Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
March 9, 2005

CONSECRATION OF PARISH HOME
OF ST SAVA MEMORIAL CATHEDRAL IN BELGRADE

On Thursday, May 10, 2005 His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle will consecrate the new parish home of St. Sava Memorial Cathedral in Vracar (Belgrade).

The building of the new parish home was completed on March 10, 2005, on the feast of the Burning of the Holy Relics of St. Sava. The consecration ceremony will be attended by the chairman of the St. Sava Cathedral Building Society, Serbian President Boris Tadic, master builder Vojislav Milovanovic, Building Society Board member Nenad Bogdanovic and numerous guests.

METROPOLITAN AMFILOHIJE VISITS VANCOUVER

From March 4-6, 2005 His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral visited the Vancouver Serbs on the occasion of the consecration of a newly built church dedicated to the Holy Archangel Michael.

Metropolitan Amfilohije, together with his host His Grace Bishop Longin of Western America and with the concelebration of Serbia, Russian, Greek and Ukrainian clergy, consecrated the new church in Vancouver in the Canadian province of British Columbia, as well as the cultural center that is part of the church complex.

The festivities began on Friday with evening services with Metropolitan Amfilohije officiating. Guests at the banquet that followed included representatives of our local church and many Serbs and Canadians, representatives of local and state government, as well as guests from the cultural arts. A cultural program also took place that included recitals, folklore dancing, musical ensembles and the church choir.

On Saturday in the presence of a large number of faithful the newly built church of the Holy Archangel Michael was consecrated, followed by the first Holy Hierarchal Liturgy served by Metropolitan Amfilohije and Bishop Longin. In his homily Metropolitan Amfilohije spoke of the immeasurable importance of the dedication of the new church, saying that the seeds of St. Sava are scattered on five continents and emphasizing the all-powerful, salvational and transcendental mission of the Church, as well as the selfless efforts of those most deserving who made it possible to realize the many year-long dream of Vancouver Serbs. “It is a great blessing to build a church and may it serve as an example for all others who want to build churches. This church will last for centuries,” stressed Metropolitan Amfilohije.

During the Divine Liturgy, Protopresbyter Ljubomir Radovic was presented with a pectoral cross symbolizing the elevation of this long-time priest of the parish of St. Michael the Archangel to the office of protopresbyter-stavrophor. At the same time, on behalf of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle, Metropolitan Amfilohije presented the Order of St. Sava of the second degree to the president of the building committee and the architect of the newly built church. Holy Hierarchal Liturgy was followed by the consecration of the cultural center. An exhibition of copies of frescoes from Kosovo and Metohija was then formally opened. Speaking at the ceremonial dinner, Metropolitan Amfilohije greeted all present in the overflowing cultural center, emphasizing the importance of the building so necessary to the survival of Serbian cultural being on the territory of Canada and the United States of America.

Source: Svetigora Press

PATRIARCH IRINEOS RECEIVES THEOLOGY STUDENTS

Yesterday in Jerusalem His Beatitude Patriarch Irineos of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine received the professors and graduates of the Cetinje Seminary, headed by His Grace Bishop Joakim of Polog and Kumanovo.

Patriarch Irineos was very gracious in receiving the Serbian guests, presenting them with gramatta attesting to their pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

The trip will conclude tomorrow with the visit to the Tomb of Our Lord. From there, the professors and students of the St. Peter of Cetinje Seminary will head back to the homeland. In the past few weeks the Cetinje seminarians have visited many holy shrines in Jerusalem, including the Tomb of Our Lord, where Holy Liturgy was served, followed by churches in Bethany and Jericho, and the Mountain of Temptation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and on Monday they saw the Tomb of the Most Holy Theotokos. They also visited the convent of St. Mary Magdalene and Emmaus, and venerated the holy relics of St. George in Lydda. On Tuesday they attended Holy Liturgy in the Russian church in Ein Kerem, the place of birth of St. John the Baptist.

FOURTH WORKING MEETING BETWEEN COMMISSIONS OF MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE AND RUSSIAN CHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA CONCLUDES

The Fourth Working Meeting between the Moscow Patriarchate Commission on Dialogue with the Russian Church Outside of Russia and the ROCOR Commission on Discussions with the Moscow Patriarchate took place in the environs of Paris on 2-4 March 2005. The sessions, which were accompanied by common prayers, were held in the atmosphere of brotherly love. The discussions were frank and open, and the participants were sincere in their aspiration to overcome divisions.

Taking part in the meeting on behalf of the Moscow Patriarchate were Chairman of the Commission Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun, Archbishop Yevgeny of Vereya, Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin, Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) and secretary of the Commission Archpriest Nikolai Balashov. Taking part in the meeting on behalf of the Russian Church Outside of Russia were Chairman of the Commission Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany, Bishop Ambrose of Vevey, Archimandrite Luke (Murjanka), Archpriest Nicholas Artemov and secretary of the Commission Archpriest Alexander Lebedev.

The participants continued their work on the documents, which show common vision of the tragic destiny of the Russian Church in the 20th century, Church-State relations, canonical status of the Russian Church Outside of Russia as a self-governing part of the Local Russian Orthodox Church and canonical conditions for the restoration of full communion.

The next meeting of the Commissions is scheduled for the summer of 2005.

Source: www.mospat.ru

[Serbian Translation Services]