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• Serbia: Adventist Pastor Remains Hospitalized After Attack
• Church Reaffirms Commitment to Peace and Justice at Commission on Human Rights

Serbia: Adventist Pastor Remains Hospitalized After Attack

Adventist Pastor Josip Tikvicki remains hospitalized.

Belgrade, Serbia [PARL news]. Seventh-day Adventist pastor Josip Tikvicki remains hospitalized with a concussion to the head, several fractured ribs, and a broken jaw after being attacked on April 15 when he attempted to stop some individuals from attacking his church. Police found Josip unconscious in front of the church, which is about 40 miles northeast of the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

"I was shocked when I received the news about my colleague and the suffering he has gone through. The whole Adventist Church, together with other protestant churches, joined together over the weekend in prayer for our colleague and his family," said Dr. Radisa Antic, president of the Adventist Church in Serbia.

"This, however, is not an isolated incident. I am deeply concerned about what is happening to our churches across the country. In the last 10 days our central church in Belgrade was stoned twice, along with the church in the cities of Kragujevac, Negotin, Smederevo, and Backa Palanka. Obviously these are not coincidences, but rather orchestrated attacks by some organizations that are targeting religious minorities."

Leaders of the Adventist Church immediately contacted government officials, including the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Minorities. Adventist News Review (the Adventist news agency stationed in England) has learned that the secretary of the ministry, Zoran Martinovic, visited Pastor Josip in the hospital. Government officials have promised to release an official statement about the attacks.

"We are contacting both the Serbian government and the UN regarding these attacks which are clearly religiously motivated," adds Dr. Jonathan Gallagher, UN liaison director for the Adventist Church. "Such serious violations of religious freedom must be immediately addressed and the perpetrators dealt with in order to ensure continued freedom of religion and conscience in the country."

The Adventist community in Serbia is highly concerned about these latest attacks and feel threatened and insecure. Protestants make up only 1 percent of the population in Serbia. There are about 10,000 Seventh-day Adventist church members in Serbia. Adventists are considered the fastest growing mainstream Protestant denominations in Serbia. [Viola Hughes]

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Church Reaffirms Commitment to Peace and Justice at Commission on Human Rights
April 8, 2003

Dr. Gianfranco Rossi, Geneva UN representative for the Church.

Geneva, Switzerland... Representatives of the Seventh-day Adventist Church reaffirmed commitment to the principles of peace and justice during the 59th Session of the Commission on Human Rights meeting at the United Nations in Geneva.

In a prepared statement read to the Commission on April 3, Dr. Gianfranco Rossi, Geneva UN representative for the Church, affirmed that it was "madness to use religion as an instrument of terror and death," and that "the true spirit of religion supports justice, brotherhood, peace and life." Quoting twice from the Bible, the statement reminded the Commission of the concept of peacemaking: "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more," and "the work of justice shall be peace." (Isaiah 2:4; Isaiah 32:17).

Dr. Jonathan Gallagher, UN liaison director for the Adventist Church, in Geneva.

"Noting the many areas of conflict round the world with the consequent violations of human rights, many nations deplored the huge loss of life in both violent conflicts and in state-sponsored persecution," comments Dr Jonathan Gallagher, UN Liaison director for the Church, also attending the Commission. "One lamentable fact emerged from the discussion: worldwide, more people die at the hands of their own governments than from any other cause of violent death. Additionally, inter-religious conflict was cited by many speakers as a primary cause of many human rights violations."

The statement, based on an official declaration of the Church on the subject of peace, recommended that the Commission on Human Rights "not underestimate the importance of religion in education for human rights and for peace. It should encourage and support inter-religious dialogue to combat religious extremism, which is one of the major causes of the conflict that currently afflict humanity."

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