Christian converts in Kosovo, where the vast majority of people are Muslim, hope to revive a pre-Islamic past they see as a key to their European identity.According to The New York Times, a group of Christian converts in Kosovo, a predominantly Muslim country, are hoping to revive a pre-Islamic past in order to strengthen their European identity. In a recent mass baptism ceremony, a Catholic priest baptized dozens of individuals, rejoicing at the recovery of souls in a land where the majority of the population is Muslim. This ceremony is just one of many in recent months, as a small number of ethnic Albanian Christian activists, who were once Muslim, are urging their fellow Albanians to embrace Christianity as a way to express their identity. This movement, known as the “return movement,” aims to revive a pre-Islamic past that they see as a crucial part of Kosovo’s place in Europe and a barrier against religious extremism from the Middle East. Prior to the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of Kosovo in the 14th century, the majority of ethnic Albanians were Catholic. However, under Ottoman rule, many converted to Islam. Today, 93 percent of Kosovo’s population identifies as Muslim, while only 1.75 percent identifies as Roman Catholic.
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