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Πέμπτη 15 Μαρτίου 2012
I have come to Kosovo to convey to the Serbians that we are thinking about them
Interview
with Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
I have come to Kosovo to convey to the Serbians that
we are thinking about them
Interview
lead by Slavica Lazic
President
of the Deacni Humanitarian Fund from the USA, Archimandrite Nekatrios Serfes,
visited Kosovo and Metohija this year, and delivered humanitarian aid to the
most struggling families who, despite political pressure and difficult living
conditions, remain in their centuries old homes. Serbians in Kosovo and
Metohija largely depend on help from the Church, charities, and people of good
will. Decani Relief Fund helps the soup kitchens as well. The Fund provides the
poorest children in the area with regular school tuition. Archimandrite Nektarios
brought with him basic necessities, such as gloves, hats and scarves, to the
delight of many children, as a present collected and sent by the Orthodox
faithful from America. Fr. Nekatrios belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church and
serves as a parish priest at the Church of Sts. Constantine and Helen in Boise,
Idaho. He tirelessly helps the suffering people in Kosovo and Metohija through the
Decani Relief Fund, which is a non-profit, humanitarian organization registered
in Idaho, USA. All donations from the contributors are transferred from a local
bank to the account of the Monastery Visoki Decani, and the brotherhood of the
monastery distributes help according to the needs of the people. The records of
the amount of contributions and contributors can be viewed anytime on the
website run by Fr. Nektarios. The Decani Monastery Relief Fund was established
in 1998.
This is your sixth visit of Kosovo and Metohija. What is
your impression after this last visit of the endangered Serbian enclaves?
I came intentionally at this time of year.
I wanted to see how average people live every day life under these conditions
of a cold and extremely harsh winter. I plan to share my experience and photos
with the donors of my Fund and to testify to our brothers and sisters in Kosovo
that Orthodox in America and across the globe have not forgotten about them. I
wanted personally to experience their struggle and to see what we can do in
order to help them. Currently, many people are freezing and starving, and I’m
sure this is a very difficult period of the year for them. I came over here to
communicate my love and to assure them that we are committed to help them by
any means we can, and that we will persevere in our work.
What would be the most essential/urgent help for the
Serbian people at this very moment?
I traveled all over Kosovo. During this
visit I have spoken to many people, with the seminarians in Prizren, with monks
and nuns in Decani and Gracanica, etc., so that I can find out how we can help
them in the future. At the seminary, which had no heating, and was under construction
for a while after it was destroyed, the situation is slightly better; however,
there are still many things that need do be done. School needs more support,
from heating to equipment and teaching aids. There are currently six soup
kitchens, which experience shortages of food. Due to bad weather many roads are
impassable and that makes the situation for soup kitchens even more unbearable.
I want to convey to the people in my country, through these photographs, about
the seriousness of the situation.
In addition to seminary and monasteries, I
have visited many homes. I have noticed that many of them are without running
water, without proper and sufficient heating systems and are only furnished
with basic furniture. However, they were glad to see a priest, or to have a
monk visit their home or their village. They are happy and grateful, although
they need human care and humanitarian aid. We cannot forget Kosovo, for there
are still a lot of people who are suffering. We must take care of them. There was
a war here and Serbians were fighting for their lives. We know that many of
them saved their lives by fleeing to refugee camps. Some of them are now
returning to their centuries old homes and it will take them decades to have
decent and normal lives again. Serbian families are still not capable of living
normal lives. We cannot afford to stop supporting them, for they are returning
to their homes with a commitment to reestablish their lives, to rebuild their
churches and to reconstruct their monasteries, and this project will take a
long time. Returning Serbian people don’t have enough Churches in which to
pray. If there were more Churches where people could pray, I’m sure Serbians
would return in a greater number. Serbian people love their Orthodox Church and
faith. If they see Churches rebuilt, and Divine Liturgy served in them – they
will come back. As long as there is the Serbian Orthodox Church and monks in
Kosovo, Serbians will survive. Serbians do not complain to anyone, they are not
bitter or angry. As Christians we cannot close our eyes to their struggles and
hard life.
The Decani Monastery Relief Fund is a non-profit
organization. How much money have you distributed over all of these years?
We have our donors from all over the world.
Financial assistance comes from America, Canada, Europe and Australia. We have
collected almost a quarter of a million dollars over these fourteen years. Since
everything was demolished, robbed, and destroyed, we are grateful to our
contributors, and they are aware that we use their money for education, medical
needs, households, and construction material for rebuilding houses and
Churches. With great joy, we announce that thirteen Churches have been rebuilt.
I haven’t been back in a while because it has taken this long to raise enough
money to bring as a donation. The current economic crisis is affecting the
whole world, and naturally Americans are struggling as well, however I will not
give uo seeking more donations. When I go back I will continue advocating that
Kosovo needs more humanitarian help and that it needs to rebuild more Orthodox
Churches and monasteries. I wish those who were responsible for their
desecration and demolition would reconstruct them. However, since this is
unlikely to happen, we, Orthodox Christians, have to rebuild them and
reestablish their glory. Our Churches are our glory. We cannot forget the seminary
in Prizren, which was burned down by Albanians in 2004’s pogrom, which is now being
rebuilt. There is a first generation of seminarians attending the reopened
seminary there; however, there are still other dormitories that need to be
rebuilt in order for the seminary to be fully functional.
Serbians in Kosovo and Metohija are in danger; they live
in a constant fear. Are you afraid to visit the most remote Serbian enclaves
without protection of peace keeping troups?
