Serbian Orthodox work on internal disputes

Belgrade (Focus) - The Serbian Orthodox Church met Tuesday in an extraordinary session to heal a rift over a leadership dispute among its bishops in the breakaway province of Kosovo.

The synod, the Church's government, unanimously decided to freeze all disputes among bishops in the southern territory until a meeting of its assembly, it said in a statement carried by Beta news agency.

Tuesday's gathering was called after clashes between hardline Kosovo Bishop Artemije and his moderate deputy, Teodosije, over leadership and other scandals reportedly including corruption and links to political parties.

If the conflict continued, it "might jeopardise the mission of the Serbian Orthodox Church as a whole and in particular in Kosovo," Beta quoted the statement as saying.
"The key decision on this and other issues will be made in the foreseeable future" at a meeting of all bishops, added the statement, issued after a four-hour session of the Church's top body.

Bishops are reported to have split into factions fighting for the most senior role in the Serbian Orthodox Church since Patriarch Pavle, 93, was hospitalised last year. Artemije wants the Church to cut ties with the international presence in Kosovo in response to Western backing for the ethnic Albanian-dominated government's independence declaration on February 17.

Serbia considers Kosovo the cradle of its history, culture and religion. Kosovo is dotted with dozens of Serbian Orthodox monasteries and churches, many of them dating back to medieval times.