Bishop Gjergji: Christmas is a message of reconciliation, and love for others is accepting every difference

Ahead of Christmas celebrated by believers following the Gregorian calendar, Bishop Dode Gjergji of the Prizren-Pristina Diocese has conveyed a message to all believers to be children of God, urging the Serbs and the Albanians to be bearers of peace, love, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

"Christian believers who celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar are preparing for the holiday with repentance, prayer, and hope", Bishop Dode Gjergji says to Kosovo Online.

He emphasizes that a faith that inspires believers against others is no longer true faith.

"All of this is included in love and reconciliation because reconciliation and love for others mean accepting not only the faith but also every difference in others. We are not the ones who should say who belongs to good and who belongs to evil; only God has the authority for such judgment. We should have an open heart toward every person, regardless of the differences among us. Every faith should be a message of love and peace. We cannot be against others because a faith that inspires believers against others is no longer faith", the bishop said.

Christmas is a message of peace, love, and shared reconciliation, the bishop added.

"Not only among people but also between God and humans, between the Creator and the created, between the Holy God and sinful humans, and this Christmas call is a call for all people. On Christmas, angels sang from heaven about joy in heaven and peace to people of goodwill, so every person who lives in love with Jesus Christ can be a song of peace on earth and surely a song of glory to God in the highest", the bishop said.

Approximately 50,000 Catholics live in Kosovo, notes the bishop, adding that in Kosovo, they are "all former Catholics", and when asked about the observation that when you walked through predominantly Albanian areas, it seemed that even members of the Muslim faith celebrated Catholic Christmas, the bishop emphasizes that there is truth in that.

"The whole of Kosovo celebrates Christmas in one way or another because all people are people of goodwill. Everyone wants to celebrate; everyone wants to accept the joy of heaven. Every human heart should be open, and I believe that we, people of goodwill, can never separate ourselves from joy and love", the bishop said.

He sent messages to all believers, the Serbs, and the Albanians.

"My message would be three-dimensional for this Christmas. First, for our believers, that everyone should be children of God, and as children of God, they should be bearers of peace among people, and in this time, rays of the Holy Spirit, so that every human heart in this place experiences joy, love, and hope. Second, there is the dimension of all my Albanian compatriots who live in Kosovo or anywhere else, that they do not close their hearts to the truth and that they should be bearers of peace and love among people and responsible for peace and love. I would address a message to the third dimension, our citizens of Serbian nationality and our brethren in faith, Orthodox Christians, to unite in the initiative of peace and reconciliation because life can never be the goal of conflict or earthly interests. In the end, we are called to live as brothers on earth, and the land is not ours, the land is God's; it was given to us so that we could live in it joyfully and love each other. So, to all Serbs, not only in Kosovo but to all Serbs anywhere, I wish that true peace opens in the heart towards forgiveness and reconciliation because there is no other way, there is no better way, we need to come to that, even though it hasn't happened yet, but we want to come to that, and we will pray for it every day and do everything to help our citizens of Serbian nationality feel good", the bishop said.

He recalled the conference he had about ten days ago in North Mitrovica.

"There, the Serbs and the Albanians laughed together, so I said, 'Oh, what an event or what news it would be if it were read or heard in Belgrade that the Serbs and the Albanians laughed together in North Mitrovica', and no one will publish that, but we must laugh, we must be together", Bishop Gjergji says.

As he stated, Christmas was a time of a great event.

"We eagerly await the day of Christmas when we will all celebrate together in this church, in all our churches because it is an event. It is not one day; it is the time of a great event when the Word of God incarnated in the Virgin Mary", Bishop Gjergji said.