People were asking me in the States: “Why
are you going to Kosovo? That’s dangerous!” When I first visited this region a
while ago, my mother was on her deathbed with cancer. I was afraid that I would
not find her alive when I came back to the States; however, she encouraged me
in my intention, saying that I was doing God’s work and that I should not be
afraid. Ever since, I’ve seen horrible things, and I simply cannot believe that
Albanians are taking reposed people out of their graves, that they are
desecrating Serbian cemeteries, and doing other horrible things – they don’t
even leave dead people to rest in peace. They persecute the living and the
dead. They are killing priests and monks. Father Hariton who was doing
humanitarian work, bringing food helping struggling people and taking them to
the hospital, was kidnapped and beheaded in 1999. I was in the States when that
happened and I promised that I would visit his grave. He was buried without his
head. I couldn’t believe that happened.
The West cannot understand our love towards
the Orthodox Church; That love and the Jesus prayer from the monks and
nuns in Kosovo are what keep the Serbian people existing in that area. I’m bringing many prayer
ropes back to the States. People are asking for them. They
are even putting them on the babies’ hands to wear. I believe in
prayer and love.
I’m always accompanied with Bishop
Theodosije and monks from Deacni, therefore I feel safe. God protects us.
Kosovo is the most struggling area in the
world today along with Constantinople and Skopje. Average people in the West
must see these struggles, and we as Orthodox Christians have to help each
other. We are obliged as Christians to take care of our weak or struggling
brothers and sisters through our prayers, love, and humanitarian work. In my
parish in the States my parishioners pray for me before I leave and worry if I
will return home safely. And here I am, I haven’t been killed yet. With prayers
and love we can accomplish a lot. While here, I’ve been serving a Divine
Liturgy every day in the monastery of Decani.
I know a lot of children whom I visit every
time I come. I bring them some gifts and some pocket change to buy some food or
whatever they need. One boy lost a lot of weight since my last visit. That
shocked me. I cried when I saw that because I haven’t been able to help more.
Now when I go back to the States it’ll be difficult for me to start my life
again. I have a heating system, I can turn on the lights with a switch, I can
freely go to the store, I can drive my car in peace and without fear, but
knowing how the Serbian people live in Kosovo is killing me. People travel with
fear and insecurity.
I met with Patriarch Irinej after the
Liturgy in St. Mark’s Church. That was a fascinating moment to see a Patriarch
serving the Liturgy in a freezing Church. What a great example of sacrifice and
self-giving. He is an example of a true Christian, for there are not a lot of
people who are ready to sacrifice for other people. Every time that I come
here, I say to myself that I am a spoiled American.
You are also president of the Archbishop Jovan Fund. You
went to Skopje with the intention to visit him in the jail. They have rejected
your appeal to see him. What were their reasons behind that?
The Archbishop is my close friend, and we’ve
known each other for six years. I spoke with him just before he was arrested.
He told me that in December he was planning on returning to his diocese. “I have
to go back to my people. I’m responsible for them like any other bishop. I am
aware of what may happen to me when I go back, however I know that you will be
praying for me,” he said. This is an example of a true love for Christ’s
Church. A father has to take care of his children, especially with the
responsibility as a bishop. He knows that his clergy and people are suffering
and he doesn’t want to remain silent in Thessalonica. So far he has been
arrested six times. Why? He is an Archbishop of the universally recognized
Church. When the unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church separated from one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic Church he decided to remain faithful to his
archdiocese and to his Patriarch. There were other bishops who followed his
example. However, the government of the Former Yugoslavian Republic of
Macedonia was looking for false accusations. The easiest way to defame someone
is to accuse him of the embezzlement of money or to find something in his
private life. He was accused with the former method. When he made an attempt to
speak on behalf of his Church he asked – Why are you persecuting me? – He was
accused that he has been speaking against his government. He replied: “My
Church has to be free! And registered! And stop, don’t persecute us anymore!”
To imprison an Archbishop is a scandal. He has a great love for God. I went to
Skopje, but I wasn’t allowed to visit him at the prison. No one besides his
mother and sister, who come to visit him once a month, are allowed to visit him
– not bishops, not friends, not Patriarch. Prisons in Eastern Europe are much
different than those in the States. The Archbishop’s life is in danger – he
suffers from diabetes, he is in a cold cell without proper medication or diet.
What’s the point of his imprisonment? His cassock and his insignias are taken
away from him and he is thrown in prison as if a robber. That’s a huge
disgrace! The cassock is considered something holy for us. They want to strip
him of his dignities and do away with him. Five times he was pronounced not
guilty. If anything happens to him while he is imprisoned, we will tell the
free world that the Macedonian government killed him. They are becoming extremely
bad. Archbishop Jovan needs to be free now!
In Skopje I met with a representative from
the US embassy, who showed a great understanding for our concerns. I have
spoken with his Holiness Patriarch Irinej and I told him that we cannot remain
silent about this. The more we keep silent, the more he suffers. We have to
tell the world and the media that our Archbishop Jovan is in prison. He is
dying on a daily basis. He is known in America as a confessor of Orthodoxy.
Our Fund is financially supporting the clergy
and faithful of the Archdiocese of Ohrid in Macedonia. They are persecuted,
too. The whole Church is persecuted. They have to hide to pray, for the
government destroyed all of their Churches. Nuns were praying once and the
state police took them out of the Church, dragging them by their hair. That’s
unthinkable in the West. They don’t have enough food, wood, warm water, and they
have to hide when they pray.
I’ll never give up. I’ll try not to neglect
my duties in my parish, but I’ll keep helping people in Kosovo as well. I pray
to saints, especially to St. Steven of Decani to protect and guide his people
in Kosovo and Metohija.
Serbia is being blackmailed to give up on Kosovo and
Metohija in order to gain a membership in the EU. What do you think about that?
I’m not a politician. I’m a parochial
priest. Kosovo belongs to Serbia. Everything else is a betrayal. The
responsibility of Serbians is to pray for their land and to protect it.
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