Posted on 08/12/2005 9:58:39 AM PDT by jb6
Moscow, August 11, Interfax - In a letter, which came to Moscow this week, Patriarch Pavle of Serbia thanked the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church for his support in building and restoring Serbian shrines.
According to Patriarch Pavle, Alexy II has given this support ‘in the spirit of love, which has united our Orthodox sister Churches for centuries’, Interfax has been informed Thuesday by the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations.
The Patriarch of Serbia’s letter has become a reply to an earlier letter of Patriarch Alexy welcoming the memorandum of understanding signed between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Kosovo provisional self-government as it establishes basic principles of cooperation in restoring Orthodox churches in Kosovo.
The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church has repeatedly appealed to political leaders in Western countries and leaders of international organizations to ensure the restoration of Kosovo shrines as part of the heritage of all European nations.
Patriarch Pavle reminded that during the last raid in March 2004, over 30 Orthodox churches were destroyed or severely damaged, 800 Serbian houses were burnt down, 4000 people were driven away from their villages. In total, over 222 thousand Serbs and members of other non-Albanian communities have been driven away from Kosovo and Metochia and about 150 Serbian Orthodox churches have been desecrated or destroyed since June 1999.
I Clinton hadn't bombed Serbia, I believe the Serbs would have gotten fed up with Milosevic themselves and chucked him into prison.
"I Clinton hadn't bombed Serbia, I believe the Serbs would have gotten fed up with Milosevic themselves and chucked him into prison."
But then we would not have had a "Lion of Kosovo" to campaign for John Kerry. LOL
These churches that were destroyed are 500 years or older. Nothing can restore them. But, the important thing is, nothing can destroy Christ's Church. As long as there is Orthodoxy, the Church will stand against all fires sent from hell. The Orthodox Church is used to carrying its cross. It is a right of passage.
Yes, Orthodoxy has had quite a Cross to carry for the past five hundred years, or since 1204, or 1071 for that matter. Sadly, I have to agree with you on the loss of Kosovo churches. Even if patrons could be found to restore them, their congregations have vanished since the U.N. military action. Well, thank goodness for Bill Clinton and that paragon of liberty, the U.N. Where would islamic separatists in Kosovo-and everywhere else-be without them?
Nope. If you'd been reading AFP and the LA Times during the Kosovo bombing, you'd have known that all the 'ethnic cleansing' claims vis-a-vis Yugoslav treatment of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo were lies.
Every breathless assertion from NATO spokesmen was debunked during the campaign by the few honest journalists on the ground in Kosovo.
Let's see, the Taliban would not have made it without our help; it was Big Zbig who called the "soliders of God" while our covert support for these extremists were pouring in. Without supporting the Saudis or for that matter Brother Sharon unconditionally, the world and especially the balkans might look a little different -- and a lot more peaceful.
Hmmm... Should I laugh or cry when I think of the strange relationship between our Commander-In-Chief and the House of Saud?? I can't call it... Hey kosta50, may God bless you and yours on the Vigil of the Dormition of the Theotokos. God grant you many years...
Amen to that. Nicely stated.
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