Very, very sad.
Posted on 03/22/2004 11:58:20 PM PST by MarMema
Letter from Zlata Bojovic, professor at Belgrade University:
Friends!
I just had a phone call from my colleague Mitra Reljic, one of the rare Serbs who until last night spent five years alone in self-imposed house arrest in Pristina, in daily life threatening danger, who is now in some camp in Kosovo Polje. She is in despair. A few minutes ago she received a cell phone call from Father Miroslav, the priest of St. Nicholas Church in Pristina. The church is in flames. It is surrounded by rampaging Shiptars (Albanians). Father Miroslav is alone in the basement of the church. It is still not known who, when and whether anyone will go in and save him.
Please inform everyone near and far from you what is going on. There is a pogrom against the Serbs going on in the presence of the armed forces of the "civilized" world who are vaguely pretending to be what they are not. In Svinjare 2,000 KFOR troops silently allowed the Shiptars to enter the village and set it on fire.
There is video footage filmed by a man who lost everything. Churches from the 12th and 14th centuries are in flames. I am ashamed that I cannot do anything. No one should be keeping their eyes and ears shut for the sake of their health and their good mood. Those who cannot do anything better should at least feel ashamed. For themselves and for those who have forgotten.
And to say a prayer for all those martyrs down there (in Kosovo and Metohija). Send this message to everyone you know. Disturb those who are not yet distrubed. They should thank you if you succeed in awakening their conscience. Write to the world. Don't let anyone say they didn't know. Write. Ring the bells.
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Faites suivre cette lettre dramatique reçue du professeur Zlata Bojovic, de l'université de Belgrade, qui prie de la diffuser. Amis ! Je viens juste de recevoir un appel téléphonique d'une collègue Mitra Reljic, une des rares Serbes qui jusqu'à hier soir vivait depuis cinq ans seule, dans une sorte de résidence surveillée à Pristina, exposée chaque jour à un danger de mort et qui maintenant se trouve dans un camp de Kosovo Polje. Elle est désespérée parce que le père Miroslav de l'église Saint Nicolas de Pristina l'a appelée sur son téléphone portable et lui a annoncé que l'église avait été brûlée, et qu'il était seul dans le sous-sol cuisine sans savoir s'il sera sauvé, par qui et quand. Les Albanais festoient dehors. Par pitié faites savoir à tous, près ou loin, ce qui se passe. Là -bas a lieu un pogrom contre les Serbes sous les yeux des forces armées du monde "civilisé" qui prétendent rester neutres. A Svinjare se trouve une force de 2000 de la KFOR qui a laissé sans un mot les Albanais entrer et tout brûler. Il en existe une preuve directe, une video filmée par un habitant. Les églises du 12° et du 14° siècles finissent de brûler. J'ai honte de ne rien pouvoir faire.
Personne ne doit fermer les yeux et les oreilles pour préserver sa santé et sa bonne humeur. Celui qui ne peut rien faire de mieux doit au moins avoir honte, pour lui et pour ceux qui ont même oublié la honte. Et dites une prière pour tous ces martyrs là -bas. Diffusez cette lettre à tous ceux que vous connaissez, alertez ceux qui ne savent pas encore.
Ils devraient vous être reconnaissants si vous arrivez à réveiller leur conscience. Ecrivez dans toutes les directions. Ne permettez à personne de pouvoir dire ensuite qu'il n'a pas su. Ecrivez. Sonnez le tocsin. ----------------------------------------------
Inoltro questa drammatica lettera ricevuta da Zlata Bojovic, prof.ord. dell'universitа di Belgrado, pregando di diffonderla:
Amici! Ho appena ricevuto una telefonata dalla collega Mitra Reljic, una delle rare donne serbe che fino a ieri sera viveva da cinque anni sola, in una specie di arresti domiciliari a pristina, esposta a quotidiani pericoli di vita e che adesso si trova in un capo di Kosovo Polje. E' disperata perche il responsabile della chiesa san Nicola (sv. Nikola) di Pristina l'ha raggiunta sul telefonino dicendole che la chiesa stava bruciano, mentre lui si trovava nella cantina aspettando una salvezza improbabile, con gli albanesi fuori che imperversavano fuori. Inoltre, nel paese Svinjare 2000 soldati delle forze di "pace" stanziati lа, hanno fatto entrare gli albanesi che hanno incendiato e distrutto il paese. Esiste la testimonianza diretta, un filmato fatto da un abitante.
