Serbian Orthodox Church

Remembering the victims of the Concentration camp Jasenovac

Conversation on various consequences of the horrible and tacit crime of the Ustashas, committed against innocent civilians, Serbs, Romas and Jews in Jasenovac, the greatest concentration camps in the so-called Independent State of Croatia.

His Holiness Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, received Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia Mladen Sarcevic, PhD; State Secretary Ana Langovic Milicevic, PhD; President of the Association of the Jewish Communities of Serbia Mr. Robert Sabados; Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia and Coordinator of the Serbian-Jewish Academic Project of Diaspora LjiljanaNiksic, PhD; member of the Serbian Parliament and President of the Committee for the Diaspora and the Serbs in the region of the National Assembly Ivan Kostic, MSc; member of the Parliament and President of the Union of Serbs of the Region Mr. Miodrag Linta as well as Professor Gideon Grajf, PhD, chief of the expert group of historians GH7.

The Beginning of the church school year

To all Church-School Congregations, Parish administrations, Parents, and
Teachers of Church and Serbian Schools, and
Folklore groups of the
Diocese of Eastern America of the
Serbian Orthodox Church

Beloved in the Risen Lord

In accordance with the rich tradition of our Holy Orthodox Church, the 2017/2018 school year will begin with prayer services for the beginning of the school year, when the whole of our diocese will collectively enroll our children in Church and Serbian Schools, as well as in Folklore groups. It is the genuine wish of the Diocese of Eastern America that this day is observed on the second Sunday of September in a spirit of Sabornost (in unity). On this day, we will in one spirit pray to the Lord to send upon our children the spirit of wisdom and understanding, but also to enlighten their hearts to enable them to absorb and adopt true teaching.

Bishop Irinej Calls Faithful to Pray and Support Victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works?
Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead (James 2:14-17).

Responding to the devastating effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Bishop Irinej calls upon all clergy, monastics and faithful of the Diocese of Eastern America, and all people of good will to fervently pray the Lord strengthen those adversely affected by these natural disasters and to deliver them safely from harm and danger. May He who is the Life and Resurrection grant rest eternal to those who lost their lives and comfort their families and friends.

72nd Annual One World Day at Cleveland Cultural Gardens

Over 25,000 people attended the 72nd Annual One World Day in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens at Rockefeller Park on Sunday, August 27th, 2017.

The weather was beautiful and the now expanded Serbian Cultural Garden (http://serbianculturalgarden.org/), with the recent addition of the Milutin Milankovic bust, but also featuring numerous other sculptures and adorned with our famous Serbian Spruce looked superb and was a popular destination.

Biography of elected Bishop Sergije (Karanovic) of Bihac-Petrovac

The solemn rite of the enthronement into the throne of bishops of Bihac-Petrovac will be performed at the Cathedral church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Bosanski Petrovac on  September 10th, 2017.

The newly-elected Bishop of Central Europe Archimandrite Sergije (Karanovic) was born on 4 July 1975 in BackaPalanka, and was baptized as Zoran. His family originate from Boboljusci, near Martin Brod. He finished primary school in his native town, and in 1990, with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Irinej of Backa he attended the Seminary of Three Holy Hierarchs at Krka Monastery, Dalmatia. He finished school with great success in 1995, during the civil war in Croatia, before the suffering and exodus of the Serbs from Krajina. The same year he received blessing and a canonical release from Bishop Irinej of Backa and was accepted to the Diocese of Bihac-Petrovac, which suffered from the war destruction, in autumn 1995.

Diocesan Days 2017

September 1-3, 2017 - Saint Steven’s Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, Alhambra, California

THE CHURCH AS FAMILY & THE FAMILY AS CHURCH

“You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but are fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God..” –Ephesians 2:19

Day One - September 1, 2017 - The annual gathering of clergy and laity from throughout the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America, Diocesan Days, began early Friday afternoon, September 1, 2017. As Los Angeles continued to bear through a historic heatwave  clergy began slowly, one by one, to arrive to the LA suburb of Alhambra, home of St. Steven's Serbian Orthodox Cathedral and host of this year's diocesan gathering. A festive and joyous fellowship typically ensues when brother clergy meet after being apart for months. This, in fact, is one of the highlights of such events. As is customary in the Orthodox Tradition and in particular in the  Western American Diocese, it originates from their bishop's warm welcome, whom the clergy first greet upon arriving - their ruling bishop His Grace Bishop Maxim of Western America.