The Church of the Holy Trinity near Pec was desecrated with graffiti containing messages of religious hatred

In the village of Naklo near Pec, unknown perpetrators broke into the church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, which is under renovation, and wrote graffiti on the walls with messages of religious hatred.

The Raska-Prizren Eparchy expressed deep concern about the latest attack on the Church of the Holy Trinity.

According to a report submitted to the Eparchy by the parish priest in Pec, unidentified individuals broke in and wrote graffiti in the church, including messages such as "Allahu Akbar," as well as "remove this church from here, only Muslims are here" and "we don't want churches, we want mosques... Islam is the only true religion!" in Albanian.

It is particularly worrying that the incident followed the decision of the Kosovo authorities to ban the patriarch and bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church from entering Kosovo, thereby preventing them from serving the Holy Liturgy and beginning the regular session of the Holy Synod of Bishops at the Pec Patriarchate Monastery, as has been done since the 14th century, the Raska-Prizren Eparchy points out.

The church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and was burned down during the March 2004 riots. Restoration began in 2020 when the churchyard and cemetery were cleaned.

Later, the churchyard along with the cemetery was fenced, windows and doors were installed, and the roof of the church was repaired.

Before 2004, the village was home to 300 Orthodox Serbs, whose initiative began the restoration of this church.

"Attacks on Serbian Orthodox temples in Kosovo and Metohija are continuously happening and have been particularly frequent in recent months. Mostly, these attacks on churches and private property have an ethnic and religious background as they are specifically directed against the Serbian community and the Serbian Orthodox Church," states the Raska-Prizren Eparchy.