Working meeting of Bishop Atanasije (Rakita) with Dragan Djilas, Mayor of Belgrade

On  December 2, 2009 at the premises of the Assembly of the City of Belgrade there was a working meeting of  Mayor of Belgrade Mr. Dragan Djilas and Chairman of the religious education of the Archbishopric of Belgrade-Karlovac, His Grace Bishop Atanasije  (Rakita) of Hvosno accompanied by his personal secretary  Mr. Zoran Jurisic. Besides Mayor on the meeting were Zoran Alimpic, Deputy President of the City of Belgrade, and Vladimir Todic, City Secretary for Education as well as presbyter Aleksandar Djakovac, coordinator for religious education with two two catechists.

In an open and cordial conversation Bishop Atanasije expressed an intention and a desire of the Committee for religious education that in the future even more engage in the prevention of occurrences of bullying behaviour in schools, and suppression of drugs and alcoholism. In this prevention catechists of Belgrade, relying on the teachings of the Gospel, can give significant contribution.

Mr. Djilas showed great understanding and provided support to these efforts of the Committee for religious education . He pointed to the great efforts that the city government makes in combating these negative phenomena. The mayor emphasized that although the school yards will be well lit, covered with surveillance cameras and school policemen, children after school go out on the street, where such measures are not possible. The two officials agreed that an internal transformation was necessary, creating a real system of values in children, so as to  culture of nonviolence and healthy life be truly accepted, and catichets of Belgrade  can provide a significant contribution to that.