Diocese: Disappearance of bell from the church of Saint Paraskeva in Brnjaca near Orahovac requires urgent investigation

The Diocese of Raska and Prizren announced that it had received with deep concern the news that the church bell had disappeared from the bell tower of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Paraskeva in the village of Brnjaca, near Orahovac. While refraining from drawing premature conclusions regarding the perpetrators and their motives, the Diocese expects the Kosovo Police to conduct a thorough investigation.

The faithful from Orahovac and the surrounding area, who gathered this morning for the Divine Liturgy marking the church’s patronal feast day, noticed upon their arrival that the bell was missing. The Kosovo Police were called and responded to the scene, while all the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.

In its statement, the Diocese emphasized that a church bell is not merely part of church property but a consecrated liturgical object that calls the faithful to prayer and worship. Its disappearance, particularly on the day of the church’s patronal feast, has deeply disturbed the small number of remaining faithful in the area, especially given that this church, located in an area where no Serbian population now resides, was damaged during the March 2004 violence.

“At this stage, the Diocese is refraining from drawing premature conclusions regarding the perpetrators and their motives, but expects the Kosovo Police to conduct, without delay, a thorough investigation, secure all available evidence, establish exactly what happened, and, should it be determined that the bell was unlawfully removed, identify those responsible and bring them to justice. It is particularly important to determine whether this case contains elements of religious or ethnic intolerance,” the statement said.

Bearing in mind that many previous attacks, break-ins, and acts of desecration targeting Serbian Orthodox Church sites have never resulted in police investigations or judicial proceedings, the Diocese also expects international representatives to closely monitor the actions of the competent institutions in this case.

“Only a swift, professional, and impartial investigation can demonstrate that the holy sites and the rights of the Serbian Orthodox Church are genuinely protected in practice, rather than merely in principle,” the statement concludes.