ERP KIM

Massimo Cacciari: Italy,
save the Serbian churches in Kosovo, March 28

March 28, 2004

ERP KiM Newsletter 28-03-04
follow the news on our ERP KIM News-portal: http://www.kosovo.net

INTERVIEW WITH PHILOSOPHER AND FORMER MAYOR OF VENICE

ITALY, SAVE THE SERBIAN CHURCHES IN KOSOVO

On March 25, 2004 the most influential Italian daily Corriere della
Sera published an interview on p. 15 with Mr. Massimo Cacciari, philosopher
and former mayor of Venice, regarding the tragic events in Kosovo and
Metohija, the destruction of Serbian monasteries and churches, the spiritual
treasures of all of humanity.

Pec Patriarchate, Decani, Gracanica and Bogorodica
Ljeviska are the pearls of the medieval Serb-Byzantine art and culture

Foreign affairs minister Fratini stated yesterday in Parliament that
it is necessary to increase the European presence in Kosovo and Metohija and
announced that in coming days 240 more paratroopers would be sent to Kosovo
and Metohija. But there are also those who, like philosopher Massimo
Cacciari, accuse Europe and Italy of "guilt out of ignorance; it seems that
no one is doing anything to protect the invaluable Serbian Orthodox cultural
heritage threatened with destruction. Attacks by Albanian extremists on
medieval Serbian religious holy shrines number in the tens. Cacciari reminds
of the magnificent churches and monasteries, such as Decani, Pec, Prizren,
Vitina and Urosevac and accuses: "There is a lot of talk in Europe about its
roots but without a knowledge of culture. In Kosovo there are exceptional
artistic values of importance for European reality. The destruction of one
building containing a cycle of frescoes is equivalent to the massacre of St.
Mark, St. Vitale or St. Apollinaire in Ravenna. It is the same early
Christian region under the influence of Byzantium."

Where does your sensibility come from?

From university. As a student, thanks to professor Sergio Bettini, the
great historian of early Christian art in Padua, during a trip I discovered
the beautiful Balkan Orthodox world and I have strong ties to those
memories. It is difficult to such valuable frescoes anywhere, including Mt.
Athos itself.

Destruction of churches in Kosovo is equivalent to the
massacre of St. Mark, St. Vitale or St. Apollinaire in Ravenna - Massimo
Cacciari

The destruction of religious property in Kosovo is continuing. There
are fears for the Pec Patriarchate, for magnificent Decani...

And no one is doing anything, not one Italian intellectual has spoken.
There are rare exceptions such as professor Salvatore Settis who organized a
presentation but without special notice. There is only silence.

Why?

Ignorance. Primarily naivety. Then, after the news arrives, guilt.
Perhaps it is assumed that these churches are artistically insignificant.
Perhaps someone has the impression that these are some sort of huts. Would
everyone rise up or not if someone were to destroy St. Vitale? Certainly
yes. Therefore, we have a responsibility to react.

Many European intellectuals reacted to avoid the destruction of
Buddhist symbols by the Taliban...

That's comical. That's proof that this world is keeping its head in
the sand. For us Europeans, a cycle of Serbian Orthodox frescoes is ten
thousand times important than the Buddhist ones.

Do you think that everything we are speaking about is also influenced
by an anti-Serb cultural tendency?

Without a doubt. We must confront all Western media who frequently
depicted the Serbs as bloody persecutors. Few of them have made the
distinction between Milosevic, those who laid siege to Sarajevo, between war
delinquents of ethnic cleansing and the Serbian people. There must be a lot
of them who are now thinking: they have genocide on their conscience and now
they deserve Albanian revenge in Kosovo. Just war or not, this was the
general message.

Holy Virgin Mary from the Pec Patriarchate Monastery

You have in mind an appeal, a call to mobilization?

Some ideas are useful but frequently, unfortunately, they take time.
It is necessary to launch the idea of a separate parliamentary debate,
because we are talking about culture, not politics, so that our government
can be encouraged to take responsibility for our armed forces already
present in those locations.

You think that our army is not making enough effort?

Perhaps they are insufficiently armed, perhaps they are lacking
specific orders. It is really necessary to explain to our soldiers that
these monasteries, these churches, need to be protected as if they were St.
Mark. If I remember correctly, they say that 18,000 NATO troops are present.
That's good but they should do something quickly. They say that the rate of
destruction is 15 churches a day.

Paolo Conti

The Art of Famous Serbian Orthodox Holy Sites in Kosovo

The Art of Decani MonasteryThe Art of Gracanica Monastery
The Art of the Patriarchate of PecThe Holy Virgin of Ljevis Cathedral
To Understand Serbs - look at their art in Kosovo By Waldemar
Januszczak - an attempt to understand Serbs and their mentality through the
Serb Orthodox art in Kosovo.

WHY IS KOSOVO SO IMPORTANT FOR SERBS?
Introduction to the History of Kosovo and Metohia

The Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Kosovo and Metohia

Old grave stones of Raska and Prizren Diocese photo gallery with most
beautiful tombstones in our Diocese.
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Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the blessing of
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