Catholic Priest Holds Unauthorized Ceremony at Serbian Monastery Site, Sparks Sharp Reaction from the SOC

A religious ceremony led by Catholic priest Fran Kolaj on July 23 at the medieval Serbian Orthodox monastery site of the Holy Virgin of Hvosno near Istok has provoked a strong backlash from the Raška-Prizren Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC). The event took place without the Church’s knowledge or consent, within a lawfully established Special Protective Zone, and was marked by a series of nationalistic and political statements that the Diocese has condemned as inflammatory and unlawful.

The gathering, held in the village of Studenica near Istok, occurred on the grounds of the archaeological site of the Holy Virgin of Hvosno Monastery, a 13th-century Serbian Orthodox complex. The Diocese stated that Kolaj’s speech contained “overt nationalist messages,” denying the identity, historical legacy, and presence of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the area, while referring to the monastery as “ethnic Albanian and Illyrian.”

The Diocese harshly criticized the event, describing it as a “direct violation of the law” and part of a “series of ongoing provocations against the Serbian Orthodox Church.”

It emphasized that the Holy Virgin of Hvosno site is located within a Special Protective Zone established in 2008, where public gatherings require prior approval from both the Church and the relevant oversight council—approval which was not sought nor granted in this case.

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“Inflammatory language” and political overtones

In its public statement, the Diocese accused Kolaj of using “inflammatory language that incites interethnic and interreligious hatred,” noting that the photographs show individuals who appear “more like political followers than worshippers.”

“It remains unknown whether this provocative misuse of a religious act and space was performed with the knowledge or permission of the Catholic Bishop of Kosovo,” the Diocese underlined, recalling a similar incident in 2018 in Novo Brdo, after which it formally addressed the Vatican.

The Diocese has also released a transcript and video of Kolaj’s speech, which they say includes political messages, historical revisionism, and references to the unification of “Albanian lands.” In his speech, Kolaj referred to the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Ottoman Empire as two powers that “seized our (cf. Albanian) history and placed it in their own hands.” He mentioned the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the 1999 war, and the Serbian President, reinforcing, as the Diocese noted, the political character of the event.

Legal action under consideration

The Raška-Prizren Diocese warned that this incident is “only the latest in a series of events indicating a concerning erosion of its rights and freedoms.” It announced that it will explore all legal avenues for possible violations of the law and the special status of the protected zone.

“However, due to years of institutional negligence and the selective enforcement of laws concerning violence against SOC properties, there is serious concern that this latest incident will likewise remain unsanctioned,“ the Diocese warned.

Below is the full English translation of Father Kolaj’s speech, as originally released by the Raška-Prizren Diocese:

“Any religion that undermines our national identity, any religion that denies our historical right and our historical monuments, is unacceptable for our Albanian people. The natural instinct of humanity desires to embellish and idealise life, to highlight the good aspects of one’s life, one’s values, and one’s artistic, aesthetic, and religious creativity as an expression of life and responsibility.

Dear compatriots, many of our cultural and religious monuments that once belonged to the Catholic Church were taken from us by two powers that were dark for us, the Ottoman Empire and the Serbian kingdom, which, together, through collaboration, seized our history and placed it in their own hands. Serbia, which at that time had a very strong influence within the Ottoman Empire, and today, together with President Erdogan, has but one aim, which is that the Albanian people should no longer be called Albanian. They may wish us to be called Catholic, Muslim, atheist, or whatever they like, but not Albanian, with the ultimate goal that this land should belong to Serbia.

However, we will respond to both Erdogan and Serbia just as we did in the last war. Although we were not prepared, we possessed a love for our homeland and the truth of our historical monuments and Albanian culture. We responded and we won the war, which for many was thought impossible, but in the end, on 10 June 1999, the Serbian forces were retreating towards Belgrade, while the Kosovo Liberation Army and all the other segments of Albanian society were marching into Pristina, accompanied by the applause, smiles and love of the people for our liberators.

Here with us, we also have Aleksander, the commander of Shala, one among many commanders. Compatriots, let us not be afraid to raise our voices for our identity, and let us not allow our identity to be called by another name that is not Albanian. We are Albanian today, we were Albanian yesterday, and we shall be Albanian tomorrow, scattered across many states, and tomorrow united in one state.

I invite all of you, with our positive forces, individually, as families, as society, institutionally, politically, militarily, and above all academically, to unite our efforts, for in the blood and suffering of our people, with that blood with which every span of our land has been watered, as the Gospel says, this land watered with blood, we must work it well to reap fruits a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold. Let us not be afraid, but together let us march towards the unification of our Albanian lands.”