BISHOP SERGIJE: FUNERAL SERVICE FOR GENERAL MLADIĆ CLOSES MAJOR CHAPTER OF HISTORY

BIHAĆ, SEPTEMBER 9 /SRNA/ - His Eminence Bishop Sergije of Bihać-Petrovac stressed that Serbs would be a statistical error in the land of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers had it not been for the Army of Republika Srpska, thanks to which they did not end up in Jasenovac and other sites of mass atrocities.

Bishop Sergije stressed that former commander of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska, General Ratko Mladić, was and remains the personification of an army that was the defensive reflex, shield and security of the Serbian people.

"Without intending to make Ratko Mladić greater than he was, because the people, time and historiography will pass judgment on his character and deeds, I cannot, for the sake of truth, remain silent about the words of condemnation that the outgoing head of the Islamic Community in BiH, respected Effendi Husein Kavazović, addressed to the Serbian Patriarch," Bishop Sergije wrote in an article.

He stressed that it was difficult to find the right words to describe the Sarajevo fever caused by the mass farewell to General Mladić, who took command of the Army of Republika Srpska during the most difficult times.

"Thanks to the Army of Republika Srpska, the Serb people did not end up in Jasenovac, Jadovno, Stara Gradiška, Jastrebarsko, Garavice, Prebilovci and Šušnjar, as happened several decades earlier. Had it not been for the Army of Republika Srpska, we certainly would not be where we are today, but would have ended up like the Serbs in Croatia - a statistical error in the land of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers," Bishop Sergije said.

The brave fighters, poor sons yearning for freedom, gave four years of their lives so that we could enjoy freedom, without which everything would be one great nothing, the Bishop of Bihać-Petrovac stressed.

"Patriarch Porfirije, contrary to what the respected Reis says, did not reopen old wounds, but quite the opposite. With the funeral service for General Mladić, a major historical chapter was closed, while the late general, with all his virtues and shortcomings, was and remains the personification of an army to which the best sons of the Serb people gave their youth," the bishop added.

Bishop Sergije said that it was difficult to understand, and even more difficult to accept, the imposed thesis that courts write our history, which was undoubtedly tragic.

"I sincerely mourn every victim, every tear shed, every grieving mother, but I cannot, and we cannot, allow court decisions to shape our view of life and our shared past and present," the bishop stressed.

If that were the case, he said, we would not be allowed to mention Gavrilo Princip today, whom a court decision cost his freedom and life, and who, as everyone knows, was not a terrorist but a poor young man from Grahovo inspired by the idea of freedom.

"We must never justify crimes, regardless of the name of the perpetrator, but we should rise above the political opportunism of our age, in which, as we have witnessed, states and peoples have been razed to the ground because of false accusations and fabricated pretexts. Our Muslim brothers should know this better than I do, because they know what happened to Iraq, Libya, Syria... The same geopolitical steamroller crushed the truth, desecrated justice and endangered peace," Bishop Sergije pointed out.

On the other hand, he said, he could not allow it to be forgotten how Islamic fundamentalists, brought to BiH from who knows where, beheaded Serbs, for which photographs and video recordings exist.

"We did not invite them into this country we share, someone else did, but respected Reis Kavazović does not say a word about that. It is enough to watch the footage from Jasenica near Bosanska Krupa and see how the body of the elderly Nedimović is dragged by a tractor, how icons are shot at and how an Orthodox church is desecrated, and one can be convinced that the Army of Republika Srpska was our defensive reflex, our shield and our security," Bishop Sergije said.

He recalled that there is also silence about the brutal killing of Rade Rogić from Sanski Most, while footage of his mistreatment and beating before his murder makes every normal person feel sick.

"Perhaps the respected Reis has forgiven the killers, but we have not, because how can we understand that one crime is glorified while another is concealed? Had it not been for the Army of Republika Srpska, I fear that many of us would have suffered Rogić's fate. Thank God we did not, because the graves of our naivety were long ago covered by fear and the desire to ensure that 1941 would not happen to us again. When the respected Reis understands this, perhaps he will forgive the Patriarch and us, just as we forgive him," Bishop Sergije concluded.