"Serb churches will not be restored"
15 February 2008 | 16:03 | Source: B92, Beta BELGRADE -- Raško-Prizrenska Eparchy Bishop Artemije says the Serb churches in Kosovo will not be restored if independence is granted. The restoration process is overseen by the Albanian administration in Kosovo and the Council of Europe. “The tendency for changing the spiritual identity of Kosovo and destroying all traces of Serbia's presence is clear,” Artemije said in comments published today. “Not a single place of worship which was mentioned in the memorandum of the Council of Europe for renovation has been restored or brought back into working order by those who destroyed them, and nothing more can be expected if independence is proclaimed tomorrow,” he said. The Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) digitary absed in the province also said that this is furthermore confirmed by the tendency of the Kosovo institutions to label the Serb heritage monuments and churches by any names other than Serb “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. He said that the only successful restorations were led by the Raško-Prizrenska Eparchy in cooperation with the Serbian ministries in charge of religion, culture, and Kosovo. Bishop Artemije said that thanks to those efforts, the Sveti Arhangela, Zocište, Banjska and Devic monastaries were restored successfully. A large number of SPC chruches and monasteries were destroyed or desacrated in the riots organized by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in March 2007.
