NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VIENNA (CWNews.com) - Leaders of Kosovo's major religious groups will meet for talks aimed at bringing peace to the region in Vienna next week, according to an ecumenical human rights group sponsoring the talks.

      Bishop Marko Sopi, the Catholic bishop of Kosovo, Rexhep Boja, president of the Islamic Community of Kosovo, and Bishop Kyr Sava of the Serbian Orthodox Church will all attend the meetings, said American Rabbi Arthur Schneier of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation on Wednesday. "We will challenge the Kosovo religious leaders to do their share to avoid further bloodshed and to help restore their fractured community," said Schneier.

      A majority of Kosovo's population is ethnically Albanian and are mainly Muslim. The Kosovo Albanians have been engaged in a battle for autonomy from mainly Orthodox Serbia over the past year that has left hundreds of men, women, and children dead. The threat of Western military involvement and 17 days of peace talks in France last month produced a peace plan, but Serbia and the Kosovo Liberation Army have yet to sign the document.

      The three-day Vienna meeting begins on Tuesday and could coincide with a second round of political negotiations in France expected to last three or four days. "This endeavor provides an opportunity to create an improved climate for substantive talks, which cannot be accomplished by ground troops, bombs, or solely by the negotiations of political leaders," Schneier said.