Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
Avgust 27, 2004

CELEBRATION OF 200-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST SERBIAN UPRISING IN DOBRUN MONASTERY
PUBLIC COMMUNIQUE OF DIOCESE OF MONTENEGRO AND THE LITTORAL RE: TV PROGRAM ON DEFROCKED PRIEST MIRAS DEDEIC
SEMINAR FOR RELIGION TEACHERS IN SOKO GRAD

CELEBRATION OF 200-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
OF FIRST SERBIAN UPRISING IN DOBRUN MONASTERY

Metropolitanate of Dabro-Bosnia formally celebrates the 200 year anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising in the monastery of Dobrun and Visegrad

On Saturday, August 28, 2004, the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, Holy Hierarchal Liturgy will be served in the monastery of Dobrun at 9:00 a.m. followed by the consecration of the bridge, fountain and water system, the Museum of the First Serbian Uprising and an art gallery in Dobrun. The welcoming remarks at the bridge will be by Mr. Slobodan Pavlovic. At 5:00 p.m. the opening of the Memorial Room dedicated to soldiers of the Republika Srpska Army who were killed will take place with opening remarks by Republika Srpska president Dragan Cavic to be followed by a visit to the historic bridge over the Drina River at 17:30 p.m. Guests of His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaj of Dabro-Bosnia will include Republika Srpska president Dragan Cavic; Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency member from Republika Srpska Borislav Paravac; Republika Srpska prime minister Dragan Mikerevic; and Their Royal Highnesses Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic and Princess Katherine.

Beginning at 5:30 p.m. and 18:45 p.m. a promotion of books honoring the First Serbian Uprising will be held in the Culture Hall in Visegrad in the presence of Republika Srpska parliamentary speaker Dusan Stojicic. Works to be presented include an anthology of works from a scientific conference on the First Serbian Uprising – ANRS, poetry about the First Serbian Uprising by Dr. Ljubomir Zukovic and Schematism of the Diocese of Dabro-Bosnia by Professor Predrag Puzovic. A concert by the Military Orchestra will begin at 7:00 p.m. in front of the Culture Hall, followed by a Formal Academy beginning at 8:00 p.m. with welcoming remarks by Mr. Dusan Stojicic.

On Sunday, August 29, 2004 Holy Hierarchal Liturgy will begin at 9:00 a.m. At 11:15 a.m. the opening of the Museum of the First Serbian Rebellion and the Art Gallery will take place with comments regarding the importance of this gallery by Nikola Kusovac. At 12:00 noon HRH Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic will formally uncover a monument to Vozd Karadjordje and His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaj will deliver the speech on that occasion.

As part of the Cultural-Artistic Program at 2:00 p.m. a concert by the trumpet orchestra of Radojko Vitezovic will take place.

PUBLIC COMMUNIQUE OF DIOCESE OF MONTENEGRO AND THE LITTORAL RE: TV PROGRAM ON DEFROCKED PRIEST MIRAS DEDEIC

On August 26, 2004 Montenegrin re-broadcast a television program filmed by Montena Television regarding the trip to the Ukraine of defrocked priest Miras Dedeic and his visit to the similarly defrocked former metropolitan Filaret Denisenko, self-proclaimed “patriarch” of a nonexistent and unrecognized by the Orthodox world “Kiev patriarchate”. Since this program gives a false and intentionally biased picture of the Orthodox Church in the Ukraine, we consider it our duty to inform the general public of this fact and provide objective information. Namely, the great majority of Orthodox Ukrainians belong to the Ukrainian Church headed by Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and recognized not only by the Moscow Patriarchate but by the entire Orthodox world. Denisenko, together with a group supported by the present Ukrainian government, has unfortunately created a schism in the Ukraine, the third of its kind (in addition to the earlier uniates and autocephalites established during Hitler’s occupation of the Ukraine). For this reason he was defrocked by the Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate together with the priests who supported him. As such he is collecting similarly defrocked clergy from throughout the world around him, hoping to thus create a schismatic “internationale”. However, according to the testimony of the Moscow Patriarchate, many Ukrainians, including members of the clergy, having understood the trickery of Denisenko and the government have recently been returning repentantly from apostasy to the canonic Ukrainian Church. In order to deceive the viewers as convincingly as possible, Dedeic’s filmmakers showed churches belonging to the canonic Church as if they were schismatic. This is especially true of the renowned Kiev Pecherska Lavra in front of which Dedeic just passed because neither he nor the Ukrainian schismatics have access to this holy shrine.

However, we are convinced that in the near future, as soon as the government stops manipulating the Church, the same thing will happen in the Ukraine that just occurred in Bulgaria: 250 churches illegally appropriated by schismatics have just been returned to the canonic Bulgarian Church. Lies have short legs. Thus despite this false TV propaganda about the Ukraine by a group of schismatics on Montenegrin Television, these lies will not help either the group or its protege Dedeic, i.e. his most primitive of all schisms based on Montenegrin nationalist chauvenism as the only dogma. Unless Montenegro should, God forbid, finally lose its conscience, reason and honor.

Source: Svetigora Press

SEMINAR FOR RELIGION TEACHERS IN SOKO GRAD

A three day-long seminar for instructors of religious education in the Diocese of Sabac and Valjevo concluded on August 26, 2004 in the monastery of St. Nikolaj in Soko Grad near Ljubivoje. The Office for Religious Education of the Diocese of Sabac and Valjevo in Loznica organized the highly successful gathering in which 93 religion teachers from the Podrinje-Kolubara region took part.

The seminar included presentations on the need and possibilities for religious education in the third millennium, religious instruction in schools, the clerical concept of modern instruction, and religious instruction in relation to other school subjects, especially the Serbian language. Religion teachers were presented with new textbooks for religious instruction for third graders. The Diocese of Sabac and Valjevo printed a handbook for religious instruction for the use of religious instructors and all students in the Diocese. At the beginning of the new school year, the Diocese will also distribute 7,000 coloring books to all first grade elementary school students.

The seminar for instructors of religious education in the monastery of St. Nikolaj was attended by Nevena Vitosevic-Cekic, the deputy minister for religions in the Serbian Government, and Protopresbyter Dr. Ljubivoje Stojanovic, the head of the group for development of religious instruction.

[Serbian Translation Services]