Kosovo's bishop dies of heart attack

Associated Press, Jan 11, 2006 12:18 PM

 

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Kosovo died of a heart attack Wednesday, a church official said.

 

Bishop Mark Sopi, 67, died at a hospital in Kosovo's capital at 2:50 p.m. (1350 GMT), senior church official Don Shan Zefi said.

 

Kosovo's president and prime minister expressed their condolences.

 

"The people of Kosovo will miss Bishop Sopi," Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi said in a statement. "His contribution was multifaceted and this makes the loss even greater."

 

"We highly value his contribution for Kosovo," said Muhamet Hamiti, a spokesman for Kosovo's president.

 

Sopi was appointed Kosovo's bishop in 1996. The seat of the Catholic Church is based in the southern city of Prizren.

 

He was very close to Kosovo's ailing President Ibrahim Rugova, who is suffering from lung cancer.

 

Kosovo, a U.N.-run disputed province, is predominantly Muslim. But some 4 percent of its people are ethnic Albanian Catholics.

 

The province has been administered by the United Nations since 1999, following a NATO air war aimed at halting a Serbian crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.