The Roman Catholic Bishop of Kosovo Dodë Gjergji and the Albanian Archbishop of Montenegro Zef Gashi, clergy and faithful, performed a Divine Liturgy at the ruins of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church near the medieval Novo Brdo fortress.
Ismet Hajrullahu, Head of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Kosovo, also participated in the Divine Liturgy.
The Holy Metropolis of Raska and Prizren expressed their deep concern and disagreement with the Kosovo institutions over unauthorized works of the Kosovo Ministry of Culture (Institute of Archaeology) in this medieval Serbian Orthodox area at the Protected Area of Novo Brdo, where all works are prohibited without the consent of the Monitoring Committee and the Serbian Orthodox Church.
“The Roman Catholic Metropolis of Kosovo, with the Divine Liturgy, severely undermines the inter-religious relations in Kosovo and Metohija and politicizes the Serbian Church’s heritage, which was included in the Protected Area Zone, with the approval of delegates of Albania in Kosovo regarding the proposal of our Church in 2008″.
“The words spoken to the faithful do not contribute to the building of relations between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches and should certainly be taken into account by the competent Vatican representatives. Finally the Holy Monastery of Raska and Prizren will ask international and local bodies to protect the site of the Church of St. Nicholas from further challenges, including the building of pillars without the approval of the Serbian Church”, concludes the Metropolis of Raska and Prizren.
