February 16, 2005

A delegation from the Conference of European Churches (CEC) has just completed a four-day visit to Serbia, including Kosovo, 10-14 February 2005. The aim of the visit, which was hosted by the Serbian Orthodox Church, was to renew and strengthen the links between CEC and the Orthodox Church and other member churches of CEC in that country. It was the first such official visit by CEC to Serbia since 2001.

The delegation comprised: Rev. Dr Keith Clements, General Secretary of CEC; His Eminence Bishop Athanasios of Achaia (Church of Greece, member of CEC Central Committee); Dr Mariela Michailova (Methodist Church, Bulgaria, member of CEC Central Committee); and Rev. Matthew Ross (Executive Secretary, CEC Church and Society Commission, Brussels). A fifth person appointed to the delegation, OKRin Antje Heider-Rottwilm (Evangelical Church of Germany) was unfortunately unable to participate at the last minute due to illness.

In Belgrade, following a visit to the Orthodox Faculty of Theology, the delegation met with His Holiness Pavle, Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and members of the Holy Synod. Meetings continued in Novi Sad where they held lengthy discussions with His Eminence Bishop Irinej of Backa, and with the leaders of the three Protestant CEC member churches in Vjovodina: Bishop Samuel Vrbovsky and Dr Arpad Dolinszky (Slovak Lutheran Church in Yugoslavia), Bishop Istvan Csete-Szemesi (Reformed Church), and Superintendent Ana Palik-Kuncak (Methodist Church).

On Saturday 12 February, following attendance at Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Three Hierarchs in Novi Sad, the delegation undertook the six-hour road journey to Pristina, capital of Kosovo-Metohija. The next day they visited the historic sites of Serbian Orthodoxy in Kosovo: the monastery of Gracinica, the ancient churches of the Patriarchate of Pec, and the monastery of Decani, all of which are under armed protection by the troops of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR). At Gracinica extensive discussions were held with His Eminence Bishop Artemije of Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija and at Decani with Bishop Teodosije, on the fears of the Serb minority, the need for early return of Serb refugees and displaced persons, and the prospects for inter-religious dialogue. The President of Serbia, Mr Boris Tadic, was due to visit Kosovo next day.

The fragility of the situation in Kosovo was underlined for the group by their need to be accompanied at all points in the province by armed UNMIK escorts. On returning to Pristina the delegation had a 50-minute meeting with Mr Søren Jessen-Petersen, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Kosovo, and his staff, in which they discussed the need for security to be maintained, for confidence to be rebuilt among the communities in Kosovo, the prospects for return of refugees and the role which the church can play in the processes of reconstruction.

On 14 February in Belgrade, the delegation's final engagement was a 90-minute meeting and lunch with the Serbian Minister of Faiths, Mr Milan Radulovic. The major item in the discussion was the proposed new Religious Law for Serbia, especially as this would affect the Methodist Church, which is not recognised as a "traditional church" in the present draft, and also such groups as the Baptists.

In addition to these meetings with church leaders and secular officials, an important aspect of the visit was the time spent with representatives of church-related educational and humanitarian organisations in Serbia: the Christian Cultural Centre in Belgrade (Very Rev. Professor Radovan Bigovic and colleagues); Philanthropy (Diaconic organization of the Orthodox Church in Belgrade led by Mr Dragan Makojevic); and in Novi Sad the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organisation (EHO) (Director Mr Karolj Beres and staff).

On return to Geneva CEC General Secretary Dr Clements stated: "This visit underlined for us the need to stay with and encourage our member churches in difficult and complex situations once they are no longer news headlines. It was most encouraging to see how the Orthodox Church is recruiting into its own life, and that of related organisations, very gifted and committed young people who want to translate their faith into social praxis with openness for dialogue. This is particularly significant for us in CEC in view of our sponsorship of projects for peace-building and inter-religious dialogue in South-East Europe. But huge challenges remain. Above all, Kosovo must not be forgotten. Hope there is still very tenuous after the tragedies of March last year. But no opportunity, however small it may seem, must be lost to maintain and promote the status of Kosovo as a multiethnic society. In that effort, Serb and Albanian politicians, the international community and Serbian religious leaders themselves all have inescapable responsibilities – and so do we in the ecumenical world."

Conference of European Churches