Faced with the complete lawlessness that the current government in Pristina is carrying out towards the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox people, this time restricting the freedom of movement of the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church himself, His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, the Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovica and the Serbian Patriarch Porphyry and the Serbian bishops, making it impossible for them to in a completely illegal way, actually by violence, to start the regular annual session of the Holy Synod of Bishops in the monastery of Peć Patriarchate, where they have been doing it since the first half of the 14th century and the time of the Holy Patriarch Ioanniki II, the Holy Synod of Bishops in front of the whole civilized world, by serving the Divine Service especially in front of Christians, testifies that the Serbian people and their Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija live in complete legal, which means existential, insecurity.
The fact that the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church is prevented from going to the Peć Patriarchate is like the Pope being forbidden to go to the Vatican or the head of the Church of England to the Canterbury Cathedral. We archbishops gather once a year from all over the world, from all continents, we cross numerous borders without any problems, except when we need to come to Kosovo and Metohija, our spiritual hearth.
This lawlessness committed in front of the world at a time when the government in Prishtina hopes to be admitted to the Council of Europe is a pale picture of what the government there is doing every day to the Serbian people who have been living in their centuries-old living space, in Kosovo and Metohija for at least a millennium and a half, about which ancient monasteries and churches, graves, frescoes and icons of inestimable value bear vivid witness. Therefore, the Holy Synod of Bishops points out to all responsible international actors who have the ability to influence the Pristina authorities that with this act they have grossly demonstrated that the internationally recognized and universally binding provisions of the Universal the declaration of the United Nations on human rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other conventions that directly guarantee the right to freedom to every person, including the Serbian Patriarch, archbishops, priests and believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church movement, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and other guaranteed human rights and freedoms. We also invite the Orthodox and the entire Christian world and its spiritual leaders to stand up for the respect of our religious rights through prayer and other means.
The Serbian Orthodox Church has never been, is not now, and certainly will not be a political institution in the future, but is and remains the spiritual Mother of the Orthodox Serbs who carries out her spiritual mission unhindered in countries around the world. The Serbian Orthodox Church, neither in the Republic of Serbia nor in other countries, has the status of a state Church or a political organization, and therefore political criteria cannot be applied to it.
The current authorities in Prishtina tried to humiliate the Serbian Orthodox Church and to introduce new fears and anxieties among the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija, in order not to force them to leave their sanctuaries. and homes.
The Serbian Orthodox Church has testified everywhere, especially in Kosovo and Metohija, and still testifies today that it remains with its people, regardless of the violence that has been carried out systematically and with impunity against Orthodox Serbs for decades, especially from 1999 until today.
The Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church headed by His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Mr. Porfirijem appeals to the international authorities in Kosovo and Metohija to do everything in their power to stop the flagrant violation of human rights and basic freedoms of the Serbian people. The Serbian Patriarch and the archbishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church remain with their people in Kosovo and Metohija.

Source: SPC