Reply to slanders of pseudo-defenders

THEY DEFEND BISHOP FROM THE CHURCH AND PATRIARCH

The church-destroying action of the group of people who has initially signed as a spiritual children of Bishop Artemije, and then their texts are now signed as "Information Service of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren during the detention of Bishop Artemije." has lasted for days. Although it has always been and will be people who have sectarian mentality, in this case is indicative that the name of one of the Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church is still illegally used and as that openly attack on spiritual and moral integrity of the Serbian Patriarch and the Holy Synod of Bishops, whose photos are published entitled "Outlaws" or "Synod of shame". Unfortunately, these zealots of hatred, who consider themselves as "defenders of Bishop Artemije and his works", not only that they do not help him but confirm the blackest doubts that creating a personality cult in the Diocese of Raska-Prizren among a small number of monks and believers, for years it was made a real potential for the destruction of the reputation of the Serbian Orthodox Church and so a schism was prepared, and in a way how it is done by various schismatic and pseudo-Orthodox groups which exist around the world.

Bringing out a letter of Bishop Artemije to His Holiness Patriarch Irinej, for which no one knew, except the person who wrote and the person who received it, until it was published on the church-destroying site, shows the best how Bishop Artemije himself is being compromised by these methods , except if someone would dare to accuse Patriarch himself. (Bishop Atanasije will answer to the letter of Bishop Artemije to Patriarch Irinej, but only in a form of a  personal letter to Bishop, precisely because he does not want to damage his reputation, like his supposed "defenders".)

Four parishes of the SOC in Australia, that are separated from the Church, also stood behind the "protection" of Bishop Artemije. These parishes have been dealing, for a long time, with various defrocked priests and sect members and spread a discord among Serbs in that faraway continent. Among these there are also self-proclaimed "Serbian leaders " like Marko Jaksic, Milan Ivanovic, Dragan Velic and their (which exist only on paper) " Serbian National Councils" or " the Associations of Municipalities" . These persons  for a long time do not represent anyone except themselves, and that no one cannot remove them from their positions because there were never elected in the first place. However they make visits to Bishops, whom they do not see in churches,of course, as they often do not go there - in order to inform them,  learned experts, about conspiracies of the Pentagon, the Vatican and all the forces of evil in the world. They in that way will not certainly do anything to really help Bishop Artemije. There are also such "defenders" like various outstanding canon-law experts such as Zeljko Zugic, Vladimir Dimitrijevic, Rodoljub Lazic, who probably can only preach their Pharisaical interpretation of teachings of the Holy Fathers and the Holy Canons to few like-minded persons,  unhappy people who build their identity on the conflict with the Church and its Bishops, and not on the creating liturgical community in their parishes and dioceses.

When you get the whole picture of this professed "defenders" of Orthodoxy, the Canons and Bishop Artemije himself, in the end one can ask quite legitimate: Where is the Church and Piety= Orthodoxy ? Is it on the side of the riotous pseudo-zealots, who swear like sailors while carrying pictures of Bishop Artemije? Or on the side of Pedja Subotic, who is sitting in prison and Simeon Vilovski who is on the run from justice and wrath of the robbed poor people of Kosovo? On the side of virtual "national leaders"; unrealized theological "geniuses" who could not manage to finish theology, but who can now teach the Bishops about  faith? Different anglers, who talk more about everything except about Christ, about life in Christ and about salvation in the Church as the Body of Christ; or does the truth lies, in the end, with the Patriarch, as the guardian of communal identity of the Church, with the most prominent Serbian bishops, theology professors, and monks of the most spiritually stable Serbian monasteries? These lines are left to the readers to decide for themselves. Probably and bishop Artemije himself can say in the end: "Woe is me with the defenders like these!

from the office of the Information Service of

Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohia

Source: Diocese of Raska-Prizren