Out of hiding, some Kosovars embrace Christianity

reuters.com ^ | Sep 28, 2008

[Tailgunner Joe]

The majority of ethnic Albanians were forcibly converted to Islam, mostly through the imposition of high taxes on Catholics, when the Ottoman Empire ruled the Balkans.

For centuries, many remembered their Christian roots and lived as what they call "Catholics in hiding". Some, nearly a century after the Ottomans left the Balkans, now see the chance to reveal their true beliefs.

"Fifty or sixty percent of the population are linked emotionally with the Roman Catholic religion. This is because of feelings about what our ancestors believed," said Muhamet Mala, a professor who teaches History of Religion at Pristina Public University. ...

Under the Ottomans, many Catholics converted to escape the new taxes or qualify for jobs and advancement in the Muslim-ruled society.

In staunchly Catholic families, often in villages with a strong social network, men converted publicly but continued to practice Christianity at home. Women and daughters often kept the faith, meaning it was transmitted to children.

Catholic priests administered the sacraments to these "crypto-Catholics" during house visits to the women. ...

Many mosques in Kosovo were destroyed during the 1998-99 war between Serb forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army. Since 1999, when the U.N. took control of Serbia's breakaway province, ethnic Albanian mobs destroyed many Serb Orthodox churches.

Roman Catholic churches were not destroyed, however, and most of Kosovo's towns have a square named after Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Theresa, an ethnic Albanian nun born in neighboring Macedonia. She spent her life helping the poor in the Indian city of Calcutta and died in 1997.

Beatified in 2003, Mother Theresa became a heroine to many Albanian worshippers. A new cathedral, still under construction at Pristina's Mother Theresa Square, will be the tallest building in the capital and big enough to hold 2,000 churchgoers.

[Andy from Beaverton]

Catholics in Croatia and Eastern Orthodox Christians in Bosnia and Serbia. Why didn’t they just say Christians?

[Andy from Beaverton]

Roman Catholic churches were not destroyed

Catalog of churches destroyed and desecrated by Albanian extremists in Kosovo and Metohia (June-October 1999)

[Lorianne]

Still waters run deep

[Jacob Kell]

It’s great. However, the article stated that the more devout Moslems don’t like it.

[FormerLib]

I wonder if we’ll continue to support the KLA when they start killing Roman Catholics?

[Think free or die]

Good for them!

[Cicero]

Interesting. I don’t know how seriously to take this.

Unless the numbers of Albanians who want to be Catholics is high, it may be difficult, because Muslims have a habit of killing anyone who tries to leave their faith.

Also, the article says that only Orthodox churches were destroyed, but not Catholic churches. I wonder how many Catholic churches there are in Kosovo? I presume all of the ancient ones are Orthodox.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Illyria - "Ecclesiastically, the whole of Illyricum, which had first received Christianity from St. Paul the Apostle, and Titus, his disciple, was from the first under the Bishop of Rome, as the Patriarch of the West, and, after the division of the empire, formed the eastern part of the territory subject to the pope, as Patriarch of Rome, although politically a part of Byzantium."

Pilgrimage At Letnica - "Letnica has an ancient history as a center of pilgrimage to the Madonna in the Church at Letnica beginning in the 14th century."

Catholics Revere Black Madonna

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0cCLbr6bcGb4f

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0eeD9Fg5MPeLO

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0dke9wO0eI9gv

[Cronos]

The head of the Kosovo Islamic community, Mufti Naim Ternava, has opposed building a cathedral at the heart of Pristina and scoffs at new churches built across Kosovo.

"No human brain can understand how a church should be build in the middle of 13 Muslim villages," he said

Ah, but human brains can understand -- Moose limb brains can't

[Cronos]

Catholics in Croatia and Eastern Orthodox Christians in Bosnia and Serbia. Why didn’t they just say Christians?

I don't mean to be rude, but if you read up more on the history of the Balkans after 430 AD, you'd know why.

The Balkans were a frontier between the Eastern and Western Church. Croatia and Albania were in the sphere of the Western Church while Serbia and (of course) Greece, were in the sphere of the Eastern Church. Bosnia was in between and tried a balancing act for some time, but then created it's own hierarchy (the Bosnian Church) about which little remain -- some say they were Bogomils (Gnostics), others that they retain Catholic-Orthodox nature, just "balanced" themselves.

When the Ottoman Turks conquered, they added another element to the mix -- if you had to pay a large tax if you were non-Muslim and had to surrender your sons to the state, your word being equivalent to one-fifth a Moose limb's word and you having no right to repair or rebuild Churches (forget about building new ones), you'd convert in name soon. The same thing happened to the Christian lands of Egypt, Syria, Turkey, north Africa etc.

Anyway, so that's the Bosnians; the Albanians were mostly Christian in the north and at the southern tip were Greek Orthodox (since those respective regions were close to those two halves of The Church

[Cronos]

I’m Catholic and I don’t support the KLA. However, do remember that some amount of the Kosovo issue is ethnic in nature — Albanians are not Slavs. In fact, many Albanians under King Zog would say that their religion was Albanianism (glorification of Albania)

[Cronos]

Unless the numbers of Albanians who want to be Catholics is high, it may be difficult, because Muslims have a habit of killing anyone who tries to leave their faith.

Well, in Albania proper, there are many Christians (Catholics, Greek Orthodox) -- however, 60 to 75% of the population are agnostic/athiests (a relic of the communist days when the country declared itself as the sole Athiest country in the world). Now, 60 to 75% are nominally Muslim, 20 to 25% Albanian Orthodox, 10 to 15% Roman Catholic. In Kosovo, I've not seen any such data and won't comment beyond saying that the writ of the mullahs isn't that strong and many would convert to Catholicism or Albanian Orthodox as that was the religion of their ancestors (they won't become Greek orthodox as that would seem too close to that of their rivals in the region).

Also, the article says that only Orthodox churches were destroyed, but not Catholic churches. I wonder how many Catholic churches there are in Kosovo? I presume all of the ancient ones are Orthodox.

You're right -- since Kosovo was historically the original Serb kingdom.

[Cicero]

Thanks.

This is all hopeful stuff. Atheists can see the light and convert. But conversion is hard in a dominant Muslim society, because if you convert they will kill you.

I knew there was a substantial minority of Christians in Albania, but if there are not that many convinced Muslims, then maybe there is a chance.

It looks as if the Greek Orthodox Church may face future troubles if the Patriarch of Byzantium dies without a successor. At least they will lack the argument that they should be the head guys. Perhaps they will manage to name a covert successor in spite of the Turks.

[Cicero]

Thanks. I was familiar with The Black Madonna of Częstochowa, but this is new to me.

[Andy from Beaverton]

I forgot the sarcasm tag. I know the history fairly well. Don’t forget the strength of the Orthodox church within the Republic of Serbian Krajina.