"Serb churches will not be restored"

If I would be Albanian, don't get how would I sleep calm after so many crimes committed, especially against Church. Albanians must be brave people or too deeply in Jihad!

"Artemije should not talk about religious issues"

The Bishop of Raska and Prizren should not talk about religious issues?

I shake my head in disbelief when I read such inappropriate comments.

Are these comments based on ignorance, arrogance or both?

Never say "never". It's certainly an emotional issue to discuss the churches and other holy sites descecrated and/or destroyed since 1999, but let's bear something else in mind:

The Serbian monastery of Sopocani is regarded as one of Serbia's greatest artistic tresures. Its frescoes are some of the finest in Serbia and are considered unique works of art. Such a monastery was deserted for 200 years - 200 YEARS! Its vaults caved in, its dome collapsed, and the surrounding buildings were overgrown. Then in the 20th century it was restored to the point where today no traces of abandonment or decay can be found.

My point here is that what was destroyed can be rebuilt. What was damaged, can be repaired. Regardless of what I think about the government in Pristina, an effort to restore the main churches in Kosovo can go a long way in begining to repair (if not altogether establish) some rudimentary working relationship between Serbs and Albanians.

If religious leaders should not talk about religion then what else are they supposed to talk about?

Politics, sex, money and corruption perhaps????

Can an intelligent mature person really make this comment and be serious at the same time?

Maks, interesting comment, but somewhat debatable.

Yes, Christianity existed in the old Roman province of Illyricum - no historian will deny this.

Yes, Illyricum was moved from Rome to Constantinople under Leo III - again this is fully written in Byzantine history, and much of the Balkans was a power play between the two churches for centuries (Bulgaria first flirted with the Latins before joining Byzantium, and even Serbia's Stefan Nemanja was crowned by the Pope in Rome, though St. Sava was ordained Serbia's first archbishop by the Patriarch of Constantinople-in-exile).

So from these two premises we can conclude that Christianity existed in what is now Kosovo, Albania, and Dalmatian Croatia before official Slavic churches were established.

However, it is a far cry from this to say that Serb churches were built in place of preexisting structures. Secondly it is even a further stretch of truth to say that the existing Serb churches, were at one point Illyrian or "Albanian" as you call it. The churches that were built and stand today in Kosovo at Decani, Pec, and Prizren, were undeniably built by Serbs, and has the firm backing of the same historians that attested to the above facts.

Also, to call it the "Albanian church" is a stretch since there was no indentifiable Albanian hierarchy. If anything, churches were headed by either Greek-speaking or Latin-speaking clergy. The "Albanian" identity is more an late eighteenth/nineteenth creation.

There can be no doubt as to the historical presence of Christianity in the region before the Slavs. I am all for a clear understanding of the history of the region, and I'm all for a rediscovery of a pre-Slavic history of the region. But we need to be careful in ascribing what is Slavic and what is pre-Slavic. We also need to take heed in acknowledging what is definitively Serbian in the region and rendering unto Serbs what is their own past.

Artemije should not talk about religious issues. Churches and Mosques are heritage of Kosova. Let the historian write the history.

“They name them Byzantine, Kosovar, Illyrian or Orthodox, but the term Serb is never used though the fact remains that they were built by the Serb people under Serb rule,” Artemije said.

Here is the truth:
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-42644/Albania

Long before that event, Christianity had become the established religion in Albania, supplanting pagan polytheism and eclipsing for the most part the humanistic world outlook and institutions inherited from the Greek and Roman civilizations. But, though the country was in the fold of Byzantium, Albanian Christians remained under the jurisdiction of the Roman pope until 732. In that year the iconoclast Byzantine emperor Leo III, angered by Albanian archbishops because they had supported Rome in the Iconoclastic Controversy, detached the Albanian church from the Roman pope and placed it under the patriarch of Constantinople. When the Christian church split in 1054 between the East and Rome, southern Albania retained its tie to Constantinople while northern Albania reverted to the jurisdiction of Rome. This split in the Albanian church marked the first significant religious fragmentation of the country.

It is ABSOLUTELY not true what Bishop Artemije is saying. Bishop Artemije is a religious person and should be respected as one but it is really sad to see a religious person not telling the truth.
The kosovar government put millions of dollars into restoring the churches but the Bishop is refusing to cooperate in order to rebuild the churches. In one side he is accusing the kosovar government of not rebuilding the churches and in the other side he does not cooperate to rebuild the churches. What a nonsense.
After all, the kosovar government is paying and willing to rebuild the orthodox churches, but in the other side, the serb government NEVER even talked about rebuilding the catholic churches and muslim mosques that were destroyed by serb military and paramilitary groups during the wars.
Isnt it sad that you serbs only want action to rebuild the orthodox churches but never mention the catholic churches?

