The historical paths of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches are closely intertwined.
The founder of the latter was the youngest son of the Serbian king Stefan Nemani
Saint Sava, leaving the Holy Mount Athos for this great cause. Honored
The name Pachomius Serba (Logofeta) is famous and loved in Russia,
Who compiled many lives of Russian saints, who gave more than fifty years
To the service of the Russian Church. Friendship with the Serbian Church and the Serbian people is tested
Over the centuries. Back in the years of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the Serbian king Stefan Dusan saved from
The death of the Russian Athos Panteleimon Monastery, taking it under its special
Patronage. The Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible answered the same in 1555 in response to
Request for the protection of the Serbian Athos Hilendar Monastery.
And in modern times, the relationship between our Churches and peoples is applicable
Comparison of the holy Apostle Paul, gleaned by him from the life of living organisms:
Whether one member suffers, all members suffer with it; is one member famous, with him
All the members rejoice (1 Cor. 12:26). After the October 1917 coup
Serbia welcomed Russian exiles with truly boundless love: Russians
The officers served in the Yugoslav army, Russian gymnasiums were opened, where the Serbs
They willingly gave their children away. Russian scientists, writers, engineers in Bratskaya
The Slavic country acquired a second homeland. The Serbian Church provided all-round
Help to Russian hierarchs and priests in exile. The center of church life
Russian in Yugoslavia became the Holy Trinity Church in Belgrade, built in 1924
Year, - now the temple-courtyard of the Russian Orthodox Church. In this temple there is
Museum of Russian military glory, the banners and standards of the old and glorious are kept
Regiments of the Russian army, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army is buried here
General P.N. Wrangel.
And when Yugoslavia was subjected to aggression by NATO countries, our people answered
Demonstrations of protest, and the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness
Patriarch Alexy II visited the capital of the fraternal state of Belgrade, where after
Joint divine service with His Holiness Patriarch Paul of Serbia addressed to
To the entire Serbian people with words of support, testifying that the Russian
The Orthodox Church prays for the suffering people of Yugoslavia.
SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
According to Konstantin Porphyrogenitus, the first mass baptism of the Serbs
It happened under the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641). Further
Christianity of the Eastern rite spread among the Serbs in the 9th century,
When in 869, at the request of Prince Muntimir, the Byzantine emperor Vasily
The Macedonian sent Greek priests to them. Final approval
Christianity among the Serbs was largely promoted by the activities of Sts. Kirill and
Methodius. The influence of the mission of the enlighteners of the Slavs especially increased when their
The disciples, among whom were St. Clement and St. Naum, moved from Moravia to
Ohrid region (Macedonia). Since the time of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the Serbian lands
The works of Byzantine authors, translated into
Slavic language. First of all, it was various hagiographic literature.
The greatest figure in the history of the Serbian Church and the entire Serbian people is right
You can name Saint Sava. Rastko, that was the name of the future saint in the world, was
The youngest of the sons of the great zupan Stefan Nemanja. He was born around 1175 and
From an early age he showed a special desire for deeds of prayer. One day when
He was 17 years old, he secretly left home on Mount Athos with a Russian monk. On Athos
He initially pursued asceticism in the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon, where he received
Monastic tonsure with the name of Savva. Then he continued his exploits in Greek
Vatopet Monastery. With his humility and strict life, young Savva surpassed
Many Athonite monks.
In 1196, the father of the future Serbian saint renounced the throne in favor of his
The middle son of Stephen. Shortly thereafter, he and his wife accepted
Monastic tonsure with the name of Simeon at the Studenets monastery. Next year
Monk Simeon moved to his son on Mount Athos and lived with him in the same cell until his
Blissful end.
At the insistence of the brethren, Savva eventually took over the management of the Khilandar
An abode that had been restored by the bounty of his father. Soon in Serbia began
Disorder. St. Sava's brother Stephen turned to him with a request for help.
Time their older brother Vukan captured part of the Serbian lands with the help of the Hungarians and
He declared himself king. To achieve his vain goals, Wukan obeyed
To the Pope, some of the rules of the Roman Church were adopted in his domain. St. Savva
At the request of his brother, he transferred the relics of their father - St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming - to
The student monastery itself remained in it. Then he set out to preach on
The whole country. St. Sava reconciled the brothers and peace reigned in the Serbian lands.
In 1219 St. Sava petitioned the Greek emperor and
Patriarch of Constantinople for the Serbian Church the right to have its own
Autocephalous Archbishop. Patriarch Manuel of Constantinople ordained St.
Sava to the rank of archbishop and recognized an independent Serbian archdiocese.
Returning to his homeland, St. Sava devoted all his energies to building up his Church. He
He founded eight new dioceses, in which he appointed his disciples as bishops -
The ascetics of Khilandar and Studenitsa. To different ends of the Serbian lands were sent
Priests charged with preaching and performing church ordinances.
Serbian monasteries introduced the traditions and statutes of Mount Athos, Malaya
Asia and Palestine.
After the completion of the construction of the Zhichi monastery,
Residence of the saint. The Local Councils of the Serbian Church gathered in Ziche, in
Which was attended by all the bishops, abbots and many priests. St. Savva
The famous Pecsky Monastery was also founded, which became the capital in the XIV century.
Serbian patriarchs. St. Sava played a huge role in strengthening the Serbian
Statehood. In 1221, on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, he crowned
His brother Stephen's royal crown.
After enslavement in the XIV century. Serbian lands by the Turks of the Pec patriarchs served
A unifying start for the Serbs. Not infrequently, it was the patriarchs who turned to
Christian rulers of Europe with a call to take up arms against the conquerors.
With the collapse of the unified Serbian state on the lands that were once part of it
The composition of the life of the Orthodox Church had its own regional peculiarities.
