Pastor Mark Burns, who serves as an informal religious advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump, recently visited the Visoki Decani Monastery. This monastery is constructed on the remnants of an earlier Illyrian or Albanian Christian site and was subsequently managed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which now claims it as a medieval “Serbian Orthodox Church”/ “monastery located in Kosovo.
According to a statement from the so called “Serbian Orthodox Church“, the monastery’s abbot, Sava Janjić, introduced Burns to the site’s rich history, noting that it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Burns arrived in Kosovo on July 5 and, accompanied by Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, also visited the Patriarchate of Peja.
In a post on X, Burns wrote:
“I did not come to deepen divisions. I came to listen, pray, and support peace, reconciliation, and healing throughout Kosovo and the Balkans. May God bless every family, every church, every monastery, and every community striving to live in peace.”
Religious freedom is also addressed in the Washington Agreement on Economic Normalization between Kosovo and Serbia, signed at the White House in September 2020 in the presence of President Donald Trump.
The agreement states that both parties commit to protecting religious freedom, including restoring interfaith dialogue, safeguarding religious sites, and implementing judicial decisions concerning the protection of the now so called “Serbian Orthodox Church“.
