. The U.S. bishops' Department of Communications issued a June 28 news release about the meeting.

Political leaders of the majority ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo favor independence while Serbian leaders want it to remain part of Serbia. Complicating the issue is that most Albanians are Muslim while Serbs are Orthodox.

The United Nations has been in charge of Kosovo since 1999 after NATO launched air attacks against Serbian forces accused of "ethnic cleansing" in efforts to suppress rebel fighters wanting independence. The NATO attacks drove out Serbian forces but did not ease the ethnic and religious tensions.

"Rare moment of mutual Christian statement..."

which unfortunately will go nowhere and accomplish nothing for the Orthodox. It simply allows the Roman Catholic Church to interject itself into a situtation to make itself seem relevant.

You are right. That was pretty harsh.

But, I do truly doubt that it will do much of anything positive for the Serbs in Kosovo. And if it is ignored, I also doubt even the Roman Catholic Church will make any issue of it. It is just one of those things that sound nice on paper.

Or perhaps, I am so disappointed and disheartened these days about it all, that it isn't them, it is me!

Brother, when you post one of your great articles, please add the word "BALKANS" to the KEYWORDS. That way all we have to do is click on this link in our bookmarks to keep up.

Anytime the Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox Church unites as one voice, it's a good thing. Serbia should put together a list of all the Serbs that fled Kosovo and would like to return but can't for fear of their safety. This list should be put into a proclamation to be read at these so-called negotiations on the final status of Kosovo. The gist of the proclamation should be that and independent Kosovo is absolutely unacceptable until all those on the list have returned to their homes in Kosovo, and these homes should exist in a safe environment. The safe protection of Serbian religious monuments must also be assured. Until this happens, an Independent Kosovo should be completely out of the question and not worthy of consideration.

I think these are very reasonable bare minimum requirements for the creation of any new state born by being torn from another state, and most of the civilized world would agree. Of course the KLA is gonna hate this, but then again, I don't think they even know what the word "civilized" means.

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