Abbot of Serbian Orthodox Church Visoki Decani Monastery Sava Janjic said Kosovo is an area that no one has the right to renounce, while those who remain silent over that would carry a burden of a curse.
Serbian Orthodox Church, Bishop of Dusseldorf and Germany Grigorije assessed that delineation with Kosovo would bring nothing good to anyone, BETA news agency reported.
“I have no even a glimpse of faith something like that would bring any good to anyone. On the other side many misfortunes and miseries would affect already afflicted people,” Bishop Grigorije told Blic daily.
He noted Kosovo belongs not only to the Serbs, but also to the Albanians, who live there same as Serbs.
Serbian Orthodox Holly Trinity Church in the village of Babljak, Urosevac municipality was broken into last night, KoSSev portal reports.
According to the priest Vlajko Trajkovic, unknown perpetrators broke the window and stole the money that was inside the church.
“They broke the window, despite the window being reinforced with metal bars. They managed to enter the church, took away the money and caused smaller material damage. However, the damage is not material only, our spiritual side was damaged as well,” Trajkovic told RTK2.
KFOR Commander Major General Lorenzo D’Addario in an interview to Radio kontakt plus said he is worried over rhetoric used in Kosovo, warning that one sentence could be a sparkle to create bigger problems.
He termed the situation in Kosovo as peaceful, adding he sees not a single intention to cause incidents.
Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Irinej said that the division of Kosovo and new borders, some are talking about, for the Serbian Orthodox Church, but also for the majority of the population are unacceptable, BETA news agency reports.
Patriarch noted that “Serbia without Kosovo and Metohija is not Serbia”
“As if you would take away a heart from a person, the person is no longer alive,” Patriarch Irinej told RIA Novosti during his visit to Moscow.
Member of Prosperous Serbia (ZS) and the opposition Alliance for Serbia (SZS) Milan Stamatovic, commenting on Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Irinej’s statement that Serbia needs unity and not quarrels, said that Serbian Patriarch should have been in Pec, and not in “Belgrade’s downtown,” B92 reports.
He added the seat of the Serbian Patriarch should be “there where it is hardest (to live) for the Serbian people” and it is “in Pec Patriarchate.”
Unknown persons broke into the Serbian Orthodox Church in the village of Gojbulja, Vucitrn municipality, damaged an entry door and stole a small amount of money, Radio kontkat plus reports, referring to Kosovo police report.
According to the police report, Kosovo Serb reported the case yesterday, while the incident took place between 13 and 17th January.
The Serbian Orthodox Church and its believers will celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the Julian calendar.
Ahead of the holiday, Patriarch Irinej issued his Christmas message, published below in its integral version.
Full Patriarch’s message available at:http://www.spc.rs/eng
Serbian Orthodox Church Raska-Prizren Eparchy Bishop Teodosije met in Moscow with Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who is a Chairman of the Moscow’s Patriarchate Department for Foreign Affairs, KoSSev portal reports.
The two dignitaries also discussed Kosovo and Metohija. Metropolitan Hilarion underlined that Russian Orthodox Church fully supports Serbian Orthodox Church, and its clergy in Kosovo and Metohija, and it would continue unreservedly do so in the future, KoSSev portal reported.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlovic said Pristina should urgently annul decision on imposing additional taxes for goods coming from Serbia, BETA news agency reports.
She noted it is necessary to do so if Pristina authorities and the EU wish to talk about normalization of relations.
Asked to comment stance of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Kosovo, she said, “that Serbia is a secular state in which President Vucic is elected in democratic elections.”