SPC bishop denies he's "soft on Kosovo"

Let's assess this situation:

So we have a bishop playing politics. And also saying that he isn't soft on Kosova.

Number 1: Who cares about your opinion?

Number 2: Go join the military already. (as if that'll do any good)

How enlightened of all you Albanians to speak with one voice and condemn this man for speaking his mind.
How about you go to the Vatican (a power unto itself) and preach the same to the Pope? Perhaps you can travel to middle east and preach all this to the muftis who constantly speak to their faithful about evnets which affect them.

You see, as a religious leader it is his duty to speak to the faithful and put the church's view on all that is happening.

Naturally you will give every one else permission to do that, but dare a Serbian bishop speak up it's fundamentalism etc.

At the same time, would it kill you to speak about him or send messeges to him in a more respectful manner?
After all, isn't this taught in your home too?

These religious leaders of Serbia instead of preaching peace, seem to incite hate. We all know that nothing good comes of this sort of radicalism. If this catches on and continues, the Serbs could become known as religious fanatics like some in the middle east.

The necessary background to this article is (as is often the case at B92) absent. The reason why the bishop's words on Kosovo are considered newsworthy is because rumors have been swirling around Belgrade that he is the man backed by Preisdent Tadic and American Ambassador Munter to take over as the head of a neutered Serbian Orthodox Church for (perhaps) the next several decades.

Since Munter is the local team captain in the U.S.-led push for an independent Kosovo, and since Tadic is said to be deeply in Munter's debt after Munter allegedly "facilitated" the decision by Socialist Party leader Dacic to join Tadic in a coalition, there is considerable interest in whether Bishop Grigorije is being primed to be the Orthodox official who would be needed to seal the surrender of Kosovo.

The reports that Grigorije is close to Bishop Irinej of Australia and New Zealand, who is said to have expressed the view that Kosovo is already lost to Serbia and is also close to Father Sava of Decani, who is accused of saying things in a similar vein, makes this all the more interesting.

In the end, placed in this context, Bishop Grigorije's quoted remarks in this article do not leave me with the feeling that he is 100% committed to opposing the surrender of Kosovo. This might explain why Bishop of Kosovo Artemije is said to be so opposed to Grigorije and why the conservative majority on the synod recently blocked any effort to replace ailing Patriarch Pavle for the time being.

I have no particular insight into this subject and have not yet had the opportunity to interview Bishop Grigorije on the matter. I would therefore welcome any further information that anyone might be able to share in this comments section.

Sincerely,

John Bosnitch
Journalist

The notion that the separation of church and state is embedded into Serbia’s constitution is contradicted by the country’s bishops very often.

Peggy,

In no form was I trying to underestimate the bishop’s abilities as a religious leader. They have the right to speak their mind. However, bishop Grigorije’s comments are very different from that of Pope. Never have I heard Popes encouraging violence (maybe during the crusades), while bishops from Serbia continuously make bold statements that are not only inappropriate, but at the same time they deepen the division between Albanians and Serbs.

“Perhaps you can travel to middle east and preach all this to the muftis who constantly speak to their faithful about evnets which affect them.”

I certainly hope you are opposed to Muslim leaders (those who believe in erasing non-Muslims from this earth) prerogative, I know I am.

Uran, we both know that the Pope meddles in everything.
So how exactly is biship advocating violence and deeper divisions between Serbs and Albanians?
I think this division is the result of the KLA leaders who keep on attacking the remaining Serbs and are guilty of very grusome crimes.
Please don't put the guilt on any Serbian religeious leaders here but look in your own back yard.

I am opposed to the muftis who call for the blood of the infidels loudly. I am opposed to the muftis who claim that Australian girls deserve to be raped because they dress in a certain way and therefore are like "uncovered meat", their words.

I would like to know the words used by this bishop to kill Albanians.

To John #6
You are very close to the mark in what you write.
The referred to 'state of emergency' in the Serbian Orthodox Church is the evil work of individuals you have mentioned.
These days, even the domestic decani wine has a distinct American/Australian bouquet,sadly.

From Peggy:
"How enlightened of all you Albanians to speak with one voice and condemn this man for speaking his mind."

Peggy, if you read the article again, you'll see that he was speaking his mind, but then somebody in Serbia didn't like it, so he "spoke his mind" again, "evangelically" this time.
But I agree with his last 3 sentences reported by B92, he seems to have understood.

John Bosnitch, father Sava is one of the best priests the Serbs have right now. He has always lived in Kosovo, understands it well.

