In Kosovo a Return to Christianity

The Catholic priest stood at the altar in the hilltop church for the mass baptism, dunking dozens of heads in water and tracing a cross with his finger on each forehead.

Then he rejoiced at Christianity’s recovery of souls in a land where the vast majority of people are Muslim — as the men, women and children standing before him had been.

The ceremony was one of many in recent months in Kosovo, a formerly Serbian territory inhabited largely by ethnic Albanians that declared itself an independent state in 2008. In a census last spring, 93 percent of the population professed itself Muslim and only 1.75 percent Roman Catholic.

A small number of ethnic Albanian Christian activists, all converts from Islam, are urging their ethnic kin to look to the church as an expression of their identity. They call it the “return movement,” a push to revive a pre-Islamic past they see as an anchor of Kosovo’s place in Europe and a barrier to religious extremism spilling over from the Middle East.

Until the Ottoman Empire conquered what is today Kosovo and other areas of the Balkans in the 14th century, bringing with it Islam, ethnic Albanians were primarily Catholics. Under Ottoman rule, which lasted until 1912, most of Kosovo’s people switched faiths.

By reversing that process, said Father Fran Kolaj, the priest who carried out the baptisms outside the village of Llapushnik, ethnic Albanians can recover their original identity.

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Russian Church fundraises for Orthodox believers in Kosovo

Ecumenical Patriarchate and Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew support the territorial integrity of Georgia and recognize Abkhazia as canonical territory of the Georgian Apostolic Orthodox Church. Journalists were told about this in the Patriarchate of Georgia after the visit of the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Tbilisi.

This position was voiced by the delegation at a meeting with the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II who also has the rank of Metropolitan of Bichvinta (Pitsunda) and Tskhum-Abkhazia. The meeting was held on the evening of February 14th. Today, the delegation returned to Istanbul.

Earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew received a delegation of the so-called "Holy Metropolia of Abkhazia" (one of the two conflicting groups of Abkhazian dissenters) and after that Sukhumi started to make claims about future recognition of "independent Abkhazian Church" by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Source.

Bosnia, Cyprus and Kosovo: America and Islamism in the Balkans

The conflicts that engulfed the former Yugoslavia still remain unresolved in the political arena and open to Western political shenanigans and covert meddling from Turkey and Saudi Arabia in Bosnia and Kosovo. Orthodox Christianity faces many attacks and only a naïve individual would claim that America and the hands of Turkey and Saudi Arabia are clean.

America and other Western nations did little to stop Turkey invading Cyprus in 1974 and creating a de-facto nation and altering the demographics of northern Cyprus and using this area for military purposes.

Irrespective of the rights and wrongs of Cyprus you have no vindication of allowing a foreign army to invade another nation and then altering the ethnic and religious nature of the society that was invaded. However, the response by America to this Turkish and Islamic invasion was not only minimal but it clearly wasn’t important enough to the elites who pull the strings.

The invasion was both nationalist in nature and religious because what is left of Orthodox Christianity in northern Cyprus? Also, are Orthodox Christian religious leaders free to convert and spread the faith in northern Cyprus?

In Turkey ethnicity and religion is fused together by the current leader of Turkey but anti-Christian themes run deep within the psyche irrespective of the leader. After all, Turkey is the cradle of Orthodox Christianity and “old Byzantium” but this “cradle” was destroyed by constant Islamic invasions, Turkish migration and Islamization which enslaved and sold European Christian slaves for many centuries.

The one uniting theme of the 1915 Turkish genocide which is still denied by modern day Turkey is that millions of Armenian/Assyrian/Greek Christians were slaughtered and just like “old Byzantium” and modern day northern Cyprus and Kosovo – you have very few traces of Orthodox Christianity.

Therefore, in northern Cyprus, Kosovo and “old Byzantium” the virtual 100% Christian lands have become a graveyard because of past Islamic invasions and because of recent factors. These recent factors apply to the combined forces of America, Turkey, Islamic terrorists, Saudi Arabian funding, and other important areas alongside a distorted media which is anti-Orthodox Christian.

In many Western academia circles and according to Islamic apologists we are told that Islam means peace, but in truth it means “a piece of Christianity to swallow” and then to Islamize. How do virtual 100% Christian areas become “Orthodox Christian graveyards?”

Read the rest here.

Serbians in Kosovo may seek Russian citizenship for protection

Via Fr. Milovan:

Leader of a Serbian group in Kosovo has said that Kosovo Serbs will seek Russian citizenship if Serbia agrees to the EU brokered UN Resolution in which it will abdicate its sovereignty over Kosovo.

