The Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church decided that the Assembly, at which a new patriarch will be elected, will be held in the crypt of the Temple of Saint Sava.
This possibility was announced earlier by the Metropolitan of Dabar-Bosnia and the guardian of the patriarchal throne of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Chrysostom, in an interview given to Tanjug a few days ago, when he stated that due to the epidemiological situation, the option of holding the Assembly in the Church of St. Sava is being considered.
As he pointed out at the time, this will be the first time that the Assembly will be held at a location outside the Patriarchate, and he announced that the name of a monk who will pull out one of the three envelopes with the name of the candidate for the new patriarch will be chosen at today's Synod session.
According to the procedure, the archbishops first choose three candidates from among themselves, and then the chosen names are placed in the gospel, from which the envelope with the name is taken out by a monk from a monastery who is considered to be a great clergyman.
After the death of Patriarch Irinej, who died of the consequences of coronavirus infection, until the election of the new leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Chrysostom of Dabar-Bosnia was temporarily appointed in his place.
The acting primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church has been hospitalized with Covid 19. Metropolitan Hrizostom assumed the position following the death of Patriarch Irenej on November 20.
Word from the Serbian Orthodox Church that H.H. Patriarch Irinej's condition has deteriorated as a consequence of Covid 19. Details.
A family in Serbia is commercializing a portable mini-church that it can deliver to anyone who wants a place of worship in their backyard.Read the rest here.
The 5-ton, stone-and-steel construction is equipped with a cross, a bell tower, an altar, and frescoes. It can accommodate up to 15 worshipers.
The enterprise was initiated by Svetislav Mancic and his son Goran from the town of Gadzin Han, close to the southern Serbian city of Nis.
Svetislav Mancic, founder of the interior- and exterior-design company Mancic Granit, tells RFE/RL's Balkan Service that he came up with this idea when portable churches were used to hold services in the army. He says he quickly realized that there was likely a wider market for such mobile churches.
"It will be available in every restaurant that organizes weddings, in hotels, motels, and hospitals," says the older Mancic. "The only thing that we need is a blessing from the Serbian Orthodox Church, and we don't need any construction permits and approvals."
SENIOR figures in the Serbian Orthodox Church are to be questioned over allegations that the former general Ratko Mladic, who is suspected of war crimes, was sheltered by the Church during his nearly 16 years on the run.
General Mladic is currently in prison at The Hague, facing charges of orchestrating the massacre of 8000 Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995 — the worst civilian massacre in Europe since the Second World War.
The President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, has said that church officials will be questioned as part of the investigation, after reports in the Serbian press suggested that General Mladic was nursed by nuns through a stroke while he was supposed to be on the run.
The St Melania convent, which is 40 miles north of Belgrade, is said to have been one of a number of secret refuges provided by the Orthodox Church.
The Church has not made any comment on the allegations, or on the arrest of General Mladic.
Drasko Djenovic, who runs Centaur 9, an organisation set up to monitor religious freedom in Serbia, said that there was, as yet, no proof that General Mladic had been harboured by the Church, as Radovan Karadzic had been. He said that priests had joined in demonstrations against Mladic’s arrest, however, and a demonstration in Lazarevo, the village where the General was arrested, was led by the local priest.
Mr Djenovic said: “For most believers, priests, and bishops, he is still a national hero, and his extradition to Hague court will just mean that more people will vote against pro-European parties in favour of nationalist parties.”
The Very Revd Aleksandar Zebic, of the Serbian Orthodox Church of St Lazar in Bourneville, Birmingham, told Premier Christian Radio this week that General Mladic was now “answerable to God”.
The Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Anthony Priddis, has welcomed the arrest and trial. On his blog, he contrasted General Mladic’s treatment with the discovery and shooting of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
“Putting someone on trial matters because the truth matters. Trial is not about revenge but about justice. There may have been very good reasons why Osama Bin Laden, too, could not have been arrested and put on trial for his crimes, but we are not told them in any clear or persuasive way.”
Religion and politics often intertwine in Serbia, but experts say the relationship is more complex than many assume.Read the rest here.
Analysts agree on one thing: the church maintains a connection with Serbian political parties.
The real question, they argue, is which partner leads in this dance? Which wields more power over the other?
Religion analyst Zivica Tucic believes the Serbian Orthodox Church's influence on politics is weaker than many assume, given the bishops' broad range of views.
