NEWS

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
March 20, 2004

METROPOLITAN HERMAN CALLS FOR PRAYERS
IN RESPONSE TO KOSOVO CRISIS

SYOSSET, NY [OCA Communications] -- His Beatitude, Metropolitan
Herman, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, sent a message of prayerful support to His Holiness, Patriarch Pavle of Serbia in light of the recent intensification of attacks against the Serbian Orthodox faithful in Kosovo and Metohija.

On March 17, 2004, as has been widely reported in the media, terrorists began what has been described by the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church as an "unthinkable pogrom" against the region's Orthodox Serbian population, burning religious sites and private residences and at least one village inhabited by Serbs. The conflict has been described as the worst in five years. Especially disconcerting about the attacks is that to date over 15 historic churches and monasteries dating back to the 14th century have been destroyed.

In an appeal issued by the extraordinary session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church dated March 18, 2004, the full text of which may be found below, Patriarch Pavle and the hierarchs decry "the continuation of organized Albanian terrorism against the Orthodox Serbian population, now in existence for several decades, against that which is considered both Serbian and world cultural heritage, as well as against other non-Albanian inhabitants in this area."

"We call upon our faithful to remember in prayer our suffering brothers and sisters in Kosovo and Metohija, that a just and lasting peace will descend on the region, and that the terror which the Orthodox Serbian population has endured for years will end," said Metropolitan Herman. "During this lenten season, in which we are reminded to take up our crosses as we follow Our Lord to Golgotha, let us especially remember those who are enduring the Golgotha of terror, ethnic strife, and gross injustice."