Bishops spoke "most naturally" at protest rally

BELGRADE Petar Petkovic says Metropolitan Amfilohije and retired Bishop Atanasije "said the most natural things for bishops" during a protest in Belgrade last week. The protest rally was organized by Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija against the Brussels agreement. Bishops spoke "most naturally" at protest rally Petkovic, who is the spokesman for the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), also remarked during a news conference on Monday that it was "incredible that the government was scared of them," and added: "On the one hand are the authorities, a majority in parliament, all the media levers in the hands of the government that is in favor of the agreement. On the other are two bishops who, during the rally of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija, spoke what is most natural for bishops to say, what represents the very being of the Church, and that is that its seat is in Kosovo and Metohija." When asked "if it was normal to call for the government and parliament to be reposed" Petkovic said he "he did not see it that way," being a parliament member himself, and added that "a bishop was entitled to an opinion." The media have falsified the speeches given by Amfilohije and Atanasije, he further asserted. According to Petkovic, their words were put in a context that is completely opposite to their true meaning, in order to present the Church as a backward institution, although it has remained the same, protecting its people, its centuries-old system and Kosovo, where it is seated. "He (Amfilohije) in this case spoke above all about the institutions, andwhen it comes to the government and parliament - when a state signs that kind of agreement it is bringing itself and its own institutions into question, and in that way symbolically these institutions almost cease to exist, because the state itself is collapsing," the DSS spokesman was quoted as saying. Amfilohije addressed the protest last Friday and prayed for the repose of the government and parliament, while Atanasije likened the statements made by Prime Minister Ivica Dacic with those of Zoran Djindjic, who was assassinated in 2003. (FoNet, file) Tanjug

Bishops spoke "most naturally" at protest rally

Petković, who is the spokesman for the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), also remarked during a news conference on Monday that it was "incredible that the government was scared of them," and added:

"On the one hand are the authorities, a majority in parliament, all the media levers in the hands of the government that is in favor of the agreement. On the other are two bishops who, during the rally of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija, spoke what is most natural for bishops to say, what represents the very being of the Church, and that is that its seat is in Kosovo and Metohija."

When asked "if it was normal to call for the government and parliament to be reposed" Petković said he "he did not see it that way," being a parliament member himself, and added that "a bishop was entitled to an opinion."

The media have falsified the speeches given by Amfilohije and Atanasije, he further asserted.

According to Petković, their words were put in a context that is completely opposite to their true meaning, in order to present the Church as a backward institution, although it has remained the same, protecting its people, its centuries-old system and Kosovo, where it is seated.

"He (Amfilohije) in this case spoke above all about the institutions, andwhen it comes to the government and parliament - when a state signs that kind of agreement it is bringing itself and its own institutions into question, and in that way symbolically these institutions almost cease to exist, because the state itself is collapsing," the DSS spokesman was quoted as saying.

Amfilohije addressed the protest last Friday and prayed for the repose of the government and parliament, while Atanasije likened the statements made by Prime Minister Ivica Dačić with those of Zoran Đinđić, who was assassinated in 2003.