Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
November 16, 2004

PRESS AND MEDIA CONFERENCE

Upon the return of the church, state and economic delegation from Moscow, where it attended a fundraising concert and large philanthropic gathering for completion of work on the St. Sava Memorial Cathedral in Belgrade, a press and media conference will be held in Belgrade airport at 8:00 p.m. today.

PATRIARCH PAVLE AWARDED ORDER
OF HOLY PRINCE VLADIMIR OF THE FIRST DEGREE

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All-Russia, the Orthodox Peoples Unity Fund organized a formal fundraising concert in Moscow with all proceeds dedicated to the completion of the iconostasis of the St. Sava Memorial Cathedral in Belgrade.

Patriarch Alexy and senior dignitaries of the Russian Church received a delegation headed by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle with exceptional warmth. The welcome was also attended by representatives of the of the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, the state union of Serbia and Montenegro ambassador to Russia, Mr. Milan Rocen, and Serbian culture minister Dragan Kojadinovic, who was already in Moscow.

Upon arrival Patriarch Pavle expressed his gratitude to Patriarch Alexy, the Russian Orthodox Church and the people of Russia for their help to the Serbian people during the course of the most recent difficult years. Patriarch Pavle emphasized that our people remember the visit of the Russian Patriarch to Belgrade in 1999, when Yugoslavia was bombed, with gratitude.

In his response, Patriarch Alexy said that he still remembers the service then held in the incomplete St. Sava Cathedral, which despite its enormous size could not hold all the people who wished to pray for peace, and so the service was concluded in the great square in front of the church.

In his welcoming remarks, Serbian President Boris Tadic said he was in the delegation as the chairman of the Council for completing the construction of St. Sava Cathedral and that he feels doubly responsible “to both the people and to God”. President Tadic emphasized “the completion and furbishing of the church has a tremendous significance for the Serbian people”.

On the second day of the visit, Patriarch Alexy met with Patriarch Pavle and President Tadic in the Patriarchate. The reception was also attended by Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral, Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren, Bishop Atanasije of Zahumlje and Herzegovina (retired), members of the church and economic delegation from Serbia, senior dignitaries of the Russian Church, Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, Archbishop Arsenios of Istra, and priests of the Russian Church.

Patriarch Alexy added that this year’s fundraising concert was organized with the desire to help the Serbian people, who have gone through so many trials, to complete work on the furbishing of St. Sava Cathedral.

Patriarch Alexy, who is the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, awarded Patriarch Pavle with the Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir Equal to the Apostles (of the First Degree) for his great contribution to strengthening Orthodox unity and the development of fraternal relations between the sister churches of Russia and Serbia, and on the occasion of the 90th birthday of Patriarch Pavle.

Patriarch Pavle served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy on the feast of the Renovation of the Church of St. George (Djurdjic) in the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the Podvorye of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Moscow with the concelebration of Metropolitan Amfilohije; Archbishop Alexy of Orehovo-Zujevo; Archimandrite Antonije, the administrator of the Podvorye of the Serbian Orthodox Church; Archimandrite Zaheje, the administrator of the Podvorye of the Orthodox Church of America; Archimandrite Ignjatije, the administrator of the Podvorye of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church; Protopresbyter Nikolai (Balashov), the secretary of the Section on External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the clergy.

Liturgy was attended by members of the diplomatic corps, senior officials and economic leaders of the Republics of Serbia and Montenegro who traveled to the capitol of Moscow at the invitation of Patriarch Alexy and the Orthodox Peoples Unity Fund to participate in a concert and great philanthropic gathering prepared for the purpose of completing work on St. Sava Memorial Cathedral in Belgrade.

Holy Hierarchal Liturgy was also attended by a large number of faithful of both fraternal peoples, as well as by the children’s choir of St. John of Damascus from St. Petersburg, which contributed to the beauty of Divine Service with songs in Serbian.

PRESENTATION AT FACULTY OF MACHINE ENGINEERING

Following the publication of the new book by Protopresbyter Sava B. Jovic, Udruzenje Srpski Sabor Dveri and the editors of “Pravoslavlje”, the publication of the Serbian Patriarchate, are organizing a public presentation on Thursday, November 18, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. at the Faculty of Machine Engineering on the theme “Christ’s follower of the teachings of St. Sava, Mihailo Pupin”.

Speaking about the book will be Protopresbyter Savo B. Jovic, Protopresbyter Dr. Dragoljub Sando, Professor Dr. Slobodan Brankovic, and Radovan Kalabic.

[Serbian Translation Services]