Delegation from Germany visiting Bishop of Backa

His Grace Bishop Irinej of Novi Sad and Backa received a delegation of the German state Baden-Wurttemberg, headed by Minister of Justice and European Affairs of this federal state government Mr. Guido Wolf on 15 March 2018.

The meeting was attended by Monsignor Robert Zollitsch, retired Archbishop of Freiburg and the former Chairman of the German Catholic Episcopal Conference. In the palace of the Church-school community of Novi Sad, during cordial and friendly conversations on current topics, the interlocutors discussed also problems existing in this European region as well as a Christian engagement towards developing  a more humane society in Europe and in the world.

Patriarch receives Minister of Culture and Information

His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch received Mr. Vladan Vukosavljevic, Minister of Culture and Information in the Government of the Republic of Serbia at the Serbian Patriarchate on 15 March 2018.

Distinguished Minister Vukosavljevic thanked His Holiness for the cordial audience during which talks about mutual projects of the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Serbian Orthodox Church were held. Serbian Patriarch Irinej thanked Minister Vukosavljevic for the visit and his efforts for a development of mutual projects by which fruitful cooperations is being fostered for the benefit of all the citizens of the Republic of Serbia.

Gathering of the clergy of the Metropolitanate of Zagreb-Ljubljana

On Wednesday, 14 March 2018, on the fourth Sunday of Great Lent, clergy of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Zagreb-Ljubljana approached the Holy Sacrament of Confession and Communion in the Cathedral church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Zagreb.

With the blessing of  Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb-Ljubljana, the confessor father was Archimandrite Mihailo (Vukcevic), abbot of the monastery Gomirje. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was officiated by Archimandrite Danilo (Ljubotina); protopresbyter-staurophor Tomo Cirkovic, parish priest of Kopar; presbyter Slaven Jovicic, parish priest of Grubisno Polje, and Deacon Zoran Radic.

Suffering Kosovo monastery unveils English-language website and store

Draganac Monastery of the Holy Archangels Gabriel and Michael, a small monastery in Kosovo and Metohija, has recently unveiled a website in English about the monastery, the local region, and its history and present state. This is the only such website in English, about one of the ancient monasteries now living under Muslim rule in Kosovo.

The site contains a presentation of the young brotherhood, which was re-established in the ancient but abandoned monastery in the 1990s thanks to the efforts of Visoki Dečani Monastery. The abbot is Archimandrite Ilarion, and the brotherhood numbers 12 members, one of the larger monastic communities at present in Kosovo, where the situation for Orthodox Christians is an extremely difficult one. Following the violent attacks and subsequent mass expulsions of the Serbian Orthodox population in 1999 and 2004, Orthodox Christians who remain in Kosovo are mostly forced to live in small, rural, isolated ethnic ghettos, barred from participating in general society, where there are few prospects for employment and the psychological impact of living in prolonged isolation can be crushing. More and more Orthodox Christians continue to be forced to leave Kosovo, and with each one that leaves, the situation becomes all the more difficult for those who remain.

Resolutions of the 2018 Eastern Diocese General Assembly

IN THE NAME OF THE HOLY AND LIFEGIVING TRINITY!

We, the clergy, monastics, and representatives of the people of God, ordained and elected members to the Annual Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Eastern America, Serbian Orthodox Church, have gathered together at the church of the Holy Great and Victorious Martyr George in the God-protected city of Clearwater, Florida on February 16 and 17, in the year of our Lord 2018.

Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them:
‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am Holy’ (Lev. 19:2).

Today, when we celebrate the memory of the Venerable Isidore of Pelusium, the Holy Spirit has gathered us in the community of the Body of Christ that He might bring us closer us to our Heavenly Father. Having announced the fullness of God’s Church, gathered around our Bishop, Father and Archpastor Irinej, we greet the fullness of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the person of His Holiness, the Archbishop of Pech, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch Irinej.

Homily on the Third Sunday of Great Lent. On Carrying Your Cross

Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Mk. 8:34), said the Lord to his disciples, calling them unto Him, as we heard today in the Gospels.

Dear brothers and sisters! We too are disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, because we are Christians. We too are called unto the Lord, to this holy temple, to hear His teaching. We stand before the face of the Lord. His gaze is directed at us. Our souls are laid bare before Him; our secret thoughts and hidden feelings are open to Him. He sees all of our intentions; He sees the truth, and the sins we have committed from our youth; He sees our whole life, past and future; even what we have not yet done is already written in His book.[1] He knows the hour of our passing into immeasurable eternity, and gives us His all-holy commandment for our salvation: "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."