Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
July 11, 2006

ORDINATION OF ARCHIMANDRITE IRINEJ
AS BISHOP OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

At the regular session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church held from May 15-27, 2006 the Most Venerable Archimandrite Irinej (Dobrijevic), consultant to the Holy Synod of Bishops and head of the Office of the Kosovo and Metohija Committee of the Holy Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand.

Archimandrite Irinej, the Bishop-elect of Australia and New Zealand, was born on February 6, 1955 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, to Djuro and Milica Dobrijevic (nee Svilar). He completed his primary education in Cleveland, Ohio, which he continued at the Academy of Art, also in Cleveland, from 1973-75. From 1975-79 he attended the Orthodox Seminary of St. Tikhon in South Canaan, Pennsylvania. In 1980 he enrolled in the Orthodox Theological Academy of St. Vladimir in Crestwood, New York, which he completed in 1982, then enrolling in the Athens Center from 2000-03, where he received a certificate in Modern Greek I and II. After completing his studies at St. Vladimir’s with a master’s degree for a highly praised thesis on Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic: 1921, Mission in America, and at St. Tikhon’s with academic honors (maxima cum laude), he primarily worked in education, teaching at Loyola University in Chicago, as well as the Theological Faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade.

On January 14, 1994, His Eminence Metropolitan Hristofor of Central Western America ordained him a deacon in the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. He was tonsured a monk on January 18, 1995 in St. Sava Monastery in Libertyville, Illinois, and on that occasion took the monastic name Irinej after St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon. He was ordained a hieromonk on January 27, 1995 in St. Sava Church in Parma, Ohio.

Of the many functions performed by Father Irinej, it is important to note that he is the co-delegate of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Conference of European Churches (KEK-SES), a member of the Jasenovac Committee of the Holy Synod of Bishops, the Permanent Mission Committee of the Holy Synod of Bishops, and the Kosovo and Metohija Committee of the Holy Synod of Bishops. As well, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), the Executive Board of the United States Council of Religions for Peace, the Serbian Unity Congress, the Advisory Board of the Njegos Serbian Studies Fund at Columbia University, the Organization Board of the Nikola Tesla Heritage Society, the Task Group for Ecological Justice of the U.S. National Council of Christian Churches (NCCC), the Communications Committee of the Board of Directors of St. Vladimir’s Academy, and the Serbian-American Center in Belgrade. He is an honorary member of the Executive Board of ZOE for Life! (a humanitarian organization offering assistance to Orthodox women with high-risk pregnancies). Among the many recognitions he has received, he is the bearer of the Order of Vuk Karadzic of the Third Degree, which was bestowed upon him by the President of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, for special contributions toward the improvement of relations between the Serbian state and Serbs living abroad and achievements in enhancing the relations between the Church and state.

The rite of election of Bishop-elect Irinej will be performed by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle on Friday, July 14, 2006, beginning at 5:00 p.m. and the act of the vestment of the new bishop (chirotonia) will be on Saturday, July 15, 2006, on the feast of the Deposition of the Mantle of the Most Holy Theotokos, in St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Cathedral in Belgrade, starting at 9:00 a.m.

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DEPOSITION OF THE ROBE OF THE THEOTOKOS
TRANSLATION OF THE VINCA-BEZDIN ICON OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS

During the time of Emperor Leo the Wise (458-471), Empress Berina and Patriarch Gennadios, in Nazareth there was a virgin Jewess who kept in a secret place the robe of the Most Holy Theotokos. Many sick and misfortunate persons received healing through prayer and by touch of that robe. The robe was translated to Constantinople and placed in the Blacherne Church, which was a great source of joy for the Imperial City, and Constantinople was from the beginning dedicated to the Theotokos.

In the Charter of the City of Belgrade, Despot Stephan notes: “I have found the most beautiful place from of old, the most grand city Belgrade, destroyed and abandoned, I have rebuilt it and dedicated it to the Most Holy Theotokos.”

Well before the time of Despot Stephan, and for the first time in the year 1071, there is mention of a miraculous icon, the Belgrade Theotokos, which is believed to have been written by the very Evangelist Luke. The icon most likely remained in Belgrade until the year 1521. With the fall of Belgrade to the Ottomans a great deal of the population was displaced to Constantinople, bearing with them a great number of relics, and most likely including the miraculous icon of the Belgrade Theotokos.

And, the Monk Paisios, a Greek from Corfu, brought an icon known as the Vladimir Icon, to Serbia. Bishop Stephan (Ljubibratic), chancellor to the then Metropolitan Mojsije (Petrovic), was placed in the Belgrade Cathedral Church of the Holy Archangel Michael. There the icon remained for two years granting healing to many infirm who with faith drew unto to it. Paisios in the interim restored the abandoned church of Vinca Monastery near Belgrade, and in 1729 on the 2nd/15th of July – on the day of the Deposition of the Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos – the Icon was solemnly translated from Belgrade to Vinca. Thereafter, the abbot of Vinca Teodosije (Veselinovic) transferred the Icon to Bezdin Monastery.

[Serbian Translation Services]