Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
April 12, 2005

SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH DELEGATION IN CHICAGO

On the fourth Sunday of the Great Fast, April 10, 2005, which is dedicated to St. John of the Ladder, abbot in The Sinai, His Grace Bishop Grigorije of Zahumlje and Herzegovina served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Palmer Square in Chicago, while His Grace Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan served in the church dedicated to the Holy King Stefan of Decani on Leland Avenue.

After liturgy in the church of the Holy King Stefan of Decani, Father Aleksandar Ivanovic welcomed Bishop Teodosije on behalf of his parishioners, asking for the blessing of the Decani abbot and the Holy King for his parish and the faithful who dedicated this church to the Holy King forty years ago. Bishop Teodosije then delivered a short homily to those present, emphasizing that despite the difficult position of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its faithful in Kosovo and Metohija, the monks pray to God and maintain their holy shrines through great effort and sacrifice, helped by their sense of the presence of the saints of the Church who shone in this region in their own time, as well as by well-intentioned members of the international community, on the other. "Kosovo is the land of our holy shrines and we must stay and survive there," underscored Bishop Teodosije in closing.

SPC DELEGATION MEETS WITH CONGRESSWOMAN MELISSA BEAN

In the afternoon the Serbian Orthodox Church delegation met with the local representative in the US Congress, Ms. Melissa Bean from Illinois. Ms. Bean, who is a member of the Democratic Party, recently joined the Serbian congressional caucus, and consequently wanted to learn first hand how she could help. Bishop Grigorije informed Ms. Bean of the difficult position of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, at the same time emphasizing the desire of the Serbian people to stay and survive in their homes, regardless of the future political debate on Kosovo.

Bishop Teodosije then spoke in greater detail about the life of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. Professor Sijakovic gave a brief overview of the situation throughout the region, emphasizing that the Serbian Orthodox Church is the only organization to survive throughout the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and that it has some 5,000 parishes there. In Croatia the primary problems are the realization of property rights of the Serbian people as well as the return of confiscated church lands. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the Church is extremely concerned by the possibility of annulment of the Dayton Agreement, which enabled the survival of Republika Srpska in a still fragile interethnic situation.

On the territory of Serbia and Montenegro the Church is vitally interested in the survival of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, said Professor Sijakovic, "despite the political pretensions of some politicians in Montenegro, who have won the support of minority communities in Montenegro, with whose help they hope to achieve secession".

"As far as Kosovo is concerned," stressed Professor Sijakovic, "the Church is concerned that the secession of the Province would lead to the disappearance of the Serbian people from this area as well as to broader regional destabilization. Consequently, the issue of status should be approached taking into account not only the interests of the Albanian people but also of the other peoples in the Balkans, and especially in the Province." "Regardless of status, the issues of restitution of church land, the return of the Serbian people to compact settlements where they would be able to survive, especially near their holy shrines, the restoration of destroyed churches and monasteries, the employment of returnees for the restoration of churches and homes so they can have an income to support themselves, and the ensuring of mechanism that would protect the Serbian community in accordance with generally accepted European and global standards are of exceptional importance to the Church," explained Professor Sijakovic.

He emphasized that "for the cultural and spiritual heritage of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija it is essential to regulate a special status with strong international guarantees". Finally, Professor Sijakovic emphasized that "the Serbian Orthodox Church has an important role in integrational processes in the Balkans, and loose borders and regional cooperation are in the best interests of the Serbian people, who live in no less than five different countries after the collapse of the former Yugoslavia".

Ms. Bean thanked the members of the Serbian Orthodox Church delegation and promised that she would remain engaged and involve the two senators from the state of Illinois in offering assistance to the Serbs. She added that it would be extremely helpful if Serbs in America would organize themselves even more effectively.

GREAT FAST EVENING SERVICES IN NEW GRACANICA

In the evening the members of the delegation attended the Great Fast services in the monastery of New Gracanica in the presence of Bishop Longin, his entire clergy and numerous faithful. The religious services was officiated by Metropolitan Jovan of Veles and Povardarje, who is also visiting the USA and testifying to the difficult position of the Archdiocese of Ochrid and the blatant violation of religious rights in FYR Macedonia. At the end of the services, the parish priest of Lesling, Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Milos Vesin, delivered his homily, followed by a dinner banquet for all present held in the great hall of the monastery of New Gracanica.

