Documents | Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Letter to Ambassador of Serbia Regarding Attack on Adventist Church and Pastor

Ambassador Ivan Vujacic
Embassy of Serbia and Montenegro
2134 Kalorama Rd., NW
Washington, DC 20008

17 April 2003

Your Excellency!

On behalf of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I would like to share with you our concern about the latest attack which left an Adventist pastor, Josip Tikvicki, hospitalized and the local Adventist church damaged.

It happened on the night of 15th April in the city of Zrenjanin. According to Dr. Radisa Antic, president of the Adventist Church in Serbia and Montenegro, this was the fifth such incident perpetuated against Adventists.

Your Excellency, I had the privilege to be invited to your country for a symposium with leaders from various faiths. Adventists helped organize such a meeting because they want to build bridges with other people of goodwill. They don’t understand why they are the victims of such vicious and unprovoked attacks.

Mr. Ambassador, we are convinced that the democratic government of your country, which stands for human rights and religious freedom, will protect Adventist citizens and their churches, and all religious minorities against violent intolerance. Our church was organized in Serbia in 1925 and has many local churches in approximately 150 cities. On the international level we are recognized as an NGO by the United Nations, and we are a member of the Christian World Communions. The world-wide Seventh-day Adventist community now represents about 25 million people.

With my good wishes, I remain very sincerely yours,

Dr. John Graz