Press Release
We have received many strong protests and expressions of discontent over yesterday's announcement by German politician Viola von Cramon, given after a conversation with the Bishop of Düsseldorf kyr Grigorije, that there is no Serbian Orthodox Church in Germany, and we are obliged to, for the sake of truth, issue the following statement:
The Serbian Orthodox Church exists in Germany, as part of the one, indivisible autocephalous Serbian Patriarchate. The Constitution and Statutes of the Serbian Orthodox Church are valid in the territory of Germany as anywhere else in the area of her canonical jurisdiction, and all church–hierarchical bodies are obliged to be governed by them. On the basis of the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the competent church authorities appoint and dismiss the administrations of all bodies and organs, and the Holy Assembly of Bishops appoints and, if necessary, relieves the diocesan bishop.
Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church