THE ARCHBISHOP |
Appeal for Kosovo 11 February 2000 Protocol No. 732/361 His Excellency Mr Tony Blair Prime Minister of Great Britain, 10
Downing Str.,London England
It is with deep dismay and grave concern that we have learned,
through our Beloved Brother in Christ, Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, that
since the time of arrival of the KFOR peace-keeping troops in Kosovo and
Metohija Albanian extremists have damaged and totally destroyed more
than eighty Orthodox churches and monasteries in the region, some of
which were historical and cultural monuments dating back to the Middle
Ages.
None of the perpetrators against these crimes has as yet been
brought to justice or punished. Complaints to KFOR have fallen on
indifferent ears. Their only response has been to tell the Orthodox
Christians to remove the ruins of the churches and monasteries, for
otherwise this will be done by the Albanians. One cannot but condemn
such a stance by those entrusted with keeping the peace and protecting
the people of Kosovo from violence and destruction. Not only do they not
protect places of worship and cultural monuments, which belong to the
world at large, but even seek to eradicate every trace of them. They are
even open to such preposterous claims by self-styled Albanian
“scholars” that the Cathedral Church of the Mother of God in Prizren
(built on the foundations of an ever more ancient basilica dating from
the 10th century), reconstructed in the beginning of the 13th
century by King Stephen of Serbia and the historical Monastery of the
Holy Archangels, built on earlier Church ruins, by Emperor Dusan of
Serbia in 1344-52 were Muslim houses of worship!
Nor has the evil perpetrated been limited to buildings and
properties. Far from it. Since
KFOR’s arrival hundreds of Christian Serbs have been killed and
thousands have been displaced. More than 400 have been killed, more than
600 kidnapped and more than 20,000 have been forced to flee.
In the face of such a situation, we feel it our obligation and
Christian duty, as Archbishop of Athens and All Greece and as President
of the Holy Synod, to appeal to you and to all International
Organizations, to Heads of State and Leaders of Christian Churches and
to all men of good will to intervene for the rectification of an
unacceptable situation. We ask that you exert your influence for the
provision of adequate protection for the people and the shrines of
Kosovo and that you do everything in your power for the prevailing of
peace, justice and tolerance throughout the region.
Confident that you will respond to this just appeal we ask that
you accept our heartfelt best wishes and
sincere sentiments of high esteem and deep regard. + C H R I S T O
D O U L O S ARCHBISHOP OF
ATHENS AND ALL GREECE
The Chief- Secretary + Archimandrite Theologos Apostolides |