Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
November 15, 2004

THEOLOGICAL SYMPOSIUM
AT ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL FACULTY
OF BELGRADE UNIVERSITY

The Orthodox Theological Faculty of Belgrade University organized an international theological symposium on November 18-19, 2004. The theme of the symposium is two historical events: the 950th anniversary of the Great Schism (1054 A.D.) and the 800th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders (1204).

Symposium schedule:

On Thursday, November 18, 2004 after morning services, the opening ceremony will take place at 9:00 a.m. in the amphitheater of the Theological Faculty. The dean of the Theological Faculty and His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle will make introductory remarks.

Speakers during the first working session will be Bishop Dr. Atanasije Jevtic (Years of crisis, 1054-1204), Dr. Jure Zecevic (Fortieth anniversary of the removal of the anathema of 1054), Dr. Bogdan Dolenc (Difference between universal and eucharistic ecclesiology: Two approaches to the unification of the two Churches), followed by open discussion. The second work session will begin with Dr. Radivoj Radic (The divided Empire: Byzantium on the eve of 1204), followed by Dr. Ljubomir Maksimovic (Serbia and the consequences of the Fourth Crusade) and Dr. Mirjana Zivojinovic (Athos circa 1204). The first working day will conclude with discussion on these topics.

On Friday, November 19, 2004, the third working session will begin with Dr. Jovan Tarnanidis (The autocephaly of the Serbian and Bulgarian Churches in the diplomatic plans of Emperor Michael VIII the Paleologist and the Unionist conference in Lyon), followed by Dr. Milos Antonovic (Serbia and the Lyonese Union, 1274), Dr. Andrija Veselinovic (The fall of Constantinople in Serbian history), followed by discussion. The symposium will conclude at 12:00 noon and a summary and conclusion from this theological conference will be presented during the closing ceremony.

The committee for preparation and organization of the symposium, which is comprised of Protopresbyter Professor Dr. Radomir V. Popovic, Protopresbyter Professor Dr. Predrag Puzovic, Assistant Professor Dr. David Perovic, Assistant Lecturer Dr. Dragana Janjic and Assistant Trainee Vladislav Puzovic, invite all those interested to take part in this interesting thematic gathering.

The organizer and sponsor of the Symposium and the anthology from the Symposium is the Ministry for Religions of the Republic of Serbia.

FEAST OF STS COSMAS AND DAMIAN CELEBRATED

On the feast of Sts. Cosmas and Damian (the Holy Unmercenary Physicians), the first patron saint's day of Zociste Monastery since the recent return of the monks to the burned ruins of this holy shrine was celebrated.

Due to heavy rain Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan and the clergy and monastics of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the nearby Serb village of Velika Hoca in the church of the Holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stefan. Several hundred faithful attended Holy Liturgy and the festive luncheon prepared by the monks of Zociste and the faithful of Hoca. In addition to Serbs from Velika Hoca and Orahovac, Serbs from the Metohija enclaves of Bicha and Osojani, from the north of Kosovo and an entire busload of faithful from Valjevo came with KFOR escorts.

On behalf of Bishop Artemije, Bishop Teodosije greeted the faithful who gathered in great number despite difficult security conditions and bad weather. He had special words of encouragement for Protosingel Petar and his brethren who "came at a difficult time to a difficult place with firm faith and hope in God's help in restoring life in this ancient holy shrine and in rising Zociste Monastery again from the ashes". Bishop Teodosije also thanked members of KFOR who supported the return of the monks and who are currently protecting the monastery.

The monastery of Sts. Cosmas and Damian (the Unmercenary Physicians) in Zociste was built in the 14th century. It is mentioned for the first time in the charter of the Holy King Stefan of Decani from 1327. The Holy King turned over the monastery and surrounding land for the use of the Serbian monastery of Chilandar on the Holy Mountain of Athos as its monastery metoh, or estate. The church and monks' quarters were destroyed many times throughout history. In summer 1999 Albanian extremists completely destroyed the church with its remnants of frescoes dating back to the 14th century, and set fire to the monks' quarters. Since then until one month ago the monastery was abandoned because the monks were prevented from returning. Thanks to efforts on the part of KFOR representatives and the agreement of local municipal authorities, a brotherhood of three monks returned headed by Protosingel Petar, the administrator of the monastery of Djurdjevi Stupovi (the Pillars of St. George) and the former abbot of Zociste Monastery before the war.

