Muslim Kosovars rediscover their long-forgotten Roman Catholic roots
May 6 at 2:21 PM
By Valerie Plesch?|?Religion News Service
BROD, Kosovo — The Catholic priest followed the village elders up a narrow road that curved between the green hills in the tiny hamlet of Gjonaj in southern Kosovo.
As the priest, Don Albert Jakaj, 36, emerged from the wooded path, he saw the light gray stone church, believed by locals to be a thousand years old, surrounded by tall pine trees.
Jakaj had traveled to Gjonaj at the request of Avni Ademi, 35, a local who contacted the priest to get his opinion on the origin of the church and to validate his belief that the church belongs to former local Roman Catholics before the village converted to Islam.
The Serbian Orthodox Church claims ownership of the property and holds the keys to the building, which it renovated in 1993. But area residents believe it’s an ancient Albanian church, and they want it back.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/muslim-kosovars-rediscover-their-long-forgotten-roman-catholic-roots/2015/05/06/b0c62832-f41c-11e4-bca5-21b51bbdf93e_story.html
