40 Years of the Church of Saint Thomas in Johannesburg
His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, celebrated the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the church of Saint Thomas in Johannesburg on 4 November 2018, on the occasion of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of recently only Serbian church in Africa.
The Serbian Patriarch was concelebrated by Archbishop Damascene of Pretoria and Johannesburg (Patriarchate of Alexandria), His Grace Bishop Jovan of Sumadija, hieromonk Dositej of Chilandar, hieromonk Dr. Amvrosije (Vesic), protopresbyter-staurophor Dragi Veskovac, and some priests from the Russian and Romanian Orthodox Churches. In a prayerful presence of the host principal of the church, Isajlo (Markovic), many faithful people and the church choir enhanced the great jubilee of the parish of Saint Thomas the Apostle.
The church of Holy Apostle Thomas, until recently the only Serbian Orthodox church on the African continent, was built in 1978. The fundaments of the church were consecrated by the then Bishop Nikolaj of Australia-New Zealand. In the meantime, several parish priests have served the parish. The church and the parish progressed and grew, so that today the church with its estate of 2.5 acres became one of the most beautiful Orthodox buildings in South Africa. Serbian people who belong to the parish are most numerous in South Africa, but its parishioners live in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and other African countries as well– it is estimated that around 20,000 Serbs live in South Africa.
Besides the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia, many organizations and associations that gather the Serbian people are active in Pretoria: the Serbian Orthodox Church-school Community Saint Sava, the Serbian cultural-art society Africa, the Club Homeland and a football club White Eagles. However, the majority of Serbs gather in the church of Saint Thomas, especially on Christmas Eve and at Easter, and solemnly celebrated feast-days: Saint Sava’s Day, St. Vitus Day and St. Thomas Day.
