Bishop Tikhon: Great values oblige a person — we must defend our heritage in Kosovo

The Bishop of Moravica and vicar to the Serbian Patriarch, Bishop Tikhon, stated in an Easter interview for Kosovo Online that the key message of the holiday is the triumph over death. He emphasized the importance of defending Serbian heritage in Kosovo and explained that Serbs remain and endure in Kosovo because it is hard to “abandon centuries and centuries,” and because “great values oblige a person.”

Written by: Djordje Barovic

“The message of Easter is victory over death. Just as Christ rose from the dead and became the first to do so, we too await victory over death and eternal life for all people, victory over all the problems and sufferings of this world, and the establishment of God's kingdom,” said Bishop Tikhon.

Stressing that Easter is the most important holiday celebrated by Christians, he also explained why it is often referred to as Pascha.

“In the Old Testament, the holiday of Passover was originally a family celebration for the people of the Old Covenant, marking their exodus from Egyptian slavery, as described in the Holy Scriptures. Later, this family celebration became more of a temple-based Old Testament holiday. At the time of Christ, during the celebration of Passover and following His crucifixion, His resurrection occurred. Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and we now refer to His resurrection as Pascha. So, that Old Testament holiday has been completely elevated and fulfilled by the New Testament resurrection of Christ,” the bishop explained.

Commenting on the increasingly frequent attacks on the Serbian Church in Kosovo, Bishop Tikhon emphasized the importance of defending it.

“If we do not defend our heritage and legacy well, others will come and claim it. This is how it works all over the world. The more difficult the global situation becomes, the more important it is to commit ourselves to prayer. As Elder Silouan said: ‘We have spiritual peace, without which there is no salvation,’” said Bishop Tikhon.

The long-time abbot of the Studenica Monastery, Bishop Tikhon recently returned from Kosovo, where he visited the Patriarchate of Pec.

When asked to comment on the current situation, he said that instead of “heaviness,” he felt beauty.

“I was in Metohija with friends, at the Patriarchate of Pec, and we prayed to God there in our great shrine, the burial site of many archbishops and patriarchs. And we could not feel the heaviness of being there — we felt the beauty,” said the bishop.

He added that the Patriarchate of Pec was visited by a large number of Orthodox believers, especially those from Kosovo, which speaks to their commitment to faith and the Church.

“And everything I could say to them is already spoken by the sanctity itself and those holy monasteries,” emphasized Bishop Tikhon.

He believes that Serbs are fighting to remain and survive in Kosovo because “great values oblige a person.”

“It is hard to leave beauty behind. It is hard to abandon centuries and centuries. Our people know how to endure, how to wait, how to pray to God in that endurance and waiting — and to a certain extent, that is still the case today,” Tikhon stressed.

He explained that the current attacks on the Serbian Church in Kosovo are not new and that it is up to the Serbs to preserve it through dedication and investment in safeguarding their heritage.

“Throughout the history of the world, nothing has remained stable in the long term without effort and investment. So, if we love something and it is ours, but we do not put enough effort into showing that love, or we are not in a historical position to show it, then others take it from us. That was the case in earlier periods, and it is the same today. We must love our holy sites, we must love our heritage, we must invest in our heritage — only then can we defend it,” emphasized the Bishop of Moravica and vicar of the Serbian Patriarch.

He is convinced that there is an abundance of scholarly material sufficient to counter attempts at appropriating Serbian heritage in Kosovo but that there is still a need to invest in new content and make it more accessible to international public opinion.

“Our scholars, our historians — art historians, literary historians, theologians — have thoroughly studied our heritage, our monasteries, our legacy. What we need is for this already well-argued material to reach more deeply into our people and, at the same time, to penetrate beyond our nation. We need to invest in high-quality monographs for foreigners, to make films about it, to do everything others are doing for their own heritage. In my opinion, this is the way we can feel safer — only through great dedication to our heritage,” concluded Bishop Tikhon.