Serbian Orthodox Monastic Community

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Due to the problems faced by the Serb minority in Kosovo and the desecration of Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries, some have (particularly after the March Pogrom) called for the creation of a Serbian Orthodox Monastic Community in Kosovo. This community is meant to be a step in providing the Serbs in Kosovo with protection of their rights, decentralization and provide autonomy for them. Most who have proposed this want such an entity to be structured politically the same way Mount Athos is. A significant reason for support of this proposal is that it would provide protection of Serbian Orthodox historical institutions and sights.

Most who support the creation of the Serbian Orthodox Monastic Community in Kosovo most often have the following components of the proposal:

  • It should be made apart of any future agreement on the status of Kosovo.
  • Any agreement created regarding the community should list all the monasteries, dependencies and historical sites that would be included as part of the community.
  • The areas that become part of the community deserve to be under international protection.
  • Should follow a political structure similar to that of Mount Athos.
  • There should be a clear definition of the legal status of the community.
  • The community should be governed by documents created by the community, if and when it is created. But that any decisions made should be subject to approval by the Serbian Patriarch, accepted by the governing authority of Kosovo and the international community (particularly institution of the European Union).
  • The community should be self-administered with in the future Kosovo government authority.
  • The monasteries and the community should be ruled as a whole by the spiritual authority of the Serbian Patriachate. Many support that this should be in the same fashion that the Ecumenical Patriarchof Constantinople in the case of Mount Athos.
  • It should be insured that the governing authority of Kosovo, with appropriate international guarantees (by EU, NATO, UN) guarantees, will provide for the safety and security of the monasteries as holy places of worship and monuments of the world’s cultural heritage.
  • Free and unhindered exercise of executive, legislative and judicial jurisdiction according to the holy canons, rules, and customs of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Charter of the Community.
  • All organs and functions of the community will be governed by an Internal Regulation to be determined as part of the comprehensive package of future status negotiations.
  • Maintenance of free communication among all monasteries and their dependencies.
  • Safeguarding against the movement and residence of unauthorized persons within the confines of the monasteries.
  • Unrestricted entrance in or out of Kosovo for individuals undergoing pilgrimage or residence in the monasteries if they have the proper clearances to do so by the community.
  • Insuring that all land property, including mobile and immobile assets of the monasteries, will be free of expropriation.
  • The Kosovo authority should recognize that the community has tax and duty exemptions.

Many who support the creation of this community people have said that it is possible, often citing the example of Mount Athos in Greece and that there are a number of examples of semi-autonomous and protected religious clusters in Europe and around the world.

Some Serbs have proposed it as early as 1995. Some have called for a creation of similar Serbian Orthodox Monastic Communities in Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Republika Srpska, and the Republic of Macedonia (as a way to defend Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, however the latter is seldom taken seriously as it would hurt the relations of Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia, and would likely worsen the situation of the Archbishopric). As well some Serbs have said that any such community should include restitution of land taken away from the Serbian Orthodox Church by the communists after World War II. Lastly, some Serbs who support the existence of a Serbian Orthodox Monastic Community in Kosovo want it to not be part of Kosovo if Kosovo gets independence, but for it to be part of Serbia and be given status of extraterritoriality.

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