The Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Press release from the regular session held in the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade from May 14 to 18, 2024
The regular session of the Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2024, instead of the originally announced ceremonial opening in the Great Lavra of the Peć Patriarchate, - the historic, eight-century seat of the Serbian Archbishops and Patriarchs, - due to the humiliating and shameful decision of the Pristina authorities to give His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch G. Porfiri and the hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church, banning and preventing entry into the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, began with the liturgy of the archbishops and the invocation of the Holy Spirit in the Memorial Church of St. Sava in Vračar on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. The liturgical gathering was presided over by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch G. Porfirije, with the participation of the present bishops of the Serbian Church from the homeland and diaspora, as well as all vicar bishops.
On the same day, in the crypt of the Memorial Church of Saint Sava, under the vaults of the chapel dedicated to the Kosovo martyr Knez Lazar, under the presidency of His Holiness and with the participation of the diocesan bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, with the exception of the Canadian Bishop Mitrofan, who was absent for health reasons, the Assembly began its work. At the beginning of the first working session, His Holiness the Patriarch addressed the present bishops with a greeting letter, full of Easter joy, but at the same time in the context of the unpleasant events of the previous day. On this occasion, already from its first session, the Parliament issued a statement, appealing to all international bodies in Kosovo and Metohija to do everything in their power to stop the flagrant violation of human rights and basic freedoms of the Serbian people. The Parliament considers that the issue of Kosovo and Metohija is the most important issue discussed by the Parliament because our Church and its people in martyred Kosovo and Metohija have been exposed to great pressures, attacks and an uncertain future for years. Therefore, on this occasion, we also support the Eparchy of Raško-Prizren, which, together with the Stavropygial Patriarchal Monastery in Pec, represents a solid support for our nation and its survival.
We state with the greatest concern that today the Kosovo authorities are undoubtedly going in the direction of denying the basic rights of our people and the Church, all with the aim of building an ethnic Albanian society. Due to this situation, the Parliament remains with its previous unanimous position that the problems in Kosovo and Metohija must be solved exclusively through dialogue, based on respect for Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council and international charters that guarantee the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia in this area. Although our Church is not directly involved in the political dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, we cannot indifferently observe the increasingly difficult development of events and we rightly expect that our views and concern for our faithful people and holy places will be respected in this process. In this context, in addition to the establishment of a functional Community of Serbian Municipalities, the institutional and security protection of our sanctuaries should be strengthened in the form of a special protection mechanism in accordance with some of the existing models in Europe and on the basis of the current provisions, which, unfortunately, are increasingly being used by Pristina. they do not respect and do not apply. This type of protection should preserve the legal position, property rights of our Church and freedom of religion.
In the same spirit, the work continued on the next day of the Parliament session, when special attention was paid to the subject of the suffering of our people and their struggle to preserve their spiritual, cultural and national identity, as well as mere existence, both today and in other historical moments. The cancer-wound of the Serbian people - Kosovo and Metohija, but also Jasenovac and other killing and killing grounds in the so-called NDH and elsewhere, and in our days Srebrenica - are a constant "sting in the flesh" of our Church. This is why the Church is still raising its voice today and repeatedly pointing out falsehoods, in the domestic and global public space, whose goal is historical revisionism, which would give legitimacy to an unprecedented historical inversion. According to her, Orthodox Serbs, victims of multiple genocides and ethnic cleansing, should be declared not only criminals but also perpetrators of genocide.
The Parliament heard and analyzed reports on the work of the Holy Synod of Bishops, diocesan bishops, the Great Church Court, the Patriarchal Board of Directors, the Patriarchal Library, the Museum and Archives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the charity foundation "Charity" and other foundations, institutions and services of the Serbian Orthodox Church in during the previous year.
