WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES
Serbia: Adventist Pastor Severely Beaten, Churches Vandalized
eventh-day Adventist pastor Josip Tikvicki was hospitalized on April 15 after receiving a concussion, several fractured ribs, and a broken jaw when he attempted to stop three individuals from vandalizing his church. Police found Tikvicki unconscious in front of the church, located in Zrenjanin, a city about 40 miles northeast of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. As of April 27, his physical condition had worsened.
Just before midnight, Tikvicki and his wife heard glass breaking. Going outside to investigate, he confronted a group of three men who were throwing stones at the windows and vandalizing the church. According to church sources, Tikvicki was kicked, hit, and then fell to the ground, losing consciousness. The three assailants have since been arrested.
The attack on Tikvicki was widely reported in the Serbian press and has drawn international condemnation reports Miodrag Zivanovic, communication director for the South-east European Union.
A protest statement issued by the Democratic Party of Serbia against the attack said, "We strongly condemn the brutal attack on an Adventist pastor, Josip Tikvicki, having in mind that this is not the first time, and potentially can endanger good relations in our multi-ethnic society."
In a television interview, the Serbian minister of religious affairs, Vojislav Milovanovic, condemned the attack on Tikvicki and stated that the situation will be dealt with.
These latest attacks on the Adventist Church are considered as the most intense in the last two years of violent acts against religious minorities. "Obviously these are not coincidences, but rather orchestrated attacks by some organizations targeting religious minorities," said Radisa Antic, president of the South-east European Union.
The thousands of Adventists in Serbia are highly concerned about these latest attacks and feel threatened and insecure. The South-east European Union continues to appeal to the authorities to deal with what is termed as an "escalating and vicious campaign against the church."
In the past few weeks, 10 Adventist churches were targeted by what is being viewed by church officials as an "orchestrated campaign against a religious minority" in a predominantly Orthodox country. "I am deeply concerned about what is happening to our churches across the country. Our central church in Belgrade was stoned twice, along with the churches in the cities of Kragujevac, Negotin, Smederevo, and Backa Palanka," said Antic. "It's all done by some religiously motivated militants who are interested in disrupting social peace and religious freedom in our country."
Another Adventist church was vandalized on April 27, according to the Radivoj Vladisavljevic, president of the North Conference. Speaking in Novi Sad, where the conference headquarters is located, he said that the church in Sivac "had all windows broken by unknown assailants," a fury against the minority Christian denomination not seen previously.
"We are targeted, and we don't know which church or which one of us is next," Vladisavljevic added. --Adventist News Network
Update on Recent Church-related Violence in Russia
Four teenage suspects have been arrested on suspicion of murdering the night watchman at a Seventh-day Adventist Church in central Russia. The murdered guard was found at the Cheboksary Adventist Church in December, according to regional church leader Vitaly Bakhtin. The murder case will soon begin proceeding through the local court system.
Also in the Volga-Vyatskaya region of Russia, police continue to investigate the February 4 arson of an Adventist Church in Saransk (Newsbreak, March 2003). Bakhtin reported in early March that no arrests have been made.
In another central Russian city, Nizhnekamsk, investigators have concluded that the assailant who knifed an Adventist pastor's son last November was mentally ill.
Adventist leaders in the area are unsure whether or not the trend of violence against religious minorities is coincidental. Earlier this winter the church brought the recent attacks to the attention of a top regional representative of the Russian presidential administration. He has since urged police to pay careful attention to these and other investigations of potential hate crimes.
News Notes
Three Adventists from Kuama Adventist High School in Kiribati, a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean straddling the equator about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia, have survived a month-long ordeal at sea.
School principal Tekemau Ribabaiti and two friends left on January 7 to visit several islands to promote the school, but began drifting after the engine on their boat broke down. Concerned when the three had not returned after 10 days, John Horvath, president of the Kiribati Mission, organized a search-and-rescue, but the group could not be found. The container ship Reunion eventually rescued the three men more than 186 miles (300 km) from Arorae, the southern most island of Kiribati.
The men were in good health despite eating only coconuts found floating in the sea and raw fish. Ribabaiti contacted the church's mission office from the ship. "We were all so relieved to hear from him," says Horvath. "God does answer prayer."
Several religious freedom advocates were honored at the Religious Freedom Awards held on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., on April 2. "The event provided an unprecedented opportunity to present our religious liberty program, and Liberty magazine in particular, before a wide cross-section of diplomats, legislators, and religious liberty activists," said Lincoln Steed, Liberty magazine editor.
Among those honored were Victor Krushenitsky, director of public affairs and religious liberty of the Euro-Asia Division, and Adrian Westney, radio host and long-time religious liberty activist. Westney received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding religious liberty work.
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