wfn.org | Kosovo Takes a Lesson from Bosnia in Inter-faith Relations

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Note #5877 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

02-May-2000
00174

	Kosovo Takes a Lesson from Bosnia in Inter-faith Relations

	by Jonathan Luxmoore
	Ecumenical News International

WARSAW -- Leaders of Kosovo's Muslim, Orthodox and Roman Catholic
communities have set up a joint council to promote democracy and human
rights, modeled on an inter-religious body in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

	"With one united voice, we again strongly condemn all acts of violence and
all violations of basic human rights," three religious leaders said in a
declaration from Kosovo's capital, Pristina.  The declaration was signed by
Kosovo's Muslim Mufti, Rexhep Boja, by the Serbian Orthodox Bishop of
Rasko-Prizren, Artemije Radosavljevic, and by the head of Kosovo's Roman
Catholic community, Bishop Marko Sopi.

	The Inter-Religious Council of Kosovo has been set up at a crucial moment
in relations between the main faith communities of the region.  Violence in
Kosovo and atrocities by some Serbs forced many Kosovo Albanians, most of
whom are Muslim, to flee the province in the run-up to and during NATO's
military action last year.

	However, since the arrival of KFOR, the international peace-keeping force
which was installed there after NATO's military campaign, ethnic Albanians,
reacting to the destruction and carnage inflicted on them, forced tens of
thousands of Serb residents to leave the province. Three-quarters of the
province's 200,000 Serbs have now left, and up to 100 Serbian Orthodox
churches and monasteries have been destroyed or desecrated since the 1999
NATO campaign.

	Several churches and cemeteries belonging to the province's 70,000 Catholic
minority -- most of them ethnic Albanians -- have also been targeted.  KFOR
peace-keeping troops have denied claims that the Kosovo Liberation Army
(UCK), which received support from Arab states during last year's conflict,
is mounting a fundamentalist Islamic campaign in the province.

	In their statement announcing the formation of the inter-religious council,
the religious leaders said: "The acts that have happened and continue to
happen against innocent persons are evil and cannot be condoned in any way
by any of our respective religious traditions."

	The decision to establish the council was taken after a visit to Kosovo
this month by an inter-faith delegation from Bosnia, whose members explained
the advantages of taking "concrete steps together.

	"Together we support the building of strong local democratic institutions
that will continue to ensure security, peace and well-being for all," the
statement continued.  "We look to the international community to provide
necessary support for the inhabitants of Kosovo to achieve this goal."

	The declaration was issued on April 13, the final day of the Bosnian
delegation's tour, which included visits to Pristina, Pec and Prizren, as
well as to the Orthodox monasteries of Decani and Gracanica.

	Relations between Muslim, Orthodox and Roman Catholic leaders have been
tense throughout the Balkans since the break-up of Yugoslavia at the
beginning of the 1990s. However, in various regions steps have been taken to
improve ties within the last three years.

	Bosnia's inter-religious council was set up in 1997, and a similar
committee incorporating all churches and faiths has been functioning in
Croatia since March 1998.  An inter-religious
organization also meets monthly in Yugoslavia to coordinate charity efforts.

	Reacting to the news of the inter-religious council in Kosovo, the Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Belgrade, Franc Perko, described it as an "important
initiative," but pointed out that the event had been "totally ignored" by
pro-government newspapers in Serbia.

	"That the three communities -- Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic -- have come
together is clearly a good development since it will extend the communion
and collaboration already underway in Bosnia," the archbishop told ENI. 
"But it's important to remember that religious communities have only a
limited influence, and can do little in practice to bring about peace."

	A Muslim leader, Imam Muhammed Spahic, welcomed the council's formation as
evidence of conciliatory attitudes within the Serbian Orthodox Church.  But,
he added, "Any initiative couched in such words is to be commended, but what
counts is the practical intentions behind them."

	In their declaration, the Kosovo leaders promised "more active cooperation"
in building a "stronger future" for Kosovo's 2.2 million inhabitants, 90 per
cent of whom are ethnic Albanians.

	"We appeal to the international community to work harder on resolving the
situation of all the prisoners, missing and abducted persons whose unknown
fate remains one of the deepest
wounds of our recent tragic conflicts," the declaration continued.

	"We commit ourselves to work together to rebuild the many destroyed and
damaged religious buildings in Kosovo, and we appeal to our friends and
partners in various international
agencies to assist us with the necessary resources to accomplish this
essential task."

	The religious leaders said the new council would discuss ways to "develop
our own structures and means of co-operation," adding that they had received
"support and assistance" from the World Conference on Religion and Peace
(WCRP) on how to help improve
relations.

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