A common language

“Holy Places and Religious Institutions” is the theme of an international conference held in Rome on 10-11 December, on the initiative of the Free University of Maria SS. Assunta (LUMSA), in association with the Columbus School of Law and The Catholic University of America, to examine the legal and religious approaches to places of worship with particular reference to those in the Balkans and in the Holy Land. “The aim, first of all, is to gain a precise notion is what is meant by place of worship and holy place”, explains the Rector of LUMSA, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, in a briefing to SIR Europe. He cites the example of the term mosque, which “is not a Christian church and not necessarily a place of worship. We need to find a common language that, in this field, is able to identify and denote the same needs and situations”. Kosovo and Bosnia. “The past is a lesson for the future. In Kosovo we are trying to build this future in the spirit and humanity of our Nobel prize-winner, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who always sought peace and hope for our country”. Baki Svirca, director of the institute for the protection of the monuments of Kosovo, explained in these terms the importance of the cultural heritage of what is “the youngest State in Europe”. “In the 20th century we saw the lack of respect for artistic creativity. Works of art were used as means for the achievement of political ends. There have been historical periods in which the political strategy was that of funding research on the cultural heritage to try to justify the supremacy of a particular nation, race or religion over others. Art was used to lay claims to rights over territories and nations, and Kosovo is no exception”, far from it. “Going backwards in time – added Svirca – we can affirm that in this land the cultural heritage has been considered in many cases as a very powerful weapon in the hands of the political system to invent historical and political truths. The politicization of the Kosovar cultural heritage has had the effect of destroying the country’s cultural and artistic heritage”. Svirca cited various examples of this: “the destruction in Pristina of ancient religious objects between 1945 and 1960 by the regime of that time, including the destruction of mosques, churches and synagogue: all things that the local population had protected for centuries”. The war in Kosovo of 1998-1999, moreover, caused serious damage to the Kosovar cultural heritage: according to the data furnished by the director, over 200 mosques, 450 fortified houses (kullas), many Catholic churches and hundreds of houses in ancient villages were demolished. In March 2004, 37 Christian-Orthodox sites of historic importance, and protected by law, were damaged”. At the present time the institute directed by Svirca manages 426 monuments, ranging from archaeological sites to cemeteries, from Christian, Catholic and Moslem places of worship to libraries or structures of clear social interest. According to Amra Hadzimuhaedovic, member of the Commission for the Protection of National Monuments of Bosnia-Herzegovina, there are three concepts in the perception of holy places in Bosnia: “complexity, conflict and the competition of identities”. “In Bosnia we have three sacred traditions – Amra explained – whose benefits have been shared by everyone. We think of the structure of Bosnian towns with the church on top of the hill and the mosque in the valley and holy places situated also in caves, among the rocks, and among the trees to celebrate such rites as the summer solstice and other rites”. “In the aftermath of the war it is urgently necessary to pursue ways of reconciliation also through art and monuments. To this end we are organizing summer workshops on tolerance, devoted to such themes as “Destruction of the temple?”, “Conversion of the temple?”, “Construction/reconstruction of the temple?” and “A shared temple?”.Serbia. Reconciliation through the cultural heritage and art, however, does not seem a feasible option at the present time in the view of Mirjana Menkovic, consultant of the Ethnographic Museum of Belgrade and head of the Mnemosyne Centre for the protection of the cultural and naturalistic heritage of Kosovo and Metohija (the traditional Serb name for the western part of the province). In open opposition to the statements of Svirca, Menkovic, recalling the presence of Serb monuments in Kosovar territory, asserted that “the dissolution of the system of the protection of the cultural heritage of Kosovo in 1999 led to the removal of Serb experts from the institutional networks”. This means that “the basic presuppositions for reviving a process of reconciliation do not exist. It is crucial, instead, that Serb experts be enabled to perform their work and that cooperation be re-established”. “The discredit thrown on Serb experts by a series of arbitrary judgements in the field of the artistic heritage has destroyed cultural identities, that of the Serbs in particular, and the multi-ethnic character of the country in favour of the totally unjustified creation of a so-called new Kosovar identity”.