"Insulting language and threats hurled at us everyday in streets of our towns and villages are something which we have regarded and regard as isolated incidents, and treat their perpetrators as irresponsible individuals. What disturbs us is the fact that none of perpetrators of more serious acts of crime - murder, physical attacks against members of our community and against our sacred facilities, and of grenade attacks -- has been found or punished. We hope that this will not be the case with the brutal attack on the episcopate's building in the very centre of Sibenik," the episcope says in a press release issued on Friday evening.
Earlier in the day the Office of the Eparchy of Dalmatia said in a statement that a larger group of people entered the yard of the Serb Orthodox Episcopate in Sibenik at 9.30 pm Thursday night calling for the murder of Serbs, damaged the entry door, smashed windows and demolished a table and benches in the yard. The statement said the vandals escaped before the arrival of the police.
Episcope Fotije says the attack saddens them even more as it occurred only several hours after Pope Benedict XVI received Serbia's President Boris Tadic for talks at which messages of peace and love were sent.
Calling on the Roman Catholic Church in Croatia to condemn the latest incident as well as previous ones, Episcope Fotije urges Orthodox believers to remain calm and to trust and cooperate with competent authorities on all matters.
"We use this occasion to once again call on Serb refugees from Dalmatia to return to their homes and places where their ancestors lived and give their full contribution to the establishment of the new Croatian state in which such cases of violations of human and religious rights or the threatening of human lives on the basis of their religious or national origin would be inconceivable," the Dalmatian episcope writes.
He also recalls that the primate in the Serb Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle, and the Church leadership have several times asked the Croatian government to ensure the protection of churches and other facilities of the Serb Orthodox Church.
"We reiterate this request while hoping that the Government will understand the gravity of the situation following the latest attack," the dignitary writes, among other things.
The Episcopate notified the Croatian Interior Ministry, Serbia and Montenegro Ambassador Milan Simurdic, and the Holy Archpriest's Synod in Belgrade.
Sibenik-Knin County Police confirmed the incident, saying the damage was 500 kuna and that charges would be pressed against the unidentified perpetrators. An investigation is under way.
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic today sent a letter to Episcope Fotije, expressing his regret at the news of the attack by hooligans on his residence in Sibenik.
"I sympathise with you and believe that the police will find the perpetrators and establish the motive for the attack in the shortest time possible. The Republic of Croatia wants to provide, not only through laws but also through actions, peace and security for all of its citizens, regardless of their nationality and religion," Mesic said in the letter.
Serbia and Montenegro's Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic on Friday sent a note to his Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic protesting over the attack on the headquarters of the Serb Orthodox episcopate for Dalmatia in Sibenik. According to a statement issued by the Serbian ministry, Draskovic instructed Serbia and Montenegro's Ambassador to Zagreb, Milan Simurdic, to visit Sibenik and ask the local authorities to fully guarantee security for Serbs and their places of worship.
(EUR1 = 7.4 kuna)