Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
Avgust 5, 2005

PATRIARCH PAVLE AND PRESIDENT TADIC MEET TO DISCUSS ARCHBISHOP JOVAN OF OCHRID

The President of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Boris Tadic, today received a delegation of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church led by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle. At the meeting they discussed the situation in connection with the arrest of His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan and Metropolitan of Skoplje, the canonical head of the Autonomous Archdiocese of Ochrid.

President Tadic informed Patriarch Pavle regarding the initiatives from his office and his contacts with senior officials of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. They concluded that further efforts would be invested in order to overcome this problem in the spirit of Christian and democratic principles, and to the satisfaction of both the Serbian and the Macedonian side.

SERBIAN ORTHODOX SECONDARY SCHOOL IN ZAGREB

Work on preparing the school in the Serbian Orthodox church parish in Zagreb is coming to an end. The planned number of students from throughout Croatia was enrolled during the first (summer) registration period. The best Serbian pupils from Knin, Obrovac, Benkovac, Vukovar and other towns have been enrolled in the Serbian secondary school in Zagreb.

This school aspires to gather gifted Serbian children and offer them a school program based on modern educational methods in the spirit of the Orthodox faith and Serbian tradition. The Kantakuzina-Katarina Brankovic Secondary School is a new school in the two hundred year tradition of the educational activities of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Zagreb.

The school was founded upon the initiative of His Eminence Metropolitan Jovan of Zagreb and Ljubljana in cooperation with the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia as a public secondary school. It hopes to contribute a new cultural quality to secondary education in Croatia based on innovative approaches and methods of teaching.

Croatian school programs will be enriched by material from Serbian culture in the social-human sciences group (in addition to the aforementioned language, history, geography, fine arts and music) based on Serbo-Croatian intercultural principles within a European regional context.

The material of the rich Serbian Orthodox religious culture in this area will be an framework in the desire to preserve national identity and culture. Great attention will be dedicated to directed learning of multiple foreign languages with the possibility of studying more than the prescribed number of languages on an elective basis.

The languages offered will be English, German, Russian and Italian, with Latin and Greek as electives and the possibility of extended instruction over all four years. Elective study of the Old Slavic language will also be available. Most importantly, all living languages will be taught by native speakers f English, German, Russian and Italian. Most classes will be taught by professors with advanced degrees.

From the beginning the secondary school will be guided by organized by an all-day program for the students in either the school building or the offices of the Diocese.

The mission of education at the Kantakuzina-Katarina Brankovic Serbian Orthodox Secondary School is creative education of students directed toward the broadest spectrum of higher educational institutions within Croatia and abroad with full implementation of the integral educational model.

The goal of the Serbian Orthodox Secondary School in Zagreb is education and training of gifted Serbian children who will receive the guidance and support of their Church during the course of their formal education as well.

THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE RESTORATION
OF DJURDJEVI STUPOVI

This morning His Grace Bishop Joanikije of Budimlje and Niksic served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the monastery of Djurdjevi Stupovi (the Pillars of St. George), marking the beginning of the celebration of the three year anniversary of the restoration of this medieval Diocese founded by St. Sava.

Speaking in his sermon about the feast of St. Mary of Magdalene and its significance for Orthodox Christians, Bishop Joanikije said:

“When the Lord completed his task of saving and redeeming the human race, as he prepared to spill His salvation-bearing blood on the Cross for the whole world, many began to doubt, and at one point even the supreme apostle, Peter, himself doubted. Because of human weakness that which superceded nature was not given even to the apostles but it was given to a mere handful of the faithful, the Most Holy Theotokos, St. John the Theologian and some myrrh-bearing women, among them St. Mary Magdalene. When all the apostles scattered in fear and when the Apostle Peter, who said: My Lord, even if all should betray you, I will not betray you also denounced him, among the few who remained before Christ, crucified and humiliated, suffering and dying, was St. Mary Magdalene,” said Bishop Joanikije.

During the Holy Liturgy in Djurdjevi Stupovi Monastery, Bishop Joanikije also elevated Deacon Danilo Zirojevic to the office of presbyter.

Source: Svetigora Press, S.K.

SPIRITUAL JOY IN PALIC

This year’s patronal feast of St. Elijah the Prophet in Palic, in addition to Holy Liturgy, offered yet another spiritual joy, the consecration of the newly built parish home.

On the feast itself, His Grace Bishop Irinej of Backa served evening services with the concelebration of the priests of the administration of Subotica.

On that occasion, the slava wheat and cake were consecrated, as was the new parish home containing an auditorium that will temporarily serve as a holy church.

Among those attending this formal act were Their Royal Highnesses Prince Vladimir Andrew Karadjordjevic and his wife, Princess Brigitte. They partook in the sharing of the slava cake and joyfully accepted to serve as the slava hosts in the following year.

The church slava of the parish of Palic was also attended by Subotica mayor Geza Kucera, Subotica municipal assembly president Sasa Vucinic. The Rt. Rev. Dr. Andrija Kopilovic extended congratulations on the occasion of the patronal feast on behalf of the Roman Catholic bishopric of Subotica.