“If that resolution gets accepted and Serbia’s President Tadic accepts it without the agreement from Russia, we will initiate a drive to have the Russian citizenship granted to Serbs in Kosovo because Russia knows how to shield its citizens no matter where they live,” said Milan Ivanovic, leader of the Serbian National Committee for the Northern Kosovo.

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Orthodox Shrines in Kosovo fight for survival

Holy Trinity Church in Kosovo

Moscow fears that NATO's decision to transfer the protection of Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo to the local police maystir up tensions in the region.

Spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Andrey Nesterenko believes that this may lead to distrust of international peacekeepers. NATO made this decision without approval of the Serbian Orthodox Church and is breaching the1244 UN resolution.

The resolution was adopted in 1999 and states that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia and its shrines should be protected by Serbia. The document is still valid, thus, it has to be followed.

Monasteries in Gracanica,Visoki Decani and Monastery of the Holy Archangels will be transferred to the police in late August. Many of them areon the UNESCO World Heritage list.

In 2004, 35 Orthodox shrines were vandalized and burnt down by Kosovo Albanians,while they saw no resistance from peacekeepers. Russians expert on Serbia Alexander Kravchenko believes that Kosovo military men are interested in controlling local Orthodox sites to make Serbian enclaves recognize the power of Kosovo government.

The goal of Kosovo Albanians is to make Serbs leave Kosovo. This decision is another way to push them put of the region. Now all Serbian monasteries are controlled by Kosovo-Albanian companies. They provide them with water, electricity, communal utilities. As this needs to be fixed in agreements it means recognizing Kosovo's state institutions.

The Serbian Orthodox Church believes NATO will revoke its decision, especially when many European countries are also concerned with the situation.

Source

Kosovo: Mob Rule 1 - Rule of Law 0

Europe continues its inexorable slide toward social and political anarchy. The implications for this ruling could be staggering. It effectively casts into doubt the long term viability of any nation state anywhere.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Kosovo's unilateral secession from Serbia in 2008 did not violate international law, the World Court said on Thursday in a case that could have implications for separatist movements around the globe.

The ruling - a major blow to Serbia - is likely to lead to more countries recognizing Kosovo's independence and move Pristina closer to entry into the United Nations.

It may also embolden breakaway regions in other countries to seek more autonomy.

"The court considers that general international law contains no applicable prohibition of declaration of independence," Judge Hisashi Owada, president of the ICJ, said in his ruling.

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Yet another gift of Woodrow Wilson (one of the worst presidents in US History) to the world.

Serbia

As we approach the Great Fast, I expect my posting to be less frequent. I will of course continue to monitor comments and check email. In the meantime let us all pray for the faithful in Europe, especially Serbian Kosovo which has been ceded by the EU and NATO to the Saracens. It has been a long time since I have been so appalled by the actions of my own government. Why they would support the creation of a Muslim country with known ties to Iran and various radical Islamic groups in the heart of Europe is beyond me.

The Serbs would be well justified in expressing their resentment at those entities which have aided the dismembering of their country. Sharply reducing their diplomatic representations with the EU and the United States (already done) is a good first step. They could also make it clear that they consider NATO to be an unfriendly power and one that is a threat to their sovereignty by signing a mutual defense treaty with Russia. If they really want to tick the US off they could invite the Russians to build an air force base somewhere in Serbia.

George Bush's Generosity

G. W. Bush on his way out of Europe yesterday gave a magnificent present to the Albanians. He gave them a large piece of land that currently belongs to Serbia. Unfortunately President Bush forgot to check with the Serbs. For some unimaginable reason they are highly ticked off that President Bush declared that Kosovo should become an "independent" country. The territory of Kosovo has historically been Serbian but currently has a large Muslim Albanian majority in it. In the 1990's the United States lead a NATO bombing campaign against Serbia in response to a perceived campaign of large scale human rights violations orchestrated by the former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milošević. Since NATO's occupation of Kosovo began the Serbian minority has been suffering widespread persecution ranging from minor harassment and discrimination to overt violence and murder. It is impossible to estimate the number of Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries that have been destroyed and desecrated by the Muslim Kosovars.

The Serbian Government has expressed its indignation over President Bush's comments supporting the secessionist Kosovars. Few seriously think the Kosovars will not move quickly to cement ties with Muslim Albania if they gain independence. Also the fate of Serbian Christians in Kosovo is very much a matter of grave concern. Russian President Vladimir Putin has thus far been highly critical of any plans for separating Kosovo from Serbia. It is questionable whether any plan can succeed without Russian acquiescence. At present that does not seem highly likely. Stay tuned.

Read more here.