During the dinner Bishop Longin asked Bishop Grigorije to address those present and provide an overview of the goals of the SPC delegation in the USA and the results of their visit to date. Bishop Grigorije accepted the invitation of the host and spoke about the delegation's meetings with international and US officials, as well as with religious leaders.

"All our presentations can be summed up in one sentence: we want to stay in Kosovo as a Church and as a people regardless of the future(political) solution. We survived there during the Ottoman empire, we survived there in the worst and most difficult times, we survived there with great sacrifice, with God's help and with great wisdom. That is why we should survive there now," said Bishop Grigorije before the clergy and the faithful.

The Bishop emphasized that US officials have shown a high degree of understanding and respect toward Patriarch Pavle and the Serbian Orthodox Church, emphasizing the alliance between Serbia and the US in both World Wars, and the constructive position of the Serbian Orthodox Church which strongly supported demonstrations against the former regime, and played an active role in the triumph of democratic forces in Serbia.

Bishop Grigorije explained to those present that the SPC should not allow others to talk about it, usually with ill intent, but must itself clearly articulate its views and intensify contacts at the international level. "The Holy Synod of Bishops and our holy bishops sent us, as younger bishops, to struggle (toward this end) to the best of our ability. This delegation came to the US, another will go to Brussels, a third to Moscow, then to Berlin, London, Rome, Athens, to every part of the world," said Bishop Grigorije, whose comments were met at the end of his remarks by hearty applause on the part of those present.

On Monday, April 11, 2005, the Serbian Orthodox Church delegation will visit the parish of the Holy Archangel Michael in Lesling. They are also scheduled to meet with congressman Rahm Emanuel, the vice chairman of the Serbian caucus in the US Congress.

DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP IAKOVOS, FORMER ARCHBISHOP OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

Archbishop Iakovos, 93, spiritual leader of Greek Orthodox Christians in the Western Hemisphere from 1959 to 1996, passed away April 10, in Stamford Hospital, Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., from a pulmonary ailment.

Born on the Island of Imvros, Turkey on July 29, 1911 to Maria and Athanasios Coucouzis, he was christened Demetrios at birth. He enrolled at age 15 in the Ecumenical Patriarchal Theological School at Halki. After graduating with high honors, Demetrios Coucouzis was ordained Deacon in 1934, taking the ecclesiastical name Iakovos. Five years after his ordination, Deacon Iakovos received an invitation to serve as Archdeacon to the late Archbishop Athenagoras, the Primate of North and South America, who later became Ecumenical Patriarch.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1940 in Lowell, MA, he served at St. George Church, Hartford, Connecticut, while teaching and serving as assistant dean of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological School. In 1941, he was named Preacher at Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York City and appointed Dean of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Boston in 1942, where he remained until 1954. In 1945 he earned a Master of Sacred Theology Degree from Harvard University.

In 1954, he was ordained Bishop of Melita, by his spiritual father and mentor, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. He was enthroned as Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in the Americas on April 1, 1959 at Holy Trinity Cathedral. He retired at the age of 85 on July 29,1996, after 37 years of service which were distinguished by his leadership in revitalizing Christian worship and championing human and civil rights. He had the courage to walk hand in hand with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in protests in March 1965. He was the recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom bestowed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter on June 9, 1980. A dynamic participant in the contemporary ecumenical movement for Christian unity, he served for nine years as president of the World Council of Churches.

Immediately following the passing of Archbishop Iakovos, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, said:

“I have had the great honor and joy to know Archbishop Iakovos for more than fifty years. He has been a superb Archbishop who offered to the Church an intense, continuous, multifaceted and creative pastoral activity. He has been a true and whole shepherd to his people trying day and night to teach them, to guide them, to comfort them, to encourage them, to edify them in Christ and to lead them as a loving shepherd to the ‘springs of the living waters’ (Rev. 7:17) of faith and life with God.”

FILM ABOUT THE SUFFERING OF THE SERBS
– SLAUGHTER, CONVERT, EXPEL

In the Yugoslav Film Museum, Kosovska 11, on Wednesday, April 20, 2005, at 9:00 a.m. the premiere of a documentary film entitled “Pobij, pokrsti, proteraj” (Slaughter, convert, expel) will be held. The film talks about the suffering of the Serbs in Muslim and Croat war camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-96. The author and coproducer is Svetlana Petrusic, journalist and publicist. The producer is Ivica Vidanovic.

“Slaughter, convert, expel” is a political documentary film whose basic theme is the torture of war camp inmates on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period of the civil war from 1992. The main story unfolds in the municipality of Odzak in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[Serbian Translation Services]