Message from Archbishop Christodoulos
26 March 1999
An Important Statement by His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All of Greece, Christodoulos on Kosovo
While the clouds of war cover the dark skies of Kosovo, and in general the neighboring areas of Yugoslavia, His Beatitude, the Archbishop of Athens and All of Greece, Christodoulos, made the following statement:
"Today, I would like to express my anguish and raise up a voice of supplication and prayer to all of those that are involved in the Kosovo problem, to demonstrate self-restraint and use their logic with feelings of love, understanding and tolerance.
The continued blind violence must be avoided at all costs, especially war, which only brings destruction and death. This has been proven time and time again throughout history as only a temporary solution. Violence and war must be avoided at all costs, because, besides all the catastrophe caused, it brings loss of human life, which each of these lives, according to our Saviour and Lord of Peace, Jesus Christ, is priceless and unique. These days, I am praying earnestly for peace throughout the entire world and especially, for the love and respect towards man as the image of God to prevail in Kosovo. But I am also praying for justice and respect of the human rights for all of those in the area, regardless of nationality or religion.
We should not enter the 21st Century with another bloody war in Europe, which would mean, besides all the other reasons, a bankruptcy of values and institutions."