wfn.org | Yugoslavia: Churches welcome Easter appeal

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

       by international church bodies
Lutheran church leader concerned about consequences on local
population

NOVI SAD, Yugoslavia/GENEVA, 26 April 1999 (lwi)   The head of the
Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in SR
Yugoslavia, Lutheran bishop Jan Valent, is among leaders of the local
minority Protestant churches who have welcomed the sympathy and
understanding of the broader Christian family manifested by a recent
ecumenical visit to the northern Serbia town.

The joint ecumenical delegation visiting Novi Sad and Belgrade in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 16 to 18 April 1999 was led by
Conference of European Churches (CEC) General Secretary Dr. Keith
Clements. Others were Dr. Olli-Pekka Lassila, Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) Europe secretary,  and Mr. Alexander Belopopsky,
World Council of Churches (WCC) Europe secretary.

According to Dr. Lassila, the leaders of the Lutheran, Methodist and
Reformed churches particularly appreciated the letters to the
churches and joint Easter appeal sent at the end of March by the
international church bodies, condemning the violence in Yugoslavia
and calling for a cessation of armed conflicts. (See LWI News Service
99-04-01)

The delegation met in Novi Sad in the Vojvodina region with the
leaders of the Lutheran church, the Reformed Christian Church in
Yugoslavia and the Evangelical Methodist Church in Yugoslavia. The
visit was made in response to an invitation from the member churches
of the LWF, CEC and WCC.

During discussions which centered on the conflict situation in
Yugoslavia and the NATO intervention, the Lutheran church leader said
that "the humanitarian tragedy facing the Albanians has been
exacerbated by the NATO and Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) actions."

Bishop Valent expressed concern about the effects of the war in
Yugoslavia on the local community. According to him, the ethnic
minorities in Vojvodina "are not responsible for the crisis in
Kosovo." But, he added, "the consequences on the local situation here
are important."

The Lutheran church leader said effects of the state of war in
Yugoslavia include the mobilization of young men, serious economic
impact, and isolated cases of a xenophobic attitude toward minority
groups, which had not existed before the NATO attacks. His other
concern was that the introduction of a state of war in Yugoslavia
also means that churches must seek permission to organize any non-
worship gathering.

A member of the LWF, the Lutheran church has a membership of 48,248.

Vojvodina, northern Serbia, has a degree of autonomy within the
Yugoslav Federation, and is home to a number of national minorities,
including Hungarians and Slovaks.

In Belgrade, members of the ecumenical team held discussions with the
leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle and Bishop
Irinej of the same church. They also met separately with Archbishop
Perko, the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Yugoslav
capital.

Pavle welcomed the visit by the representatives of the Geneva-based
church bodies as a "visible manifestation of concern and solidarity
for the churches in Yugoslavia and the cause of peace," and
underlined that the ongoing events present "a time of great
difficulty and misfortune for both Serbs and Albanians."

The Patriarch repeated his condemnation of war and violence and his
public appeals for the ending of all military actions by all forces
to allow for the guaranteed return of all civilians to their homes,
and a solution which allows for peaceful co-existence. He said his
church is working directly to promote alternative solutions, and has
been consistently critical of the actions of the Yugoslav leadership.

Bishop Irinej said: "We weep for the plight of the refugees from
Kosovo," and explained that his "church has struggled to propose
alternative solutions for the Kosovo crisis. " According to him,
Yugoslavia should give full autonomy to the Kosovar Albanians within
the existing international borders, with the assurance that the
rights of the other minorities in Kosovo are guaranteed by an
international peace-keeping force "without NATO".

He emphasized that Yugoslavia has had many problems and was a far
from perfect democracy, but it was still the most open country in the
communist system.

The ecumenical team discussed with all church leaders about the needs
and possibilities for future humanitarian relief to Kosovo and other
areas in Yugoslavia.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/