Page 761 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage
P. 761

ber of the Party was hurt, an attempt was made to demon- strate that the priest had taken part in the fight or orga- nized it, even though the fight arose out of a personal alter- cation and had nothing to do with the priest. His untactical position is also partly to blame for the resulting situation but in fact it is more an attempt to prevent religious work among the faithful. There was no priest there for years and now a sort of religious awakening has caught the attention of the members of the Party. Moreover, the village is purely Serb and the authorities are alert to make sure that nothing national should appear there (...).
This year the permanent displacement of our (Serbian) element has continued even more intensively, both among settlers and Serb old-timers from every part of the Dio- cese. Over 200 households have left from the administra- tive district of Gnjilane during the course of the year; and 70 households have left from the parish of Vrbovac, which was small to begin with. Sudden departures are also going on from the region of Priština since last year. in the village of Komorane after the war there were 40 Serb households, and now there are 12; Novo Čikatovo had 48, and now there are 22; Donji Zabel had 18, and now there are four; Veliki Belaćevac had 23, now there are only three. During the course of the year 81 households permanent left from the parish of Goleš. This is the second biggest problem in this region. in 1912 the percentage of Serbs relative to other na- tionalities in Kosovo and Metohija was 35 to 40%. Today it is only 25%.”56
In the next act No 34/966, Bishop Pavle says:
“i received a report from the administration of Sopo- ćani Monastery that during the celebration of the feast of St. Sava this year only child could be found to recite, where- as in previous years there were 10–20, as i myself saw on St. Sava’s Day in 1964. That is because last year after St. Sava’s Day the children who recited were beaten by the teachers, who threatened them with poor marks and ex- pulsion from school, gave them no schoolwork for a longer period of time, would not examine them, etc.
additionally, the report states that their teachers forbid them to go to church, to take communion, they force them to eat fatty foods during the first week of the Great Fast, etc.
i ask the Holy Synod of Bishops to undertake steps with the competent authorities to eliminate such actions be- cause they demonstrate the tyranny of individuals without the Law, and lead to poor relations between the authori- ties, on one hand, and parents and representatives of the Church, on the other.”57
The Holy Synod of Bishops in a meeting on March 18, 1966, adopted the recommendation of His Grace Bishop Pavle, and submitted a copy of the report to the Commis- sion for Religious affairs of the Federal executive Council.
56 AHSB, Syn No 24/1962.
57 AHSB, Syn No 1143/zap. 169/66.
at the same time, it urged His Grace Bishop Pavle to also write on his part to the Commission for Religious af- fairs of the Socialist Republic of Serbia.58
The Year 1967
His Grace Bishop Pavle by act No 12 from February 13, 1967, forwarded to the Holy Synod of Bishops a report by the elder of Dečani Monastery regarding the attacks by alba- nians on this monastery in which he says: “On February 11, 1967, i received a visit in Visoki Dečani Monastery from an official of the Forest administration from Dečani who, not knowing that the timber (in the monastery forest) had al- ready been cut down, advised me that we were not to cut it and told me that the peasants from the village of Dečani had filed a complaint claiming that the present monastery forest had always been theirs. i refused to obey the official and will attempt to transfer the timber to the monastery estate.
The psychosis among the albanians is far worse than during the occupation and the desire to steal never leaves them. The ringleader of all this is a descendent of a former Dečani “duke” [albanian protector of the monastery] whom the Patriarch rewarded with a golden ring, ali Lan from Dečani. Their appetite for the timber awoke because they would make enormous money because the timber is first- class.
Despite the decision of the Secretariat (for financial af- fairs AKMO No 03–1630/58) regarding the monastery for- est in our powerless hands we have even stronger evidence that today’s monastery forest was never owned by the peas- ants from Dečani. This was established by an ad hoc com- mission in 1929, which sent its legal representative Rama- dan Usena to the village of Dečani and he showed the bor- ders of the monastery forest. Consequently, they cannot prove anything except lies. What can we do when the al- banians are in power and are trying to make it impossible for the monastery to survive.
We inform you of this unfortunate occurrence and ask that you undertake urgent measures to prevent theft of the monastery forests, while i on my part will not fail to resist no matter the price. if anything new develops in connection with this matter, i will advise you immediately.”
The Year 1968
Bishop Pavle then also sent the Commission for Religions of the autonomous Province of Kosovo, No 162 from Feb- ruary 28, 1968, the report of the administration of Gorioč Monastery:
“in immediate proximity to this monastery there was a forest owned by the lumber camp of istok. When the lum- ber camp cut down the forest, the citizens from the area
58 AHSB, Syn No 1143/zap. 169/66.
The Suffering and Persecution in Kosovo and Metohija from 1945 to 2005
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