Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
June 9, 2006

MUSEUM OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH’S METROPOLITANATE OF ZAGREB AND LJUBLJANA REOPENS IN ZAGREB
PATRIARCH ALEXY II COMMEMORATES 16 YEARS SINCE ASSUMING THE THRONE OF PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL-RUSSIA
COMMUNIQUE OF THE METROPOLITANATE OF DABRO-BOSNIA ON A POEM INSULTING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

MUSEUM OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH’S METROPOLITANATE OF ZAGREB AND LJUBLJANA REOPENS IN ZAGREB

Yesterday in Zagreb in the presence of senior church dignitaries and state officials, diplomatic representatives and cultural and public workers, His Eminence Metropolitan Jovan of Zagreb and Ljubljana opened the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana.

Opening the Museum Metropolitan Jovan in his inspiring and succinct address emphasized the importance and contribution of Slobodan Mileusnic of blessed repose, who took on the great task of creating the museum in Zagreb.

Speaking after the Metropolitan, Bozo Biskupic, Croatian minister of culture and chairman of the Government’s Committee for Church and Religious Community Relations, emphasized that the opening of the Serbian Orthodox Church Museum in Zagreb is an important event for culture in Croatia because the exponents that will be presented in the Museum are of great cultural and historical importance.

The next speaker, Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic, tied into these remarks, emphasizing the necessity for a Serbian Orthodox Church Museum in Zagreb and the need for the Museum to be open to the greatest possible number of people.

The Serbian Orthodox Church Museum in Zagreb is completely new because the old building housing the Museum and the Metropolitanate was dynamited on April 11, 1992, also destroying a large number of exponents.

Source: TANJUG

PATRIARCH ALEXY II COMMEMORATES 16 YEARS SINCE ASSUMING THE THRONE OF PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL-RUSSIA

In Moscow’s church of Christ the Savior, overflowing with faithful, next to the Holy Hand of St. John the Fore-Runner and Baptist of the Lord which on June 7, 2006 left Cetinje Monastery on a blessed trip through Orthodox Russia, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All-Russia served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy yesterday with the concelebration of His Eminence Archbishop Amfilohije of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral and over fifty bishops of the Russian and other local churches. Some 100 priests of the Russian, Serbian, Greek and Bulgarian Churches also took part in the Holy Liturgy, Hieromonk Petar (Dragojlovic) reported to Radio Svetigora from Moscow.

This service also marked the sixteen year anniversary of the enthronement of Patriarch Alexy.

During the course of Holy Liturgy the Patriarch delivered a homily in which he thanked God for presenting Russia with the gift of the Hand of St. John on the sixteen year anniversary of his enthronement, and for gathering the representatives of other local churches in Moscow around it.

After Holy Communion Metropolitan Amfilohije presented the Russian Patriarch with an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Filermosa painted especially for this occasion by Hieromonk Lazar, a brother of the monastery of St. John the Baptist at Zagradje in Piva. A prayer service was then served before the Holy Hand and the whole celebration was enhanced by a banquet held in the dining room of the crypt of the biggest Orthodox church in the world. Many hierarchs at the table addressed the Russian Patriarch and presented him with various gifts. Bishop Amfilohije wished the head of the Russian Church many more years of wise leadership of the flock of Christ in Russia, for the glory of God and the benefit of the Russian people and the entire Christian ecumene.

In his response, Patriarch Alexy thanked the Lord for giving him the power to participate and lead the great spiritual rebirth of Russia, struggling first and foremost against the overwhelming prevalence of atheism in Russia sixteen years ago. The Patriarch expressed his special thanks to the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral not only for giving his blessing that the Holy Hand might tour Orthodox Russia but also for his personal participation in its arrival in Moscow.

All Russian media, both electronic and printed, covered the arrival of the Hand of St. John in Moscow as top news. The most striking headline in the daily press was in this morning’s issue of the daily “Zhizn” with a front page headline that read, “Hand of the prophet disperses thunder clouds”. Namely, according to the eyewitness accounts of the pilots who flew the special plane transporting the Holy Hand from Podgorica to Moscow, at one point the decision was made to land at a back up airport close to the Russian capital due to the dense thunder clouds over Moscow itself. However, when the plane approached Moscow, according to the pilots’ testimony, the clouds had dispersed of their own accord in a strange way. The decision to land at the back up airport was reversed and the Hand of St. John landed at Vnukovo 3 Airport exactly at 4:00 p.m. as foreseen by protocol.

Source: Svetigora pres - R.V.

COMMUNIQUE OF THE METROPOLITANATE OF DABRO-BOSNIA ON A POEM INSULTING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

Following the recent publishing of an anthology of poetry, “Konci” (Threads), by the Mixed Secondary School of Electrotechnology in Sarajevo, including a poem entitled “Zaljenje” (Mourning) by Arman Alatovic which speaks in an insulting manner about the Lord Jesus Christ, His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaj of Dabro-Bosnia and the clergy of the Metropolitanate of Dabro-Bosnia issued the following communique:

“Recently we had the opportunity to read a poem by a young man who is a student of the Mixed Secondary School of Electrotechnology in Sarajevo, which speaks about the God-Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, in a derogatory and insulting manner. The insult is all the greater in that a poem of this content is being promoted by an educational institution, which should be educating its students in matters of culture, religious and national tolerance.

“The aforementioned poem is deeply insulting to Orthodox Christians, and indeed to all Christians, and it should be insulting to the Muslims as well, who respect the Lord Jesus Christ as a messenger of God.

“Hence we most strongly protest and raise our voice against this disregard for the feelings of the faithful which does not contribute in the least to the strengthening of inter-religious understanding. We expect that those responsible, first of all, the school itself as the publisher and its director, as well as the Educational-Pedagogical Institute and the Ministry of Education of the Canton of Sarajevo will issue a statement apologizing to us Christians for this insult.

“We believe that the public must not tolerate disturbances of this and similar nature and that the educational system must not be a place for the promotion of intolerance towards others who are different. We also expect organizations concerned with the protection of human rights to issue as statement, as they recently did on the occasion of the recent publishing of pictures insulting to the Muslims.”

Source: Metropolitanate of Dabro-Bosnia

[Serbian Translation Services]