Balkans, national Churches

The plenary assembly of the International Bishops’ Conference “Sts. Cyril and Methodius” that includes Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo, was held last week in the city of Zrenjanin, in Serbia’s Vojvodina region. The meeting was attended by the apostolic nuncio in Belgrade Msgr. Orlando Antonini, the president of the Conference Msgr. Zef Gashi, bishop of Antivari (Montenegro), Msgr. Stanislav Hocevar, archbishop of Belgrade, the apostolic exarch of Eastern rite for Serbia and Montenegro Msgr. Djura Dzudar, and other six members of the Conference. During the meeting participants agreed to propose to the Holy See the reorganization of the International Conference into four national conferences, corresponding to the respective four Countries. Iva Mihailova addressed the subject with Secretary-General Msgr. Ladislav Nemet, bishop of Zrenjanin. Why do you consider it best to separate the international Conference? “We have been considering this option for many years, as we come from different Countries with different problems. Not only, our international feature makes the Conferences poorly flexible, legislation varies at national level. For example, only in Serbia provides foe the teaching of religion in schools, and only Montenegro has a concordat with the Holy See. Every nation has a different nuncio and this further complicates also the communication with the Holy See”. If the bishops’ Congregation should welcome your request Kosovo, for example, would be represented by just one bishop. Couldn’t this be a problem? “Yes, in Kosovo there is one bishop, and this is the case also in Macedonia. There are two bishops in Montenegro while in Serbia there are only five. Division in national Conferences is possible in technical terms: there have been previous cases in Church tradition. In Moldavia, for example, there is just one bishop who is a member of CCEE (Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe). The form is not that important. In fact, to be a recognized partner, respected by the national State also at ecclesial level, there should be a national subject. As Serbian bishops we need an efficient bishops’ conference to tackle numerous unsolved issues with the State”. In the meantime the seat of the Bishops’ Conference will be moved, following your proposal, from Belgrade to Pancevo… “Indeed, it will be moved from Belgrade to the neighbouring town of Pancevo, in the Vojvodina region, where 95% of Serbian Catholics live. For them, it carries important symbolical meaning, and in this way we wish to highlight also the Catholics’ presence in Serbian society”. The document with guidelines for cases of sexual abuse against minors by clerics has been approved. Have there been cases of abuse in Serbia? “Compared to other countries we lag behind in the publication of the document as we had to harmonize the legislations of four Countries. There have been three trials regarding three alleged cases of abuse on minors. In the end it turned out that the accusations were ungrounded, but nonetheless the cases had a negative impact on the accused priests. In the Orthodox Church some bishops were brought to civil Courts, which caused many problems. The document underlines our commitment following the position of the Holy See for the protection of children, and in case of abuse a legal trial ensues. Proceedings are handled by the Church as national legislation does not consider it mandatory to file a report. I want to underline the gravity of these crimes against innocent ones, which damages also the good reputation of the Catholic Church”. You mentioned hanging issues with the Serbian State? What about? “The nationalized properties of the Catholic Church have not yet been returned, and for years the practices have been at a standstill. The property includes buildings and stretches of land. We also have problems linked to the social security of our priests. Moreover, the foreign academic theology degrees are not recognized”.