Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
February 7, 2005

ARCHBISHOP DAMIAN OF SINAI RECEIVES BISHOP JOANIKIJE
BISHOP JOANIKIJE SERVES IN THE SINAI
NEW ISSUE OF BULLETIN “CRUCIFIXION OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE” PROMOTED IN NIKSIC
SLAVENKO TERZIC: MOVEMENT FOR PRESERVATION OF STATE UNION WILL ASK OSCE, COE AND THE UN TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ALL CITIZENS OF MONTENEGRO TO VOTE IN POSSIBLE REFERENDUM

ARCHBISHOP DAMIAN OF SINAI RECEIVES BISHOP JOANIKIJE

On February 5 His Beatitude Archbishop Damian of Sinai received His Grace Bishop Joanikije of Budimlje and Niksic and a delegation of clergy and faithful from the Diocese of Budimlje and Niksic who are currently on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Tomorrow Bishop Joanikije and the pilgrims will be visiting Mt. Horeb (the Peak of Moses), where Holy Liturgy will be served in the small Orthodox chapel there. The peak of Horeb is at an elevation of 2,642 meters above sea level; consequently, Bishop Joanikije and the pilgrims will be trekking on foot for four hours.

BISHOP JOANIKIJE SERVES IN THE SINAI

On the day of the commemoration of the Holy Apostle Timothy and the Martyr Anastasios, His Grace Bishop Joanikije of Budimlje and Niksic served Divine Liturgy in the Sinai in the St. Catherine’s Monastery. All pilgrims took part in the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

At the foot of one of the highest peaks of the Sinai, Jebel Musa (the Mountain of Moses), the Emperor Justinian built the great, fortified monastery of St. Catherine in the 6th century. The monastery includes a great church dedicated to the Transfiguration of Our Lord but also several other churches, one of them dedicated to the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. The altar of this church is located in the place where God appeared to Moses in the form of a flaming bush, a bush that burned and yet was not consumed, telling him: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." (Exd 3:5-6) In this altar the clergy serves without shoes. Upon coming to the Sinai this was the first church venerated by St. Sava. It is the exact location where Moses was grazing his flock when he heard the voice of God from the burning bush ordering him to lead the suffering people of Israel from Egypt to their ancient homeland.

The greatest teacher of the local monks was St. John of the Ladder, the abbot of the monastery of Mt. Sinai, a saint and great ascetic with an exceptionally large following of monks. Bishop Joanikije and a group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Budimlje and Niksic prayed to God here this morning for our much-suffering and much-sinning people.

NEW ISSUE OF BULLETIN “CRUCIFIXION OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE” PROMOTED IN NIKSIC

In Niksic on February 5 the Action Group of Professors and Instructors of Serbian Language and Literature promoted the new issue of their bulletin “Crucifixion of the Serbian Language” which is prepared by professors who have been fired from their jobs in Niksic secondary schools.

The new, second issue of the bulletin dedicated to the Assembly held in December of last year in Niksic, represents a university-level response to the current problems of Montenegrin society: language, identity, culture and the being of the Serbian language, gathering primarily texts of participants in the Assembly itself but also including texts by other intellectuals who expressed their thoughts and views regarding these very important issues, said fire professor Radinko Krulanovic in his introductory remarks, adding that this magazine represents a warning to the current Montenegrin regime to stop creating further divisions among the people.

"Crucifixion of the Serbian Language” represents a testimonial about ourselves and the Serbian language to which we belong, a true and original language whose letters originate from the Scripture, emphasized Assistant Professor Dr. Jelica Stojanovic, adding that every letter symbolizes bears the concept of God, the concept of man, life, perspective, mind, heaven and earth, light, and these letters are also cradle and hearth of the Serbian language from time immemorial to tomorrow. That is why the Serbian language is being crucified and that is why, despite the false tongues and persecutors, we must testify, said Jelica Stojanovic.

In the opinion of Ljiljana Vujadinovic at the Assembly, to whom the new issue of “Crucifixion” is dedicated, the issue of language has been proven and justified by scientists. Nevertheless, the Declaration on the defense of the name of the Serbian languages adopted then, which is still being signed, demands that we invest maximum efforts so that the spirit of the Declaration will reach every citizen of Montenegro.

The president of the Action Group of Professors and Instructors of Serbian Language and Literature, Veselin Matovic, once again emphasized the importance of the Assembly which, in his view, was a search for an answer to the violence being carried out by the Montenegrin regime in trying to impose and permanently plant one politics and one ideology among the people of Montenegro through culture and education. These claims are borne out by the fact that there is not one cultural institution that is not under the direct control of the government while in the schools they are introducing their ideology through new school programs such as the catalog of knowledge for the so-called “mother tongue,” concluded Matovic.

Other speakers at the promotion included fired professors Svetozar Cirakovic and Miodrag Todorovic. Among other things, they read an open letter to the school council of the Stojan Cerovic Secondary School, and a letter of support sent to the professors by a group of intellectuals who are former students of the former general secondary school in Niksic.

S.C./S.K.

SLAVENKO TERZIC: MOVEMENT FOR PRESERVATION OF STATE UNION WILL ASK OSCE, COE AND THE UN TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ALL CITIZENS OF MONTENEGRO TO VOTE IN POSSIBLE REFERENDUM

At the founding assembly of the Movement for the European Union of Serbia and Montenegro organized by citizens of Montenegro living in Serbia and held on February 5, 2005 in Belgrade’s Syndicate Hall, Professor Dr. Slavenko Terzic presented the main and the only goal of this Assembly:

"First of all, we will address all appropriate institutions in Montenegro with the clear request that all citizens of Montenegro must be given the opportunity to participate in the referendum in the event that it is held. We have no objections to the referendum being held, if that is what is agreed upon by the Constitutional Charter and the Belgrade agreement; however, with the participation of all citizens of Montenegro, not just those living in Serbia, but all those who have Montenegrin citizenship.”

If the Montenegrin state leadership is not receptive to this request, Terzic said that the next addresses it will be sent to will be OSCE and the Council of Europe.

"We will address OSCE in Vienna and the Council of Europe in a civilized manner with a clear proposal supported by international conventions and supported by the experiences of other states, e.g. the United States and Croatia. You have seen all of west Herzegovina voting in the elections for the president of the Republic of Croatia, and no one can be denied the right to vote on issues such a referendum on state constitutional status.”

Terzic also announced the formation of legal teams comprised not only of domestic but also international legal experts.

"We have been in touch with a considerable number of people throughout the world, professors of international law, who are ready to help us in the legal definition of our request before international officials. We are prepared to take our battle to realize our rights as far as the United Nations in search of our incontestable, natural, human right to vote on the issue of the state constitutional status, which in this case is threatened in Montenegro,” concluded Dr. Slavenko Terzic.

[Serbian Translation Services]