"... The Lord has shown us that there is no Resurrection without death, nor Easter without Good Friday.” This is a source of hope and consolation for us, because it assures us that our suffering and our Calvary will end in the resurrection of our entire people, its renewal and its spiritual rebirth. In this way, we shall in the truest sense experience personally the words of Christ from His hierarchic prayer: “Father, I want my servant also to be where I am…”
Bishop Artemije, Easter message
“Kosovo is not, nor has it ever been, the cause of suffering ‘of the entire nation.’ It has rather always been and meant the salvation of the entire nation. And so it is today. Those for whom only worldly criteria exist say that Kosovo led us into five centuries of slavery under the Turks and was therefore the cause of the suffering ‘of the entire nation.’ Others for whom also other, spiritual, criteria exist say that Kosovo gave us the strength to endure the five centuries of Turkish slavery and live to see the sun of freedom rise again in Kosovo and shed its light upon us. These two ways of looking at Kosovo exist also today. Kosovo does not, nor will ever have a price. For this reason, neither the present generation nor any future generation can have the right to renounce its Kosovo for the sake of ‘a better life.’ If any generation were to do this, instead gaining ‘a better life’ it would die a spiritual death from which there is no resurrection…”
Bishop Artemije, interview for 'Glas Javnosti'
Y E F I M I Y A
Yefimiya, the Lord of Drama’s daughter
And, in the world, Despot Uglyesha’s wife,
In pious twilight, far from worldly strife,
Embroiders a cloth for the Minster’s altar.
For nation after nation death knells toll.
All mankind groans while kingdoms fall entire.
Yet she alone, on silk with golden wire,
Traces deep sorrows of her noble soul.
Long centuries have passed and men forget,
Yet pain endures without surcease or rest.
It seems to me that even then you let
Our heartbeat echo deep within your breast.
In these grim hours before the country’s fall,
When hope of light lies quite beyond the pale,
It is your House and you that I recall,
Oh Serbian Despotess in a nun’s veil!
I feel that as she lonely vigil keeps,
While fates malignant relentlessly spite
Her people, lost in the advancing night,
The black-robed Lady still laments and weeps...
DEČANI AND BONDSTEEL The American Vice President Joseph Biden is planning to visit Monastery Dečani on May 21, 2009, as reported by the US Embassy in Priština. His Grace Artemije, Ruling Bishop of the Diocese of Ras and Prizren, has decided not to give his permission for this visit to take place.
17. June 2009. 07:20
Jinghuan: To defend principles in Kosovo China supports Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and upholds that the issue of Kosovo should be resolved through negotiations between Serbia and Pristina, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Wei Jinghua has stated. China firmly believes that the principle of honouring the sovereignty and territorial integrity...
19. April 2009. 22:31
Easter in Gračanica His Grace Artemije, Bishop of Ras-Prizren, conducted the pontifical services of Paschal Matins and Liturgy in the Monastery Gračanica. The services, which began at midnight with the Resurrection Procession around the church, were attended by a record number of faithful who had come...
Many times during my working career in Kosovo I often thought of the stories my father used to tell me about his youth growing up in County Kerry in the South West of Ireland. He…spent a lot of time up in the Kerry Mountains...
17. June 2009. 07:19
Ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Roma should be acknowledged On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the expulsion of the Roma from Kosovo and Metohija by Albanians, the Association of Roma in France has issued an appeal in which they request the international community to recognize ethnic cleansing of the Roma in Serbia's southern province...
17. April 2009. 12:48
Great and HolyThursday - Gračanica His Grace Artemije, Bishop of Ras-Prizren, officiated on Great and Holy Thursday in Gračanica monastery. During the service twelve Gospels relating the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ were read...
28. April 2009. 05:09
Communique Without knowledge or permission of His Grace Artemije, Bishop of Raška-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija, work is in progress on the excavation for pylons of the aerial power distribution network on the property of Monastery Gračanica. The work is being carried out by illegal institutions in Kosovo-Metohija...
12. June 2009. 07:35
Konuzin: Russia will continue to be on Serbia's side Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Konuzin has said that Russia will continue to back to the very end the battle Serbia is fighting for Kosovo and that it will continue to invest its capital into our country. The reality in Kosovo is still disturbing, Konuzin said in an interview...
17. March 2009. 05:18
Memorial Services for the Serbs killed in the Pogrom of 2004 Today at noon all churches and monasteries in Kosovo-Metohija held memorial services for the Serbs killed in the Pogrom of March 2004. His Grace Artemije, Bishoip of Ras-Prizren officiated...
If you want to receive regular Diocesian press bulletins in English, please contact us, so that we could include you in the mailing list or you could do it by yourself visiting this link
Press Department of Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija
The web page is still incomplete due to frequent electrical and phone cut downs. Well make our best effort to keep you informed on regular basis. Thank you for your understanding.
US Capital Commemorates Victims of Jasenovac Death Camp On May 5, 2009, Washington, D.C.’s City Council passed a resolution recognizing April 22 as the Nation’s Capital Jasenovac Day. The Resolution, prepared by RAS, The International Serbian Organization, and sponsored by the Chairman of the City Councill, is to educate the residents ...
04. May 2009. 04:02
Amnesty International will continue to press NATO Amnesty International will continue with its efforts to find mechanisms that will make it possible for NATO to answer for the bombing of the Serbian Radio Television (RTS) building, since not a single body in the world has jurisdiction over this most powerful military alliance on the planet...
16. April 2009. 05:03
Is Serbia on the chopping block again? When Canada Post, a Canadian Government corporation, listed Serbia’s northern province of Vojvodina as a separate country, it must have been just delivering a message from the Canadian Government. The post office does not create foreign policy, it just obeys government orders. It had to be somebody else’s idea...
2005-2009 The Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija
Orthodox Christian Advocacy Institute (OCAI):
DEČANI AND BONDSTEEL
His Grace Artemije, Bishop of Ras-Prizren, conducted the pontifical services of Paschal Matins and Liturgy in the Monastery Gračanica. The services, which began at midnight with the Resurrection Procession around the church, were attended by a record number of faithful who had come...
His Grace Artemije, Bishop of Ras-Prizren, officiated on Great and Holy Thursday in Gračanica monastery. During the service twelve Gospels relating the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ were read...
Today at noon all churches and monasteries in Kosovo-Metohija held memorial services for the Serbs killed in the Pogrom of March 2004. His Grace Artemije, Bishoip of Ras-Prizren officiated...
If you want to receive regular Diocesian press bulletins in English, please contact us, so that we could include you in the mailing list or you could do it by yourself visiting 