Orthodox Bishops of Germany make an Appeal in connection with the New Church Year

ORTHODOX BISHOPS OF GERMANY MAKE AN APPEAL IN CONNECTION WITH THE NEW CHURCH YEAR

At the beginning of every new church year we ask the Creator of all things to crown the year with His bounty and to preserve all of us in peace. As the new church year is approaching we feel the urgency of this request stronger than ever before, – these were the first words of the appeal of the Orthodox Bishops of Germany.

The document was signed by representatives of the Orthodox Churches of Constantinople, Antioch, Russia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. Attention was drawn to the fact that although it was officially announced that hostilities in Kosovo have stopped and that peace troops are present in Kosovo, all hopes for the end of sufferings of the local population have not come true.

It is possible that the sides changed places. At present, innocent people are deprived of jobs and banished from their houses, and their lives are threatened even more than earlier. We deplore numerous victims among Serbs, Gypsies and even Albanians, whose political convictions do not suit the KLA leadership. More than forty Orthodox churches and monasteries were desecrated, and the most part of them was burned or blown up. Another 150.000 people have fled from Kosovo and Metohia and live miserable life in Serbia, Montenegro and Italy. It would not be an exaggeration to say that a thousand-year Christian Orthodox heritage is in danger of falling victim to the KLA terror.

It is with a feeling of bitterness and pain that the Orthodox hierarchs in Germany state how little is their country interested in the destiny of the banished, robbed and much suffered Serbs, Gypsies and other inhabitants of Kosovo and Metohia who became victims of the KLA units and other marauders. When NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia with all their bitter consequences for non-combatants are justified, it is emphasised that these strikes were necessary for humanitarian reasons in order to let the banished Albanians return to their homeland and to guarantee all people the right to live there. But when it becomes necessary to raise the voice of solidarity with the new victims of this ruinous conflict, – silence prevails everywhere.

But we cannot and would not keep silence! – declared the shepherds of Christ’s flock. We denounce moral inconsistency because of which some victims are taken into consideration, but others are not. It is not the denouncement as such which is important to us, but the proper measures which must be taken, while it is not too late, to prevent one deliberate ethnic purge to be replaced with the other, even more disastrous by its consequences. This is not a way for establishing peace in the Balkan region, which needs tranquillity so badly. Therefore we call upon the politicians to act swiftly and with determination to guarantee security and protection to all those living in Kosovo and Metohia.

The Bishops expressed their admiration with courageous actions of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of Serbia and other archpastors of the Serbian Church who did not care for their own security, but shared dangers and difficulties with their compatriots and strengthened them in the hour of trial. They also admired and welcomed their participation in a new stage of political development in Yugoslavia and gave their prayerful support to every step which brings nearer the establishment of democratic Yugoslavia where all people will find their proper place.

Addressing the whole Christian world, the bishops stated: We expect that our brothers and sisters in the Churches to whom we are related through the ecumenical movemen will show solidarity with us and especially with the Serbian Orthodox Church, which has to live with the fact that its monasteries and churches are burnt and its clergy and believers are banished.

In conclusion the Orthodox Bishops of Germany said: On these days of hard work and sorrow, at the beginning of the Orthodox church year of 1999/2000 which leads us to the celebration of the second millennium of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour, we, trusting in God’s love to humanity, wish our fellow-believers, Christians of other confessions, brothers and sisters belonging to other religions and all people of good to become participants in the peace of Christ, peace all over the word, for which we pray at every Divine service and which is needed by all of us, and by people in Kosovo and Metohia in particular. Signing the document on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church was Archbishop Longin of Klin, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Germany.

(Translated from the Russian)