Patriarch Irinej: Kosovo is my big personal wound

Serbian Patriarch Irinej said that he never supported the partition of Kosovo,and added that a lot more needs to be done in order for Kosovo as a whole to be always a part of Serbia.

(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, August 08, 2011

Serbian Patriarch Irinej said that the torched and destroyed Serbian churches and monasteries in Kosovo are the best evidence of the tragedy of a nation.

The Patriarch stressed that Kosovo is his big personal wound, as numerous churches in Prizren and many other places were destroyed and religious monuments burnt down. Patriarch Irinej reiterated that the Church of "Virgin Ljeviska, a pearl of not only our historical and cultural heritage, but the world's, too, has been torched and is in a deplorable condition, with scratched and damaged frescoes from the 13th century."

"Today in Djakovica, Prizren, Urosevac, or Pec, which was an ideal of the Serbian culture along with the Patriarchate, only a few elderly people live who are not allowed to come out of their homes and yards. Serbs are fighting in the north of the province, and I believe they will win some independence, but it is still a small, symbolic part of Kosovo" he said.

Stating that he never supported the partition of Kosovo, Patriarch Irinej added that a lot more needs to be done in order for Kosovo as a whole to be always a part of Serbia.