Stanno bruciando le chiese del XII e del XIV secolo. Mi vergogno perche non posso fare nulla. nessuno deve tapparsi le orrecchie e gli occhi, pensando alle altre cose: la propria salute o per non rovinarsi il buon umore. Chi non e' in grado di fare qualcosa, dovrebbe almeno vergognarsi, per se e per quelli che hanno dimenticato cosa vuol dire questa parola. Inoltrate questa lettera in modo che vengano toccati anche coloro che non sono ancora stati toccati. Dovrebbero esservi grati se riuscite a risvegliare la loro coscienza. Inoltratela a tutti e non permettete che poi dicano, di non avere saputo nulla.
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Pismo od Zlate Bojovic, redovnog profesora beogradskog Univerziteta:
Prijatelji!
Upravo mi je telefonirala koleginica Mitra Reljic jedna od retkih Srpkinja koja je do sinoc zivela pet godina sama u dobrovoljnom kucnom zatvoru u Pristini, u svakodnevnoj zivotnoj opasnosti, a sada je u nekom kampu u Kosovu Polju. Ocajna je. Pre nekoliko trenutaka javio joj se mobilnim otac Miroslav staresina crkve sv. Nikole u Pristini. Crkva gori. Okruzena je Siptarima koji divljaju. Otac Miroslav je sam u podrumu crkve. Jos se ne zna ko ce, kad ce i da li ce iko krenuti da ga spasava. Molim vas javljate svima bliskim i dalekim sta se desava. Tamo je pogrom nad Srbima u prisustvu oruzanih snaga "civilizovanog" sveta koje mlako glume da jesu ono sto nisu. U Svinjarama je 2000 vojnika KFOR/a cutke propustilo Siptare da udju u selo i zapale ga. O tome svedoci u kameru covek odatle kome je sve izgorelo. Gore crkve iz 12. i 14. veka. Stidim se sto ne mogu nista da ucinim. Ne treba niko da zatvara oci i usi , da cuva zdravlje i da ne kvari sebi raspolozenje.
Ko ne moze nista bolje da ucini treba barem da se stidi. Za sebe i za one koji su to zaboravili. I da se pomoli za sve one mucenike dole.
Posaljite ovu poruku kome god znate. Uznemirite one koji se jos nisu uznemirili. Treba da vam budu zahvalni ako uspete da probudite njihovu savest. Pisite na sve strane. Ne dozvolite nikome da kaze da nije znao.
Pisite. Zvonite.
Very, very sad.
" MOSCOW, March 23 (Itar-Tass) - Patriarch Alexiy II of Moscow and All Russia and European religious leaders meet here on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Kosovo.
Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Bishop Gunnar Stolsett of Oslo, and Mustafa Ceric, Supreme Mufti of Bosnia, arrived here on Monday to attend a meeting of the Executive Committee of the European Council of Religious Leaders (ECRL). They stated that they intended to send an ECRL delegation to Kosovo as a mediator in the efforts to settle the situation.
The spiritual leaders of Europe also believe that all European countries in their international policies must give priority to a solution to the Kosovo problem.
Metropolitan Kirill, head of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for foreign church relations, is of the opinion that the present tragedy in Kosovo is the result of a great political error made in the process of settling the conflict.
In the Norwegian Bishop's view, the origins of the conflict in Kosovo are not religious. However, politicians hotted up religious sentiments. So, the current hostility between the Serbs and ethnic Albanians is now closely connected with religion.
Bosnia's Supreme Mufti visualises a way out of the situation in establishing a dialogue. He believes that the Serbs and Muslims must live together.
Now if it were a mosque in flames that would be newsworthy!
Sure...if we wait for the politicians to care you can forget about it!
Saint Nicholas Orthodox church, Pristina
"The church of St. Nicholas was built in 1830 on the grounds of the old Serbian Monastery of St. Nicholas, mentioned in the 16th century. This is also the only functioning Serbian Orthodox church in Pristina. At the moment only one of my priests, Fr. Miroslav Popadic, lives with his in the parish home and regularly serves holy services for the remaining 200 Serbs in Pristina. Fr. Miroslav is unable to walk safely even in his churchyard, let alone in the streets of Pristina. He is living in a state of siege and he performs his parish duties under constant risk.
At the end of 2002 KFOR protection was replaced by two police officers, one from the UNMIK police and the other from KPS. During February the church was guarded only by a single KPS officer. Since then the church has been left without any protection at all. At the same time attacks on this church multiplied with almost everyday verbal abuses and stoning which has caused much damage to the church property.
"In the church of St. Nicholas Fr. Mirloslav with Will Clowney, representative of the International Orthodox Christian Charities IOCC - one of few organizations which care about Serbian Orthodox Church and its believers"
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