Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
January 25, 2005

CHURCH ON MECAVNIK HILL IN MOKRA GORA CONSECRATED

On Mecavnik Hill in the village of Mokra Gora, His Grace Bishop Hrizostom of Zica consecrated a wooden church dedicated to St. Sava on January 22, 2005. Renowned film director Emir Kusturica built the church on this hill in his ethnic village. In addition to priests from the church in Uzice, some one hundred local residents of Mokra Gora and surrounding villages, who are now friends and neighbors of the Kusturica family, attended the consecration ceremony on Mecavnik.

At the moment His Grace Bishop Hrizostom arrived on Mecavnik, in Kusturica’s Drven Grad beneath Sargan, the bell in the large bell tower built next to the church began tolling as is fit and proper. Somewhat earlier, academician Matija Beckovic, writer Momo Kapor and Aleksandar Tijanic, general director of Radio Television Serbia, also arrived on Mecavnik.

The tolling bell also marked the beginning of the consecration ceremony itself and the religious service. Among the first to enter the church behind the Bishop and priests was Emir Kusturica and his wife Maja, accompanied by Matija Beckovic and Momo Kapor. The other guests followed the service from the wooden courtyard in front of the church crafted out of logs by master craftsman Milos Milovanovic from Gornji Milanovac. After liturgy, having toured the church with the priests, founders and people, and then consecrated the bell tower with consecrated water, the Bishop congratulated Kusturica on his deed and then addressed the people: “The founder of the church we have consecrated is Emir Kusturica, the renowned film director, who has found it appropriate to have a church in the town he is building here on Mecavnik. A long time ago, I watched a Russian film from the Communist era in which an elderly Russian woman asks soldiers of the Red Army where is the street in town leading to the church. They respond that there is no church any more as it has been destroyed, and the name of the street has been changed. The old woman pauses and then asks the soldiers: why is there a street there at all if it does not lead to the church? The church on Mecavnik should serve as a symbol that we are all God’s subjects and that nothing we do in our lives should be without God. Religious services will be held occasionally in this church either in the evening or morning, and periodically Divine Holy Liturgies.”

By Z. Saponjic

Source: Glas Javnosti daily, Belgrade

JESSEN-PETERSEN ASKS UNESCO FOR HELP
IN PROTECTING DECANI MONASTERY

The head of the United Nations civil mission in Kosovo and Metohija, Soren Jessen-Petersen, met with UNESCO director general Koichiro Matsuura in Paris to discuss UNMIK’s efforts in the preservation of cultural heritage in Kosovo, in particular, measures that may be taken for the Decani Monastery, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003.

According to a statement by the UNMIK office in Pristina, at the request of Jessen-Petersen, Matsuura agreed to provide UNMIK with necessary expert assistance for the protection of this important cultural and historical Christian monument.

Jessen-Petersen reiterated that the funds allocated by the provisional institutions and UNMIK for the reconstruction of damaged or destroyed monuments during the March 2004 violence in Kosovo and Metohija are still available, and the reconstruction process can be restarted as soon as the Orthodox Church joins this process, the statement says.

It was agreed during the meeting that the donor conference, aimed to collect funds for the protection of the heritage belonging to all communities in Kosovo and Metohija will be held on March 13, 2005 in Paris. The conference will be organized by UNESCO in cooperation with the Council of Europe and UNMIK. Jessen-Petersen also said that protection of cultural and religious monuments in Kosovo is a very important element in fulfilling the standards for Kosovo and Metohija, and he was very happy to learn that UNESCO fully supports this process.

MEETING OF RUSSIAN PATRIARCH ALEXY II AND UKRAINE PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All-Russia met with the newly elected president of the Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, on January 24, 2005 in the Patriarchate at St. Daniel's Monastery in Moscow. Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the head of the Department of External Church Relations, Protopresbyter Nikolaj Balashov, and Mr. A. Zinchenko, secretary to the Ukrainian president, also attended this first official meeting.

In his welcoming remarks His Holiness said, among other things: “I welcome your election as president of the Ukrainian Republic, as the leader of our brother land which in this age needs to preserve its Slavic tradition, and to always remember its Orthodox roots. It is with great respect that we look upon the historical role of the city of Kiev, the Mother of all Russian cities... We hope that the Ukrainian people will find the road to unity and flourish and experience success in the modern age under your leadership.”

[Serbian Translation Services]