Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
December 15, 2004

BUDIMIR ALEKSIC ON MEDIA TREATMENT OF NIKSIC CONFERENCE
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH PROPOSES SELECTION OF PATRON SAINT FOR INTERNET USERS
IOCC AND VLADE DIVAC GROUP 7 CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION “CONNECTING KIDS” PROJECT BRINGS COMPUTERS TO SERBIAN STUDENTS

BUDIMIR ALEKSIC ON MEDIA TREATMENT OF NIKSIC CONFERENCE

Commenting for Radio Svetigora on the inadequate treatment by Montenegrin media of the recently held conference in defense of the Serbian language in Niksic in which many of our most eminent intellectuals took part and expressed their support for the declaration in defense of the Serbian language, one of the participants in that conference, Budimir Aleksic, said that “this treatment by the media should hardly come as a surprise because it is obvious that the media in Montenegro is not free”.

He emphasized that he was not surprised that the conference in defense of the Serbian language in Niksic, which represented a cultural event of the first order, was not covered by the media, saying that this was proof that the media are not free and that approximately 400,000 residents of Montenegro who speak Serbian are victims of discrimination.

“Discrimination against such a large number of people in our country makes it necessary for us to appeal to the international community and important institutions, which we be believe will not permit this kind of violation of human rights and pressure against one people,” said Mr. Aleksic, reminding that “the absolute majority of the residents of our republic speaks the Serbian language, which has existed for at least one thousand years”.

“What is happening today in the 21st century in Montenegro is unprecedented violence,” stated Mr. Aleksic.

According to the official census held at the end of 2003, 63.49 percent of the residents of Montenegro consider the Serbian language to be their native language, while 22 percent of citizens speak Montenegrin. Therefore, approximately 393,000 residents consider the Serbian language to be their mother tongue, while only 136,000 speak Montenegrin. Among other statistical data, also worth noting is that 74 percent of Montenegrins consider themselves to be Orthodox by religion, 3.5 percent are Roman Catholic, and 18 percent are Muslim.

Source: Svetigora Press

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH PROPOSES SELECTION
OF PATRON SAINT FOR INTERNET USERS

With the increasing use of computers in daily life, some Orthodox clergy feel, the time has come to designate an Orthodox Church saint to serve as spiritual patron to Internet users.

A few years ago, the Roman Catholic Church nominated a patron saint for the Internet - St Isidore, the Bishop of Seville.

However, for Russian Orthodox believers, the choice for them has been narrowed down to two possibilities: Saint John Chrysostom, and Saint Theophan the Recluse.

Responding to the question, "What is the Internet?" Deacon Andrey Kurayev noted: "It is a typically monastic pursuit. I am totally hidden from the public, it is quite impersonal - but at the same time I can take part in various discussion forums."

He believes the thousands of Russian Orthodox Internet users could only benefit from a virtual patron saint dedicated to them.

IOCC AND VLADE DIVAC GROUP 7 CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION “CONNECTING KIDS” PROJECT BRINGS COMPUTERS TO SERBIAN STUDENTS

As Serbia-Montenegro schools struggle to keep pace with technology, a window to the world is opening up for hundreds of school children in rural and suburban areas of the former Yugoslavia. Those children, along with their teachers and other school representatives, will gather at the “Bozidar Adzija” Technical University in Belgrade this week (Dec. 16-18) for a School Fair that will celebrate their newfound knowledge of computers and the connections that computers can bring.

The middle-school students are part of the “Connecting Kids” project, begun by International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and the Vlade Divac Group 7 Children’s Foundation in May.

Through the pilot project, IOCC and Group 7 are providing computer equipment and training to the participating schools, as well as creating a network to connect children and allow them to communicate with each other. The network consists of two schools each in Nis, Batocina and Belgrade municipalities, and one school each in Arandjelovac, Brus and Prijepolje municipalities.

To learn more about IOCC's humanitarian programs in the former Yugoslavia, please visit www.iocc.org.

[Serbian Translation Services]