Information Service of THE HOLY SYNOD OF BISHOPS HELD TALKS His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle together with the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops, their Graces Lavrentije - Bishop of Sabac/Valjevo, Irinej - Bishop of Backa and Pahomije - Bishop of Vranje received Prof. Dr. Vojislav Milovanovic - Minister of Religions in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Mr Branislav Lecic - Minister of Culture in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Mr Branislav Krstic - Vice President of the Coordination Centre of the Federal Government and of the Serbian Government for Kosovo and Metochia, Mr Marko Omcikus - Director of the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Serbia, and Mr Jovan Despotovic - Assistant to the Minister for Culture in the Government of the Republic of Serbia in the Patriarchate Palace in Belgrade today.
The talks dwelled on the protection of the Orthodox shrines and cultural heritage of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metochia, including the cultural monuments of all the peoples (Albanians, Turks and others) residing in the southern Serbian region. Bearing in mind that the major part of the entire cultural heritage located in Kosovo and Metochia is owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church and under its direct management (more than 80%), the Holy Synod of Bishops strives that both the cultural monuments of the Serbian Orthodox Church and those of other peoples residing in that region be protected and maintained. The Serbian Orthodox Church accepts the strategy of preservation and protection of cultural monuments advocated by the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Government of the Republic of Serbia through the authorised institutions and strives that all the responsible elements work together on the preservation of the sacral objects and cultural monuments in Kosovo and Metochia. It was agreed that the Governments of both the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and of the Republic of Serbia and the Holy Synod of Bishops should continue to implement - through the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metochia, as well as through other relevant institutions - all the measures necessary for the protection of the shrines and the entire cultural heritage, thereat rendering regular information and performing other activities which would contribute to a continual preservation of the Serbian and European cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metochia. |