With paternal care and concern, the Assembly considered the possibilities of improving the spiritual life and organization of our Church abroad. In this spirit, four new dioceses were formed in Europe. The division of the British-Scandinavian Eparchy created the Scandinavian Eparchy with headquarters in Stockholm, whose eparchial archbishop will be the current British-Scandinavian bishop Dositej, and the British-Irish Eparchy with headquarters in London, whose archbishop was chosen as the current vicar of His Holiness Bishop Nektarije of Jegar. The division of the former Austrian-Swiss eparchy created the Austrian Eparchy with headquarters in Vienna, which will be administered until further notice by Bishop Irinej of Bačka, and the Eparchy of Switzerland with headquarters in Zurich, whose bishop was the former Austrian-Swiss bishop Andrej. Also, the Parliament approved new statutes for our dioceses on US soil. The Parliament also approved the new statute of the Diocese of Dusseldorf and Germany.
Furthermore, the Council looked at the pastoral and missionary needs and considered the proposals of a number of bishops for the election and assignment of vicar bishops to their dioceses. On this occasion, the Assembly elected four new bishops: Archimandrite Tikhon (Rakićević), abbot of the Studenica monastery, with the title of Bishop of Moravia, and Hieromonk Nikon (Cvjetićanin), brother of the monastery of Kovilja (Eparchy of Bačka), with the title of Bishop of Jenopolj, were elected as vicar bishops of His Holiness. ; proto-saint Pajsije (Đerković), abbot of the Cetinje monastery, with the title of bishop of Diokli, was elected vicar of the metropolitan of Montenegrin-Limitor; Finally, Archimandrite Seraphim (Baltić), a cleric of this diocese, with the title of Bishop of Kostajnički, was chosen as the vicar of the bishop of Novogračanička-Midwestern America.
The Assembly also dealt with the topic of the organization of our local Church, as well as amendments and additions to the provisions of the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church concerning the titles of diocesan bishops.
The Parliament devoted special attention to the analysis of the state and problems of church education, considering the position of Serbian Orthodox seminaries, their plans and programs, and the ways and possibilities of their improvement. For this purpose, a special parliamentary commission was formed. On this occasion, the current acting rectors of these schools were elected as rectors of the seminaries of St. Cyril and Methodius, temporarily in Niš, and St. Peter of Cetinje in Cetinje: Archpriest Dejan Krstić as rector of Niš and Archpriest Blagoje Rajković as rector of the Cetinje seminary.
The Parliament also paid attention to the spiritual and geopolitical consequences of the war conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine. On this occasion, the Parliament once again raises its voice to protect disenfranchised, hungry and exiled innocent victims, appealing to the relevant international institutions to move from words about justice to concrete acts of justice, mercy and peacemaking.
Pointing out the enormous importance of theology, virtuous life and writing activity in the service of witnessing the faith of Saint Justin Ćelijski (Popović) for the spiritual growth of the Serbian people and the Orthodox people in general, on Sunday May 19, the Parliament prayerfully marked three important jubilees dedicated to him: 130 years since his birth, 45 years since his death and 15 years since the name of this great teacher of piety was entered into the diptychs of saints of the Orthodox Church. To the memory of Saint Justin, the Fathers of the Council added the memory of two more important people from the recent past of our local Church - Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, marking the fifteenth anniversary of his death, and Metropolitan Irinej of Novi Gračanica, who this year turns 25 years old since he fell asleep in the Lord. Both were great workers in the work of national and church reconciliation and unity.
During the Parliament, a session of the Central Body for the completion of the construction of the Memorial Temple of St. Sava in Vračar was held. On that occasion, the report of this body was received on all the works carried out in the past year and on the contributions received from the pious people and our country, as well as on the remaining necessary works.
At the invitation of the President of Serbia, Mr. Aleksandar Vučić and the Crown Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević, members of the Parliament paid visits to these respected personalities.
In the Holy Synod, the mandate of the Metropolitan Ioaniki of Montenegro and the Littoral Ioaniki and the Bishop of Bačka Irinej ended, which means that they will be alternate members of this body in the following one-year period. Bishop Ignatije of Braničevo and Bishop Gerasim of Gornjo Karlovac remain members of the Synod for the remaining one-year mandate, and Bishop Fotije of Zvornik-Tuzla and Bishop Teodosije of Raška-Prizren were elected as new members for the upcoming two-year mandate.
Source: SPC
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