No conflict between Church and State

9/5/13

BELGRADE – Bishop Irinej of Backa, spokesperson for the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), stated on Wednesday that there is no conflict between the state and the Church, stressing that they are only holding different viewpoints.

At a debate dubbed “State-Church – secular and religious tolerance” held at Tanjug’s Press Center, the Bishop noted that the Church has clearly stated its stance on Kosovo, but that it does not have an ambition to make decisions, since that will be done by the ones who have been elected for the purpose.

“The Church has the right and duty to voice its stands when it comes to general issues of existence, health, society and common good – not to impose its opinion, but rather to offer its view on the common values, long-term vision and hope, that being not only the right of the Church, but its duty,” the SPC spokesperson said.

It is no good to attempt to silence the Church when it comes to important issues, the Bishop said, stressing that the Church has a different approach when resolving a problem and there is nothing new in that.

Official bodies of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) will not organize protests over the Brussels agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, but will also not keep anyone from participating in them, SPC Bishop Irinej of Backa said Wednesday.

According to Bishop Irinej, most of those who attend these demonstrations are “part of the Church” and if they want to protest – the SPC will not meddle.

“The Church sees far into the past and the future, I would even say into eternity, so it had serious reason to warn everyone about things that could happen in the future in Kosovo,” said Bishop Irinej, a SPC spokesman.

With its release on Kosovo, the SPC Synod did not intend to cause a disturbance or create obstacles to state bodies in making decisions guided by their own conscience and responsibility, rather it intended to point out the long-term perspective which needs to be kept in mind.

“The Church voiced its position following its conscience, without malice, least of all in the service of some political options, even though some media said our release was written by some party leaders. It was not – I wrote every word of it,” he said.

Irinej noted that Germany has a special office where the church and the state consult on all important issues. “If this was introduced in Serbia, people here would call it ‘Jamahiriya’,” he said.

“Renouncing the right to an agreement on Kosovo is an act of insanity and a fundamental lack of democracy, and no one has that right,” believes Bishop Irinej.

They should have thought about the future and what will happen if the foreign troops leave Kosovo some day, he said, noting that “the Church followed its deepest conscience in presenting its view of a thorny issue at Serbia’s hardest moment since the Battle of Kosovo.”

One should try to understand the Church’s stance toward reality without trying to turn it into a political and ideological matter, he said.

Dragan Novakovic, the advisor to the director of the government Office for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities, said Wednesday there is no room for drawing conclusions about disagreements and conflicts between the state and the church.

Serbia’s religious structure is its new historic chance and one of the most important arguments of the country’s accession to the family of European peoples.

Relations between state bodies, churches and religious communities in Serbia are good and stable and there are no major problems, Novakovic said at a debate dedicated to relations between the state and the church and secular and religious tolerance organized at Tanjug’s Press Centre.

All possible misunderstandings are resolved through agreements and in a constructive atmosphere, he added.

“The new climate in relations with the state has enabled the constant strengthening of the inter-confessional dialogue, and clear willingness of churches and religious communities to actively contribute in democratization and overall development of the society. The process of international and regional inter-confessional cooperation is constantly getting stronger, which is in keeping with the government’s program orientation and acceleration of European integration,” he noted.

The office has undertaken activities aimed at further affirmation and freedom of religion and development of the cooperation between the state and churches and religious communities, Novakovic concluded.

The state will not allow anyone abusing the present situation to create an artificial conflict between the Church and the state, said State Secretary with the Interior Ministry Vladimir Bozovic, noting there is no conflict.

“The Brussels agreement is the only realistic solution and the best we could do. We need to be careful about the consequences of what we signed, because we do not want to watch news coverage of convoys of Serb refugees on our state television,” said Bozovic, who also works as a lawyer for the Serbian Orthodox Church.

In a release issued on April 22, the Holy Synod of the SPC said it believes that the initial agreement proposal between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels constitutes ‘an indirect and silent but still practical’ recognition of the government system in Kosovo-Metohija which is independent of Serbia’s government structures, and warned that the price of Serbia’s potential EU membership would be the formal recognition of an independent Kosovo.

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