METROPOLITAN KIRILL OF SMOLENSK AND KALINGRAD ADDRESSES EUROPEAN COUNCIL OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS ON KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

Speech at the meeting of the European Council of Religious Leaders and Religious Leaders of Kosovo, Leuven (Belgium), 8 November 2004

His Eminence Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the chairman of the Section for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, took part in the regular meeting of the European Council of Religious Leaders and religious leaders of Kosovo which took place in Leuven, Belgium, on November 7, 2004.

On the first day of the meeting Metropolitan Kirill, who is one of the comoderators of the European Council of Religious Leaders, chaired an open session of the Council and a discussion on problems in Kosovo and Metohija, which involved participation by members of the diplomatic corps and international organizations.

In his introductory remarks, Metropolitan Kirill spoke as follows: “First of all I would like to thank all those who work for the establishment of peace in the Balkans. The contradictions, which are rooted in the distant past, have become worse in the region and led to wars and conflicts in the recent years. There is no great bloodshed in the Balkans at present, and great service to this situation was rendered by many states and international organizations. However, it were the Balkan nations themselves who ‘guided their feet into the way of peace’ largely thanks to the preaching of the religious leaders who have called people to peace and tried to stop violence.

“Having said this, I cannot help drawing your attention to the tragic and alarming aspects of the situation. Unfortunately, peace in the Balkans, and in Kosovo in particular, is neither complete, nor just. Many people are dying or are being expelled from their land, the ancient holy places are barbarously destroyed, and the return of the considerable number of refugees is still out of the question.

“An attempt to justify the foreign military intervention was reduced to the idea of the defense of a national minority. We were promised an ethnical peace and multicultural society under the control of the international military contingent with the assistance of international civil personal. Yet, people still suffer – this time the Serbian population of Kosovo.

“As a result, a wall of mutual distrust between the Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo has grown to inconceivable dimensions, while the responsible persons do not try to radically change the situation.

“The present relations among people in Kosovo show that the world community actually recognizes ‘the right of the might’ and cannot do anything to restore justice. It is not fortuitous that we hear the appeals to radical division of the territories, where the Serbs and Albanians reside. The rigid ethno-territorial division becomes the outcome of conflicts both in the Balkans in general, including Bosnia, and in the regions of the Middle East and the Armenian-Azerbaijanian conflicts, as well as in some African countries.

“We hear about the ability of the world community to settle conflicts by bringing people to peaceful coexistence, However, practice shows that the establishment of the monoethnic territories, divided by frontiers and walls, sometimes gives real guaranties of security.

“Moreover, the most powerful countries of the word de facto recognize military victories of one party in a conflict, and sometimes assist the achievement of these victories. All this puts into serious doubt the existing standards of law, the very principle of justice, and the idea of building a multicultural society. Some people even say that this idea failed. Yet we cannot and should not turn down the ideals of justice and lawfulness by making world politics a domain of the ‘right of the might’.

“The situation in Kosovo should become a litmus paper by which the world will see whether we are ready to implement the best moral ideals, or whether humanity is receding into the law of the jungle.

“The world community should stop the suffering of the Serbs in Kosovo as well as of any other nation. May I express my hope that we, politicians, international and religious leaders, will be able to bring about a lasting peace in this region through our common work, as the way of injustice, hatred and violence will never lead to any real settlement of the conflict.”

From the site of the Russian Orthodox Church Representation to the European Institutions, www.orthodoxeurope.org

ICON PAINTING IN SERBIA TODAY

On November 11, 2004 an exhibition of icons entitled “Icon Painting in Serbia Today” opened in the Russian Cultural Center in Bratislava featuring works by icon painters Vladimir Cetkovic, Boban Veljkovic and Veronika Djukanovic. Jan Zozulak, a professor at the Orthodox Faculty in Preshov, opened the exhibition and spoke about the significance and value of icons, especially those from Serbia, which are most faithful in adhering to the Byznatine tradition of icon painting. Exhibits are available for purchase and a part of the proceeds will be set aside to complete work on the Orthodox church of St. Rastislav currently being built in Bratislava. The exhibition will be open until the end of November, when it will move to Vienna.

The opening of the exhibition received good media coverage, and the first program of Polish television made a feature-length film regarding the exhibition, and the significance and importance of iconography in the Orthodox Church.

[Serbian Translation Services]