After the service Bishop Irinej blessed the gathered faithful and the president of the church parish executive board, Mr. Zoran Arsic, thanked the Bishop on behalf of the church parish of Palic for finding the time despite his many obligations to once again come upon the invitation of the people, like every year to date, and bring them joy through his visit.

Presbyter Miodrag Sipka

METROPOLITAN JOVAN SERVES IN MARCA MONASTERY

On Sunday, July 31/18, His Eminence Metropolitan Jovan of Zagreb, Ljubljana and All-Italy serve Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the chapel of the former monastery of Marca. The renowned monastery of Marca was located in the village of Stara Marca between Cazma and Ivanicgrad. In 1925 a chapel dedicated to the Holy Archangel Gabriel was built in the location of the former holy shrine in the exact location of the former altar section of the church. Since the time of Metropolitan Gavrilo Avramovic of Dabro-Bosnia, who is credited with founding the monastery (between 1578 and 1588) until 1775, when Marca ceased to exist (during the so-called liquidation of Serbian monasteries), this Serbian holy shrine shared the difficult fate of the Serbian people in these parts. The constant struggle and resistance against unionism reached its acme when the embittered people, led by Serbian monks, announced that they would never recognize the bishop of Zagreb as their lord nor allow the Uniates to take possession of Marca. The people’s pain and resentment against the hated union had their horrible expression the night of June 28/17, 1739 when Serbs led by the outlaw Tomasevic set fire to Marca. Today this diminutive chapel continues to share the fate of the Serbian people. The isolated chapel in the location of the former holy shrine taunts the passage of time, witnessing the existence of Orthodox Serbs in this region. Metropolitan Jovan thanked those present for not forgetting Marca, the place where their grandfathers and great-grandfathers were baptized, married and escorted to their eternal resting place, even in recent difficult times. After Holy Liturgy the slava cake was cut and the slava wheat consecrated, which was shared with the people, who were overjoyed by the Metropolitan’s visit. After Holy Liturgy Metropolitan Jovan spoke with the faithful, spiritually consoling them and lending strength to the few Orthodox Serbs remaining in Marca and surrounding villages.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHURCH IN MONTENEGRO CONTINUES

At the same time as the orchestrated, incomprehensible to the normal mind attacks on the Metropolitanate, Metropolitan Amfilohije and the Serbian Church in general in connection with the consecrated chapel of the Holy Trinity on Mt. Rumija, there has been a reviving of the campaign against the Church regarding its alleged concealment of Hague indictees in priests’ robes in church buildings.

The latest lies were launched by the weekly “Monitor” for reasons known only to it with the claim that Metropolitan Amfilohije had built a church building in Jovan Dol of Ostrog Monastery, a large part of which is under the earth, with underground auditoriums and hallways built for secret operations. No member of the church has been in this building except for Amfilohije himself!

This absurd insinuation and others like it have drawn a large number of reporters and police spies to the Ostrog and Jovan Dol area in recent days who are threatening to endanger the peace and life of these holy shrines and their numerous pilgrims.

When Svetigora Press asked officials in the Metropolitanate and in Ostrog Monastery regarding these developments, the answer we received was that all these fictions are just part of a much broader anti-church campaign in our land which is taking us back to the period of the militant antitheism of the Bolshevik-Titoist era. More or less the same people and their ideological supporters, now under new “European” symbols, are trying to cast mud upon the Church and to ascribe to it all the evils and crimes not only of the past but also of recent times.

The saddest thing of all is that some of the international factors are accepting the denunciations of domestic denunciators as is, supporting the continuation of violence against the Church and therefore, the ongoing trampling of basic human rights.

The most recent accusations and lies regarding alleged underground buildings and other misdeed of Metropolitan Amfilohije and the Serbian Church are just another example of orchestrated mud-slinging and hatred toward the Church and its members.

Source: Svetigora Press

GLINKA CHOIR FROM ST PETERSBURG TO PERFORM IN BELGRADE’S CATHEDRAL CHURCH

In the Cathedral Church (Saborna Crkva) in Belgrade on Saturday, August 6, 2005 beginning at 8:30 p.m. the Glinka Choir from St. Petersburg will be holding a concert of spiritual music. Admission is free.

The pride of Russian art, the Glinka Choir, which for 500 years has been carrying the glory of Orthodox Russian art throughout the world, was founded in 1479 by the great Moscow Prince Ivan Vasiljevic. The great Prince Ivan, gathering 30 singers from various parts of Russia to chant at the consecration of the Assembly of the Dormition in Moscow, thus founded one of the best choirs in the history of world music.

Throughout its long and glorious history the Glinka Choir has especially nurtured Orthodox spiritual music. At the beginning of the 19th century the Glinka Choir began to dedicate more attention to the masterpieces of world music literature. Today the Glinka Choir has more than 250 works by the greatest world composers in its repertoire, among them the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom composed by Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac.

The basic orientation of the choir is performance of Russian works, first and foremost by St. Petersburg composers.

We invite all spiritual music aficionados to attend this rare spiritual and musical event.

[Serbian Translation Services]