Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
November 5, 2004

PODGORICA MAYOR WANTS TO DESTROY EVERYTHING THAT IS SERBIAN
COMMUNIQUE FROM MEETING OF SERBIAN ORTHODOX AND ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
CONFERENCE OF ORTHODOX JOURNALISTS AT ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE

PODGORICA MAYOR WANTS TO DESTROY
EVERYTHING THAT IS SERBIAN

The largest religious building in Montenegro, the church of the Resurrection of Christ whose construction began in 1994 and is now almost complete, will soon be destroyed if Podgorica’s Franjo Tahi* (read: Miomir Mugosa) has anything to say about it. This strange and foolish, for many incredible, “disposition” on the part of Mugosa has shaken up the up the entire Orthodox community in little Montenegro and beyond.

Ten years after the beginning of construction Mugosa’s administration has determined that the decision waiving the payment of communal taxes for the construction of the church by the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral was illegally passed. The Byzantine appearance, beauty and imposing presence of the largest church in Montenegro have begun to bother Mugosa probably because it does not reflect his future in office.

The church of the Resurrection of Christ is bothering Mugosa because of the supposed lack of a license while at the same time no one is asking where are the licenses of housing buildings springing up all over Podgorica like mushrooms since he assumed office. The only thing not known is whom he intends to house in these buildings (he probably plans to have all the supporters of independence in the same housing block).

“Long ago, on December 26, 1994” then president of the executive board of the Public fund for construction sites, commercial property and roads Mihailo Banjevic made the decision to waive the payment of communal taxes for the building of the church by the Metropolitanate. At that time, this was the donation of the Municipality of Podgorica toward the church’s construction. Today that document, according to the interpreters of Mugosa’s Agency for building and development of Podgorica (the former Public fund for construction sites, commercial property and roads) is null and void regardless of the fact that the decision was made by the same institution, while Mr. Banjevic today does not dare to confirm the decision he himself signed, thus trampling on his former decision and exchanging it for the many executive posts he has held in recent years.

The Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral has in its possession original proof of the regulated communal taxes for the Church; consequently, all subsequent decisions of the present Agency are nonbinding. All the papers Mugosa and those of his ilk are waving around these days in the Montenegrin parliament are obviously created to deceive the gullible; whether they will have the courage to carry out this dirty task they have begun remains to be seen. The faithful, who by a miracle still exist in Montenegro despite the tyrannical policy of the ruling regime, will certainly defend the church because by doing so they will be defending their personal identity for they know who they are and what are their origins.

* Medieval feudal lord whose oppression of the common folk led to the Peasant Revolt of 1573

COMMUNIQUE FROM MEETING OF SERBIAN ORTHODOX AND ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Trebinje, November 4, 2004

From our sixth meeting, held on November 4, 2004 in Trebinje, we, the Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina, hereby state our view on selected common and current issues of our respective Churches. Aware and proud that Bosnia and Herzegovina is our common homeland, it is because of its current problems that we state our common willingness, to which call on our faithful and on all people of goodwill, to give their contribution to the well being and prosperity of all people in it. In order for these efforts to bear fruit, we call on all responsible domestic representatives of the Bosnia and Herzegovina government together with representatives of the international community to respect and implement, and not to obstruct, the laws they themselves have passed, and which comprise the highest standards of human rights and religious freedoms. We do not understand or accept that the Law on freedom of confession and the legal position of the Churches and religious communities still has not been implemented, eight months after its ratification.

As a result, in addition to violations of other fundamental human rights and freedoms such as the right to return, the right to property, and the right to elementary conditions for living, it is possible ten years after the war for continuous and unsanctioned physical attacks, unfounded defamation of church and religious officials, and desecration of churches, holy shrines, cemeteries and other sacred objects to occur.

We again reiterate our “common Christian and evangelical commitment to justice and freedom for every person and people, and openness to cooperation with other traditional religious communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. In that spirit, we consider it our moral duty to seek and push through concrete forms of mutual dialogue, which will be in the service of human dignity and coexistence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For that very reason, we cannot but express our regret and concern due to the persistent, ill-intentioned treatment and distortion of Christianity and its values, which have been woven into the being of this land for centuries.

We, the Serbian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Bishops, demand of the social community and the Office of the high representative that unjustly appropriated buildings without which basic and regular activities cannot be organized finally be returned to the Churches and religious communities, as well as to all others. We ask that a decade-old injustice be rectified and that the seminary building in Sarajevo be returned tot he ownership of the Serbian Orthodox Church so that the training and education of priest-candidates may be organized in it.

We call on the priests and faithful of our respective Churches but also on all sons and daughters of our dear homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to meet, help and encourage in the effort to return and survive in this land of our forefathers in mutual love, not fearing self-sacrifice, with the strength of their faith in God and love toward humanity and their native land. Let them not leave their centuries-old hearths easily; let them instead fill them with life in their families. Together with us, let them, too, seek from their political representatives, domestic and international, that return and survival be enabled for all to whom this is a dear homeland. We wish to inform you at this time that we will be issue a joint epistle on the eve of the most joyful Christian holiday – Christmas. We invoke the wealth of the Lord’s blessing and prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos upon all.

BISHOPS OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX
AND ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES
OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

CONFERENCE OF ORTHODOX JOURNALISTS AT ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE

On Tuesday, November 9, 2004, at 8:00 a.m. a Conference of Orthodox Journalists will be held at the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade. Representatives of church media and reporters from the secular media who write about church issues will attend this unique gathering.

The theme of the Conference of Orthodox Journalists will be Church and media relations. The gathering will last from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The Conference of Orthodox Journalists is organized by “Pravoslavlje” (Orthodoxy), the official publication of the Serbian Patriarchate, with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral, in cooperation with the editorial board of the magazine “Dveri srpske” (Serbian Portal).

[Serbian Translation Services]