The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church visited Kosovo and Metohija
After the meeting of the Holy Synod of Bishops at the Patriarchate of Pec Monastery, the Synodal Bishops, together with Bishop Teodosije, visited Decani Monastery, met with Serb returnees and villagers, and visited sites reconstructed by the Commission for Implementation of Reconstruction of the Council of Europe in Djakovica and Prizren.
Divine Liturgy in Pec Patriarchate Monastery presided over by Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro, the senior member of the Holy Synod (photo Dragan Tanasijevic)
KIM Info-service
Decani, 4 March 2008
Four members of the Holy Synod of Bishops (the highest administrative body of the Serbian Orthodox Church) led in the absence of the ailing Patriarch Pavle by Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro, Bishop Chrisostom of Zica, Bishop Chrisostom of Bihac-Petrovac, and Bishop Filaret of Mileseva, and Fr Sava Jovic, the Secretary of the Holy Synod, visited Kosovo and Metohija. Yeterday evening, they were greeted by Bishop Teodosije and Abbess Fevronia and the sisters of the Pec Patriarchate monastery. During the evening, the Synodal bishops met with the KFOR commander of the Multinational brigade West, Brigadier General Nicola Falsaperna (Italian Army). The Bishops thanked the General for the protection of Serbian Orthodox sites by the soldiers of the MNB –West.
Breakfast with the gathered Serb villagers and returnees to the town of Pec after the Liturgy
(photo Dragan Tanasijevic)
On Tuesday morning, Metropolitan Amfilohije served the Divine Liturgy together with other bishops and clergy. Afterwards, during breakfast, the Synodal Bishops met with Serbs from Pec and neighbouring villages who had attended the Liturgy. During the official Synodal meeting, Bishop Teodosije informed the Synod members on the present situation in Kosovo. After the meeting of the Synod, the communiqué was read to the media, and Metropolitan Amfilohije explained to the journalists of KIM Radio (Caglavica) that the Serbian Orthodox Church is not supporting severing relations with the international community, but, will continue keeping good relations with all who have so far helped the Church and the people. Afterwards, the Synodal Bishops, accompanied by Bishop Teodosije, visited Visoki Decani monastery where they were received by the Decani monks and a group of pilgrims.
A procession at the entrance to Decani Monastery – Metropolitan Amfilohije wearing his episcopal cloak, or mandyas
(photo Dragan Tanasijevic)
After the prayer at the Decani Monastery Church, and a doxology officiated by Metropolitan Amfilohije, the bishops were offered lunch in the monastery refectory. In the afternoon, the Synodal Bishiops with Bishop Teodosije visited the neighbouring city of Djakovica and the site where the church and the parish house destroyed in riots in March 2004 are being reconstructed. The bishops talked to the Kosovo Albanian contractor working on the reconstruction.
In Prizren, all remaining 28 Serbs in this city greeted the Synodal bishops with traditional bread and salt in front of the recently reconstructed St George Cathedral in the centre of the city. After the prayer in the church, and a short conversation with the people to whom Metropolitan Amfilohije distributed gifts, the bishops visited the reconstructed building of the Episcopal residence and the Seminary of Ss Cyril and Methodius, as well as the ancient Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Bogorodica Ljeviska.
In the evening, the bishops of the Holy Synod, accompanied by Bishop Teodosije, left Kosovo and returned to Belgrade.
Doxology: a solemn prayer in the Decani Monastery church
(photo Dragan Tanasijevic)
After the meeting of the Holy Synod in the Pec Patriarchate, the following communiqué was issued:
The Beginning of the Holy Synod meeting in the Pec Patriarchate Monastery refectory
(photo Dragan Tanasijevic)
Communiqué of the Holy Synod of Bishops After its Meeting in the Peć Patriarchate on 4 March 2008
The members of the Holy Synod of Bishops [of the Serbian Orthodox Church], escorted by an Italian KFOR contingent, arrived yesterday in the holy Monastery of the Peć Patriarchate where they held their fifth regular session this year, having first served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Apostles.
Holding today’s session in this patriarchal seat and ancient spiritual heart of the Serbian Orthodox Church is a sign of the Church’s concern for its holy shrines and its faithful in Kosovo and Metohija, who were addressed with words of encouragement and paternal love in this period burdened with suffering and new trails.
With their visit to Kosovo and Metohija, the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops also sent yet again a powerful appeal to a part of the international community against the unilateral recognition of the so-called state of Kosovo, asking it to re-examine its responsibility for this illegal and highly coerced move which completely violates international law, the United Nations Charter, and [UN Security Council] Resolution 1244. It is incomprehensible to common sense that at the beginning of the 21st century an entire people can be collectively punished with the harshest of punishments without a trial or justification for this decision. Such unilateral and forcibly imposed solutions are, in fact, a sign of the moral division of modern justice-seekers, not a sign of strength; a sign of confidence in [the use of] force as the ultimate method of resolving human conflicts, not in God and His justice, and human justice upon which the world rests.
Synodal Bishops with Bishop Teodosije and Fr Sava Jovic, the Secretary of the Synod (from left: Bishop Teodosije, Bishop Chrisostom of Zica, Metropolitan Amfilohije, Bishop Chrisostom of Bihac-Petrovac (BiH), Bishop Filaret of Mileseva and Fr Sava Jovic)
(photo Dragan Tanasijevic)
As a Church, we will defend Kosovo and Metohija with our faith, hope, and love but above all, with the repentance that also adorned our ancestors, who erred but ever returned to God. Morally and in prayer we are with the state of Serbia and with all justice-loving individuals and peoples, and we lend them our support to find just, rational, and dignified means so that Kosovo and Metohija, which is the heart of Serbia, remains forever in Serbia. We also pray for the nation’s leaders that God may give them wisdom, unite and gather them so they may harmoniously navigate the boat of Serbia at this difficult historical moment, guided primarily by faith in God’s justice, which sustains countries and cities.
We must retain and preserve our Kosovo and Metohija, this holy place where we were created, matured, and survived as a people, knowing that the only thing lost is what we ourselves renounce. That is why we also call on refugees to return to their ancestral homes, which no can take from them or dare to try.
At the same time, we call on our fellow Bishops, state officials and all institutions to collect material assistance for those who have returned and who will return to Kosovo and Metohija.
We are close to the beginning of the Great Fast of forty days. Therefore, we call on all the faithful to fast and pray, to forgive each other and repent. Never have we been in greater need of fasting and prayer than today, for according to the word of the Lord, every demon, every demonic evil, including the one that we are now experiencing, can only be expelled through fasting and prayer. What is impossible for mortals is possible for God. We place our hope in Him and we place our future, as well as the future of all persons and all peoples, in the Hands of Him who was crucified and Resurrected. He, our Lord and Saviour, teaches us to love not only those who love us but also those who hate us. Hence, we are all duty-bound to forgive and ask for forgiveness, in community with all well-meaning persons, with profound awareness that this is the only path that leads us to the realisation of justice and peace with all those with whom we share this piece of blessed Kosovo and Metohija land, as well as with all well-meaning persons and peoples.
After the meeting, the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops visited Visoki Dečani Monastery, Đakovica, and Prizren. The Holy Synod met with our people, faithful to their holy shrines and churches, who have not lost hope in the victory of the good and freedom, praying that the Lord may grant us all the strength to endure on the path of God’s justice and truth.
Almost-completely-reconstructed Episcopal residence in Prizren burned by Kosovo Albanian rioters in March 2004 (archive photo from beginning of February 200 
www.kosovo.net
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