Serbian Orthodox Church

30th anniversary of enthronement of His Grace Bishop Irinej of Backa, PhD

The thirtieth anniversary of the enthronement of His Grace Bishop Irinej of Backa, PhD, was marked on 23 December 2020.  At the regular session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1989, hieromonk Irinej was elected as Vicar Bishop of the Serbian Patriarch, with a title of Bishop of Moravica,  and following the consecration at the Patriarchate of Pec, on 20 May 2020, he was elected Bishop of Backa and was enthroned in Novi Sad, in December of the same year.

His Grace Bishop of Novi Sad and Backa, Irinej, PhD was born on 11 February 1947 by parents Mihailo and Zorka Bulovic in Stanisici, in Backa, receiving baptismal name Mirko. He finished the primary school in his birthplace and the grammar school in Sombor in 1965. He graduated in 1969 at the Faculty of Theology of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade.

Reaction relating to the media coverage of Bishop Joanikije’s statement

Some media presented the statement of the Bishop Joanikije of Budimlje-Niksic quite incorrectly and maliciously, so that the public could conclude based on their information that he had said that the Serbian Orthodox Church had made changes to the law, which is not true.

Bishop Joanikije clearly stated that the Church, in other circumstances, would demand that this discriminatory law be completely abolished. However, the Orthodox Church requested  the previous government as well for only those changes that would make it impossible to discriminate it, and consequently, it did not request anything else from these authorities either.

Protopresbyter-staurophor Velibor Dzomic: Election of the Patriarch and epidemics - church-legal analysis

The question * of the date of the election session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops at which the 46th Serbian Patriarch should be elected is primarily a church issue and primarily concerns the bishops, clergy, monastics and the faithful of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Having in mind the importance of the Saint Sava throne, as well as the dignity and role of the Serbian Patriarch on a wider level, the issue of electing the Serbian Patriarch, with which the issue of the date of the election session of the Holy Synod of Bishops is connected, has a wider, social significance, and exceeds the framework of Serbia.

Bishop Fotije: We all need to preserve the shrines

We are conveying an integral text of the interview of His Grace Bishop Fotije of Zvornik-Tuzla, published in the Večernji novosti on December 20, 2020.

Within this short period of time, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Serbian Orthodox Church lost Patriarch Irinej, Metropolitan Amfilohije and several hierarchs, all at a time when relentless attacks on Orthodoxy in the world and (in media) on the Serbian Orthodox Church in the region have been underway, and in Serbia itself. How would you assess the current moment in which the Serbian Orthodox Church finds itself?

The Church lives in the space of the Cross and Resurrection, every day and every hour. Sometimes it seems to us that one dominates and sometimes another. The Church Fathers view the Cross and the Resurrection as a twofold Mystery - the mystery of faith. To be clearer, the Cross is in the fact that we have lost Patriarch Irinej and Metropolitan Amfilohije, but the Resurrection is also in the fact that we faithful know that they are now in the Kingdom of Heaven. Thus, this crucifixion of Orthodoxy on the universal level awaits its resurrection by re-establishing unity, which is currently violated due to the so-called Ukrainian issue. Media struggles, on the other hand, have become a part of everyday life, but the only thing we can fight with is fasting and prayer. In all these mentioned conditions, the Church, according to the Holy Apostle Paul, should bear witness to the Word of God, which is needed even during this unprecedented pandemic, both for us Serbs and for the whole world.

Patron Saint-day of the Cathedral church in Sremski Karlovci

Bishop Vasilije of Srem ordained deacon Nikola Erceg to the rank of presbyter 

The feast day of Holy father Ncholas, Archbishop of Myra, was solemnly celebrated in Sremski Karlovci, where a magnificent Cathedral church is dedicated to this Saint.  His Grace Bishop Vasilije of Srem officated the solemn Liturgy with the concelebration of protopresbyter-staurophores: Dusan Petrovic, retired dean of the Karlovci Theological Seminary, Dragomir Sando and Branislav Popovic; dean of Karlovac Seminary archpriest Jovan Milanovic, presbyter Stanko Laketic and deacon Goran Vlasac and Djordje Milidrag. 

Feast days in Metropolitanate of Australia and New Zealand

On 28th Sunday after Pentecost, on Serbian Children's day (Detinjci), His Grace Bishop Siluan of Australia and New Zealand celebrated the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the church of Saint Nicholas in Blacktown.

On this occasion, the Bishop blessed the cross which was raised and mounted on the restored dome of the church.The day before, on the feast day of Saint Nicholas, Bishop Siluan served the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the church of Holy Prince Lazar in Alexandria. The Bishop ordained Goran Cibula a hypodeacon.