On Sunday, Bishop of Raska-Prizren Teodosije refuted the claims published by some Belgrade-based media that the late Patriarch Pavle was in favour of the division of Kosovo, reported Serbian media.

Bishop Teodosije opined that “the idea of a territorial-ethnic division of Serbia in KiM, which is nothing but an invitation for the betrayal of Kosovo, people and the state, all of us are being brought into a state of further confusion and hopelessness”.

“Therefore, at the last May session, held in the year when we celebrate 800th anniversary of the Autocephaly of our Church, SOC (Serbian Orthodox church) has unanimously, clearly and precisely presented its position of opposing the betrayal of KiM, be it under the guise of division or recognition. This position of our Church is at the same time a strong message that any renunciation of Kosovo and Metohija would be not only an act of betrayal but also a collective curse that our generation would bear before the history of its own people, and above all before God,” Bishop Tedosije warned in a press communiqué published by the Information service of the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren.

Bishop Teodosije commented the media claims that refer to the memoirs of the late academic and writer Dobrica Cosic, which in his view are a “gross and brazen slander which deeply offends the memory of our holy Patriarch, who not only never supported the betrayal of KiM, but who was himself branded as the traitor, after demanding on July 21, 1999 with the Holy Synod the resignation of the then state leadership of Serbia because of the loss-making policy over Kosovo and Metohija.”

Teodosije wondered “who benefits today from the spreading of such false information and defeatist views of Dobrica Cosic, who publicly claimed that Kosovo and Metohija is a cancer which Serbia must get rid of.”

“Today, Kosovo and Metohija is defended primarily by faith, hope, sufferance; by looking after the people living in those areas, by supporting all those who would like to return to their eternal homes. Therefore, our Church has consistently and always fought for the right of our people to remain and survive in this area, in peace with all those who live here and preservation of our spiritual and cultural heritage that we have inherited from our ancestors and which, as a rule, as most of our people KiM is located south of the Ibar River. Let us remember, in the end, the words of Holy Patriarch Pavle who said: In the 21st century, Kosovo will be the measure and a test for all of us, from modest workers to patriarchs and leaders of the Serbian tribe. If we are not worthy of Kosovo, we will not be worthy of our earthly existence. We will disappear as if we never existed, and someone else will live in our stead,” warned Bishop Teodosije.