First visit to Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, in the Idrizovo prison

On December 12, 2011, His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje was imprisoned in the Idrizovo prison, near Skopje

After one year and almost nine months in a prison cell, Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid was for the first time given the opportunity for a one-time visit of his brothers Bishops of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, in the visiting area of the Idrizovo prison.

On August 23, 2013, Their Graces, Bishop Joakim of Polog and Kumanovo and Administrator of Debar and Kicevo, Bishop Marko of Bregalnica and Administrator of Bitola and Bishop David of Stobi and Administrator of Strumica, visited His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje, and had brief conversation with him, conveying to him the love, but also the plead of the faithful people, for his blessing and prayers.

Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid ensured the Bishops that he was feeling slightly better with his health, and he sends to all members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric his archpastoral blessing, encouraging them to keep their joy always, in the various life circumstances.

Serbian Exhibition in Perth ready to welcome visitors!

In preparation for the Biennial Assembly of the Metropolitanate of Australia and New Zealand of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which will be held in Perth from 6-7 September 2013, the celebration of Metropolitanate Day on Saturday, 7 September 2013, and the Bishop's Patronal Name Day Celebration on Sunday, 8 September 2013, a special photographic exhibition of Serbian Medieval Architecture, featuring many of our historical churches and monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija, will be held in Perth Town Hall from 1-7 September 2013.

Inaugural NSW Human Rights Award Presentation Ceremony

His Grace Bishop Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Australia and New Zealand, together with His Excellency Consul General of Serbia to Australia, Mr Branko Radosevic, and the Honourable Ms Gabrielle Upton MP, Member for Vaucluse and Parliamentary Secretary for Tertiary Education & Skills, representing the Serbian Community, were among the numerous dignitaries and guests invited by the Honourable Victor Dominello MP, Minister for Citizenship and Communities and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs at the Inaugural New South Wales Human Rights Awards Presentation Ceremony, held on 22 August 2013 in Parliament House in Sydney.

The Transfiguration оf The Saviour сelebrated on Mount Tabor

On Monday the 6th/19th of August 2013, the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was celebrated on Mount Tabor in remembrance of the extraordinary and sublime event which came to pass in glory and brilliance within a luminous cloud as the Father said from the heavens: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17, 5) and in the presence of prophets Moses and Elijah – the revelation and manifestation of the divine nature of the Lord, His human nature briefly concealed before the eminent disciples Peter and James and John.

Shadeland: Diocesan Day 2013

With the blessing of His Grace Bishop Mitrophan of Eastern America the annual Diocesan Day celebration was held on Sunday, August 11, 2013, the feast day of the Holy Martyr St. Callinicus.

The day began with the Holy Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with over twenty diocesan clergy and three deacons assisting His Grace, the bishop, at the holy altar. Churches from the Cleveland and Pittsburgh area were closed and all parishioners were invited to attend the diocesan celebration in Shadeland, which also served as the closing of this year's children's camp season. Once again this year the camp season was a success.  There were clergy and parishioners from as far as Washington D.C. and North Carolina.

Bishop Irinej Extends Sympathy to Coptic Orthodox Christians

In a letter of 16 August 2013, His Grace Bishop Irinej of Australia and New Zealand extended his heartfelt, sincere prayers and the deepest sympathy of his clergy, monastics and faithful to Their Graces, Coptic Orthodox Bishops Suriel of Melbourne and Affiliated Regions and Daniel of Sydney and Affiliated Regions and to their faithful during this Holy Lent of the Virgin Mary, whose intercessions serve as a true source of consolation for those who now mourn.

Bishop Irinej wrote with utter dismay, relative to the tragic events, resulting in the loss of so many innocent lives and rampant destruction in Egypt on Wednesday, 14 August 2013. "Yet again," he noted, "frenzied violence prevails throughout Egypt, offered as a thinly veiled political solution in violation of the free will of the Egyptian people."