"The bishops have very different political orientations, from right-wing conservatism to closeness to the left, as in the Socialist Party," Tucic told SETimes.
Members of the Roman Catholic parish of Neulerchenfeld in Vienna, whose church will be given as a present to the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), are continuing to protest the decision of the Archdiocese of Vienna.Source
After collecting signatures against the decision, parish members - mostly of Polish descent - organized a protest in downtown Vienna late last year, and are now threatening disobedience to the Roman Catholic Church.
The Neulerchenfeld parish does not want to comply with the decision of Archbishop of Vienna Christoph Schonborn, and 800 of its members were very surprised when the gift was made official with a contract earlier this month.
The parishioners claim they were not informed about the signing of the contract between the Archdiocese of Vienna and the Serb Orthodox church of St. Sava.
In a statement to the media, they said they will continue to fight for their church, and might stop paying church taxes.
The Archdiocese of Vienna and the Serb Orthodox church in Vienna signed a deal at the start of the year that the Roman Catholic church in Neulerchenfeld will be given as a gift to SPC.
The church is set to replace the Temple of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, located in Vienna's 17th district, which was too small to hold all of the faithful. The church in Neulerchenfeld, also dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was built between 1733 and 1753.
The church given as a present is much bigger that the current Serbian Orthodox church and can hold over 1,000 people.
NIŠ -- It would be good to launch talks between churches in 2013, Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Patriarch Irinej stated on Saturday.Source.
“It is good for church representatives to gather and launch a humane and friendly dialogue, while other issues between churches can be left for a later time,” Irinej said during signing of a contract on the construction of a complex commemorating the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) in Niš.
Constantine the Great was born in the vicinity of today's southern Serbian city of Niš.
Partiarch Irinej and Niš Mayor Miloš Simonović signed an agreement on the transfer of city-owned land on Vinik Hill to the SPC, which would use it to build a religious complex devoted to the memory of Constantine the Great.
The signing of the agreement was also attended by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić.
“A dialogue between Christian churches is a process, and it is important to initiate it,” the patriarch noted.
Construction works at the site will start early in 2011, and are due to be completed by the 1.700th anniversary of the adoption of the Edict of Milan.
The Edict of Milan was the legal act which proclaimed religious toleration and marked the end of the exile of Christians in the Roman Empire.
A cross which will be visible from all parts of Niš will be built on Vinik Hill, at 400 meters above sea level.
The cross will be 80 meters high and 40 meters wide, made of metal, with an elevator and two platforms.
The complex will span across 13 hectares and will comprise a hotel, a museum dedicated to Emperor Constantine, an amphitheatre, a cinema, a media centre and a souvenir shop.
BELGRADE, Serbia - The Serbian Orthodox Church stripped a former Kosovo bishop of his ranks on Friday after he tried to regain control over monasteries and openly challenged the church leadership.Source.
The church said in a statement that it made "this very hard and painful decision" because its former bishop, Artemije, openly broke the church laws.
The dispute between ex-Bishop Artemije and the church leaders is the most serious clash within the Serbian church in years. It reflects the divisions between the moderates and the hardliners in this Balkan nation.
Artemije is staunchly anti-Western and conservative. The church removed him from the post in February amid allegations that millions of dollars in church and state funds had been embezzled under his leadership.
Artemije has denied any wrongdoing and has refused the church's orders to retire. He has gathered his followers and demanded that he be given back his post in Kosovo.
On Friday, Artemije defied the church by breaking into a monastery in northern Kosovo and holding a liturgy there with his followers.
Serbian media reported later Friday that Artemije and his followers also tried to take control of other monasteries in Kosovo.
The church statement said police have detained at least two of Artemije's supporters outside the Crna Reka monastery in southern Serbia, close to Kosovo.
There was no immediate comment from the police.
While serving as the spiritual leader of Serbs in Kosovo, Artemije had ordered his clergy to cease contact with Kosovo's ethnic Albanian authorities and the EU mission there after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
The decision to demote Artemije to the position of a monk was brought during the ongoing gathering of the church elders Friday. The church also said it would file criminal charges against Artemije over the attempted takeover of the church property.
The current Serbian Patriarch, Irinej, is considered to be a moderate. He took over the church's helm after the death last year of his predecessor, Patriarch Pavle.