Artemije should not talk about religious issues. Churches and Mosques are heritage of Kosova. Let the historian write the history.

If I would be Albanian, don't get how would I sleep calm after so many crimes committed, especially against Church. Albanians must be brave people or too deeply in Jihad!

“They name them Byzantine, Kosovar, Illyrian or Orthodox, but the term Serb is never used though the fact remains that they were built by the Serb people under Serb rule,” Artemije said.

Here is the truth:
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-42644/Albania

Long before that event, Christianity had become the established religion in Albania, supplanting pagan polytheism and eclipsing for the most part the humanistic world outlook and institutions inherited from the Greek and Roman civilizations. But, though the country was in the fold of Byzantium, Albanian Christians remained under the jurisdiction of the Roman pope until 732. In that year the iconoclast Byzantine emperor Leo III, angered by Albanian archbishops because they had supported Rome in the Iconoclastic Controversy, detached the Albanian church from the Roman pope and placed it under the patriarch of Constantinople. When the Christian church split in 1054 between the East and Rome, southern Albania retained its tie to Constantinople while northern Albania reverted to the jurisdiction of Rome. This split in the Albanian church marked the first significant religious fragmentation of the country.

"Artemije should not talk about religious issues"

The Bishop of Raska and Prizren should not talk about religious issues?

I shake my head in disbelief when I read such inappropriate comments.

Are these comments based on ignorance, arrogance or both?

It is ABSOLUTELY not true what Bishop Artemije is saying. Bishop Artemije is a religious person and should be respected as one but it is really sad to see a religious person not telling the truth.
The kosovar government put millions of dollars into restoring the churches but the Bishop is refusing to cooperate in order to rebuild the churches. In one side he is accusing the kosovar government of not rebuilding the churches and in the other side he does not cooperate to rebuild the churches. What a nonsense.
After all, the kosovar government is paying and willing to rebuild the orthodox churches, but in the other side, the serb government NEVER even talked about rebuilding the catholic churches and muslim mosques that were destroyed by serb military and paramilitary groups during the wars.
Isnt it sad that you serbs only want action to rebuild the orthodox churches but never mention the catholic churches?

Never say "never". It's certainly an emotional issue to discuss the churches and other holy sites descecrated and/or destroyed since 1999, but let's bear something else in mind:

The Serbian monastery of Sopocani is regarded as one of Serbia's greatest artistic tresures. Its frescoes are some of the finest in Serbia and are considered unique works of art. Such a monastery was deserted for 200 years - 200 YEARS! Its vaults caved in, its dome collapsed, and the surrounding buildings were overgrown. Then in the 20th century it was restored to the point where today no traces of abandonment or decay can be found.

My point here is that what was destroyed can be rebuilt. What was damaged, can be repaired. Regardless of what I think about the government in Pristina, an effort to restore the main churches in Kosovo can go a long way in begining to repair (if not altogether establish) some rudimentary working relationship between Serbs and Albanians.

Maks, interesting comment, but somewhat debatable.

Yes, Christianity existed in the old Roman province of Illyricum - no historian will deny this.

Yes, Illyricum was moved from Rome to Constantinople under Leo III - again this is fully written in Byzantine history, and much of the Balkans was a power play between the two churches for centuries (Bulgaria first flirted with the Latins before joining Byzantium, and even Serbia's Stefan Nemanja was crowned by the Pope in Rome, though St. Sava was ordained Serbia's first archbishop by the Patriarch of Constantinople-in-exile).

So from these two premises we can conclude that Christianity existed in what is now Kosovo, Albania, and Dalmatian Croatia before official Slavic churches were established.

However, it is a far cry from this to say that Serb churches were built in place of preexisting structures. Secondly it is even a further stretch of truth to say that the existing Serb churches, were at one point Illyrian or "Albanian" as you call it. The churches that were built and stand today in Kosovo at Decani, Pec, and Prizren, were undeniably built by Serbs, and has the firm backing of the same historians that attested to the above facts.

Also, to call it the "Albanian church" is a stretch since there was no indentifiable Albanian hierarchy. If anything, churches were headed by either Greek-speaking or Latin-speaking clergy. The "Albanian" identity is more an late eighteenth/nineteenth creation.

There can be no doubt as to the historical presence of Christianity in the region before the Slavs. I am all for a clear understanding of the history of the region, and I'm all for a rediscovery of a pre-Slavic history of the region. But we need to be careful in ascribing what is Slavic and what is pre-Slavic. We also need to take heed in acknowledging what is definitively Serbian in the region and rendering unto Serbs what is their own past.

If religious leaders should not talk about religion then what else are they supposed to talk about?

Politics, sex, money and corruption perhaps????

Can an intelligent mature person really make this comment and be serious at the same time?