Let's assess this situation:

So we have a bishop playing politics. And also saying that he isn't soft on Kosova.

Number 1: Who cares about your opinion?

Number 2: Go join the military already. (as if that'll do any good)

These religious leaders of Serbia instead of preaching peace, seem to incite hate. We all know that nothing good comes of this sort of radicalism. If this catches on and continues, the Serbs could become known as religious fanatics like some in the middle east.

How enlightened of all you Albanians to speak with one voice and condemn this man for speaking his mind.
How about you go to the Vatican (a power unto itself) and preach the same to the Pope? Perhaps you can travel to middle east and preach all this to the muftis who constantly speak to their faithful about evnets which affect them.

You see, as a religious leader it is his duty to speak to the faithful and put the church's view on all that is happening.

Naturally you will give every one else permission to do that, but dare a Serbian bishop speak up it's fundamentalism etc.

At the same time, would it kill you to speak about him or send messeges to him in a more respectful manner?
After all, isn't this taught in your home too?

The notion that the separation of church and state is embedded into Serbia’s constitution is contradicted by the country’s bishops very often.

Peggy,

In no form was I trying to underestimate the bishop’s abilities as a religious leader. They have the right to speak their mind. However, bishop Grigorije’s comments are very different from that of Pope. Never have I heard Popes encouraging violence (maybe during the crusades), while bishops from Serbia continuously make bold statements that are not only inappropriate, but at the same time they deepen the division between Albanians and Serbs.

“Perhaps you can travel to middle east and preach all this to the muftis who constantly speak to their faithful about evnets which affect them.”

I certainly hope you are opposed to Muslim leaders (those who believe in erasing non-Muslims from this earth) prerogative, I know I am.

Uran, we both know that the Pope meddles in everything.
So how exactly is biship advocating violence and deeper divisions between Serbs and Albanians?
I think this division is the result of the KLA leaders who keep on attacking the remaining Serbs and are guilty of very grusome crimes.
Please don't put the guilt on any Serbian religeious leaders here but look in your own back yard.

I am opposed to the muftis who call for the blood of the infidels loudly. I am opposed to the muftis who claim that Australian girls deserve to be raped because they dress in a certain way and therefore are like "uncovered meat", their words.

I would like to know the words used by this bishop to kill Albanians.

The necessary background to this article is (as is often the case at B92) absent. The reason why the bishop's words on Kosovo are considered newsworthy is because rumors have been swirling around Belgrade that he is the man backed by Preisdent Tadic and American Ambassador Munter to take over as the head of a neutered Serbian Orthodox Church for (perhaps) the next several decades.

Since Munter is the local team captain in the U.S.-led push for an independent Kosovo, and since Tadic is said to be deeply in Munter's debt after Munter allegedly "facilitated" the decision by Socialist Party leader Dacic to join Tadic in a coalition, there is considerable interest in whether Bishop Grigorije is being primed to be the Orthodox official who would be needed to seal the surrender of Kosovo.

The reports that Grigorije is close to Bishop Irinej of Australia and New Zealand, who is said to have expressed the view that Kosovo is already lost to Serbia and is also close to Father Sava of Decani, who is accused of saying things in a similar vein, makes this all the more interesting.

In the end, placed in this context, Bishop Grigorije's quoted remarks in this article do not leave me with the feeling that he is 100% committed to opposing the surrender of Kosovo. This might explain why Bishop of Kosovo Artemije is said to be so opposed to Grigorije and why the conservative majority on the synod recently blocked any effort to replace ailing Patriarch Pavle for the time being.

I have no particular insight into this subject and have not yet had the opportunity to interview Bishop Grigorije on the matter. I would therefore welcome any further information that anyone might be able to share in this comments section.

Sincerely,

John Bosnitch
Journalist

To John #6
You are very close to the mark in what you write.
The referred to 'state of emergency' in the Serbian Orthodox Church is the evil work of individuals you have mentioned.
These days, even the domestic decani wine has a distinct American/Australian bouquet,sadly.

From Peggy:
"How enlightened of all you Albanians to speak with one voice and condemn this man for speaking his mind."

Peggy, if you read the article again, you'll see that he was speaking his mind, but then somebody in Serbia didn't like it, so he "spoke his mind" again, "evangelically" this time.
But I agree with his last 3 sentences reported by B92, he seems to have understood.

John Bosnitch, father Sava is one of the best priests the Serbs have right now. He has always lived in Kosovo, understands it well.