Statements

Public Statement Issued by the Holy Synod of Bishops on the Latest Developments in Kosovo and Metohija

During its extraordinary session held at the Patriarchy on the 17th of February 2008, the following statement on the latest developments in Kosovo and Metohija was issued by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, aimed at the national and international public:

What is of God, to God, What is of the King, to the King...

A Blessing for Honorable and Fair Elections

«« But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…»(Matthew 6:33)... »(Мт. 6, 33)...

Bearing in mind that preelection silence is about to begin soon and that there have been some speculations in the public that the Church was supporting one or the other political option, we must point out some postulates on which not only the relationship between the Church and the state are laid, but also the very identity of the Church, which can’t be exploited or abused, not even on behalf of church institutions or dignitaries.

International Conference on the Restitution of Property to the Church and Religious Communities in Serbia

On the 21st of December, 2007, an International Conference on the Restitution of Property to the Church and Religious Communities was held in AP Vojvodina's Parliament in Novi Sad. The Serbian Orthodox Church was represented by Rt. Rev. Vasilije, Bishop of Srem, Rt. Rev.Irinej, Bishop of Backa, as well as the Legal Advisor of the Patriarchy's Administration Office, Mr. Milan Andric.

Communiqué From the regular Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church held in Belgrade May 2007

The regular Assembly of the Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church was held from May 14 through May 25 at the Patriarchate in Belgrade, under the presidency of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle. All the hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church participated in the work of the Assembly.

Particular joy came to the Assembly with the renewal of liturgical unity between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Outside of Russia, realized on the feast of the Ascension of our Lord in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, after nearly ninety years of separation. During that entire time it was only the Serbian Orthodox Church out of all the local Orthodox Churches that did not sever liturgical communion with the Russian hierarchs in diaspora throughout the world after the Bolshevik Revolution, and thereby contributed to this event, which is significant not only for the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church and people but for all of Orthodoxy.

Message of The Holy Assembly of Bishops of Serbian Orthodox Church on Kosovo and Metohija

Kosovo and Metohija have been throughout the centuries populated with Serbs, and up until the great forced migrations of the Serbian people toward the north, in the 17th and 18th centuries, Serbs have always been the majority population in Kosovo and Metohija. It is a generally known historical fact that the medieval centre of the Serbian state was located therein, and remaining to this day the centre of national, Christian sacred and secular culture of the Serbian people.

THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH TO HER SPIRITUAL CHILDREN AT PASCHA, 2007

P A V L E

By the grace of God

Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church-to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous paschal greeting:

CHRIST IS RISEN!

"This is the day of resurrection.
Let us be illumined, O people.
Pascha, the Pascha of the Lord.
For from death to life and from earth to heaven
has Christ our God led us."
(The Canon of Pascha, Ode I)

With these verses of the Paschal hymn, dear spiritual children, we, the believing people of God, begin the Celebration above all celebrations, song above all songs, about the Event above all events - The Resurrection of Christ. The Resurrection, like the Crucifixion, is a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness for the Greeks, but we experience and celebrate it as the deepest experience of our faith and life. This is the experience which was first encountered by the holy myrrh-bearing women and the holy apostles, which they have graciously passed down to us and which we have received with faith, with the faith that becomes the power of life.