Communique of the Church Municipality (Serbian Orthodox Church) regarding the blockade of the St John the Baptist Church at Svač by the group of 20 Albanians incident

July 9, 2018 Montenegro

July 9, 2018 – The Ulcinj Municipality of the Serbian Orthodox Church has published the communique regarding the blockade of the St John the Baptist Church at Svač (Ulcinj, Montenegro) by the group of about 10 Albanians. The following text is a translation of the whole document:

“On Sunday 8 July 2018, on the occasion of the feast of Saint John the Baptist, a Holy Liturgy was served by His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije, with the priesthood and numerous faithful, in the old town of Svač.

Liturgy on this feast and on this place has been traditionally served every year, for several decades. There has never been a problem either with the state, which owns this land and the church, nor with locals – ethnic Albanians who have also been attending the feasts. The Metropolitan also came and served three times. This year, as every other before, the Orthodox believers had organized a liturgical celebration of the church feast in Svač, without the idea of what was going to happen.

A group of about ten Albanians blocked the access to the Metropolitan Amfilohije, to the clergy and the faithful, and briefly prevented them from reaching the church. The representative of the group, a member of the Ulcinj Assembly, Hadzija Sulejmani, a member of the Democratic Party of Albanians, tried to explain his shameful act by saying that the church was not Orthodox and that he, as a Muslim and a representative of the Ulcinj Assembly, does not allow us to access to it. When asked by the Metropolitan if they knew that it was the city of St. John Vladimir, which had also been venerated by the Albanians, if they knew that the churches were neither “ours” nor “yours” but of God, that we did not seize anything from anyone, but we preserved what we had already traditionally have, the arguments did not help and we did not get the answers to these questions.

It is a matter of concern that a man of Muslim faith gives himself a right, although him personally being uninformed about the matter, to determine to whom the church belongs. With the blessing of the Metropolitan, the clergy and faithful passed safely through the barricade. Due to the archaeological excavations and preservation of the remains of the church, the Liturgy was served in front of the church. We are very grateful to the Police, which acted responsibly and professionally from the beginning of the celebration, thus enabling the Metropolitan, the clergy and faithful to celebrate this feast with the Holy Liturgy.

We are convinced that this shameful act represents only an exception and that it will not impair good relations between the Muslims, Roman Catholic and Orthodox believers who live together and work in this region with respect for traditional, cultural and religious differences. The Orthodox believers in Ulcinj will continue to appreciate these differences as a fortune, and not as a source of hate, intolerance and conflict“

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