Montenegrin principality until the second half of the XIV century. was part of the Serbian
States, but after the death of Stefan Dusan Zeta fell away from Serbia. In 1485 g.
Prince Ivan Chernoevich transferred the chair of the Metropolitan of Zeta to the main city of his
The property of Cetinje. Despite constant military expeditions, the Turks never
They were able to completely conquer Montenegro. At the end of the 17th century, the Montenegrins chose as their
Ruler and Metropolitan Daniel Petrovich Njegos and under his leadership
They won a number of glorious victories over the Turks. Since that time, the Montenegrin metropolitans
They ruled the country, combining civil and spiritual power in their own person. So
It lasted until 1857.
Orthodox Serbs have long lived in the lands that later entered
Austro-Hungarian possessions. Many Serbs fled to Austria-Hungary, fleeing
The persecution of the Turks. The settlers founded new Orthodox dioceses, which
Were dependent on the Pec Patriarchate. With the resettlement in 1690 in
Austrian possessions of the Pec Patriarch Arseny (Chernoevich) with a large
An independent Serbian metropolis was founded by the number of Serbs. The first
Arseny (Chernoevich) became the Metropolitan. The metropolitan see arrived in different
Places, and in the 30s. XVIII century settled in Sremski Karlovci. In 1848 the Serbs
With the consent of the Austrian government, proclaimed their metropolitan
Patriarch, but later they were denied this title. Election of the Metropolitan
And the discussion of important church and national affairs belonged to the church-people
The council, which consisted of deputies from the clergy and the people. The cathedral met once in
Three years with government permission. There were separate dioceses.
Dalmatian Serbs have long been under the rule of the Venetian Republic.
The Orthodox did not receive the right to have their own bishop and turned to all
Church Questions to Serbian Bishops from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only
After Dalmatia came into the possession of the French, here in 1810 was
An Orthodox episcopal see was opened. In 1815, by decision of the Vienna
Congress, Dalmatia came under Austrian rule, and the Dalmatian diocese was
Subordinate to the Metropolitan of Karlovy. The episcopal see was originally
In Sibenik, and since 1841. moved to Zadar. In 1871. another was opened
Department in Kotor. There was a theological seminary in Zadar. One of the bishops
Zadarskikh was a master of the Kiev Theological Academy Nikodim Milash, whose capital
The work "The Course of Orthodox Church Law" is available in Russian translation. In 1873 g.
Both departments were subordinate to the Bukovina Metropolitan.
After the First World War, the kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes Yugoslavia, which included Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and
Dalmatia. There was a real opportunity to unite everything Orthodox
The population of these lands is under one ecclesiastical authority. May 1919 in Belgrade
A council of bishops of all Serbian dioceses was held, at which it was proclaimed
Spiritual and administrative unity of the Serbian Church on the territory of Yugoslavia.
A corresponding request was sent to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who
Soon he sent the synodal tomos recognizing the restoration of the united Serbian
Patriarchy. The eminent Serbian hierarch Metropolitan was elected the first patriarch
Demetrius. His successor was the Sarajevo Metropolitan Barnabas, who was elected in 1930,
At one time he lived and studied in Russia. Under him, in Belgrade was erected
The new building of the Patriarchate. After the death of Patriarch Barnabas, the new primate
Metropolitan Gabriel of Montenegro became the Serbian Church. The seat of the Serbs
The patriarchs were Belgrade and Sremski Karlovtsi. The admonition of the patriarchs took place
In the ancient Pech monastery.
Serbian Orthodox Church during World War II
Wars. In 1941, immediately after the occupation of Yugoslavia, the Germans arrested the Serbian
Patriarch Gabriel. After passing through the prisons of Sarajevo and Belgrade, the Primate
Serbian Church, together with Bishop Nicholas of Zhichsky, was sent to a concentration camp
Dachau. The Orthodox Church experienced great persecution throughout the territory
Occupied Yugoslavia. The situation of the Serbian Church in
The newly formed Independent Croatian State (NDH). So in Sremskaya
44 churches and monasteries were destroyed in the diocese, 157 churches in Gornokarlovatskaya,
Slavonian 55 churches were destroyed to the ground, three monasteries were ruined and 25
Parish houses. In the Bossan region alone, the Dalmatian diocese had
18 churches were destroyed and burned, many temples were desecrated, and
Divine services in them became impossible.
The same situation was in other dioceses on the territory of the National House of Artists. Hundreds
Orthodox priests were killed, sent to concentration camps and
They were expelled from their native places together with their thousands of flock. Often Orthodox
Christians were forcibly converted to Catholicism. Hundreds of monasteries, churches and
The chapels were destroyed and plundered. The fate of their Church was shared by many
Archpastors. During World War II, the Serbian Church lost nine
Bishops: Metropolitan Peter of Dabrobossan died at the hands of Croatian Ustasha
(Zimonich), Bishop Platon (Jovanovic) of Banyaluk, Bishop of Gornokarlovatsky
Savva (Trlajic), the Bishop of the Czech-Moravian was shot by the German authorities
Gorazd (Pavlik). Metropolitan Dosifei of Zagreb endured torture and abuse
In the prison of Zagreb, and soon after he was transported to Serbia, he died of
Received wounds. The same fate befell the bishop of Zakhum-Herzegovina
Nicholas. Many bishops were expelled or interned by the occupying authorities
And they did not have the opportunity to take care of their flock. Only
Nine bishops. In the absence of Patriarch Gabriel, the leadership of the Serbian Church
Carried out by Metropolitan Joseph of Skopl.
After the end of World War II, the communists came to power in Yugoslavia under
The leadership of Joseph Broz Tito, and the suffering of the Serbian Church did not stop.
The authorities allowed the return of the Serbian Patriarch Gabriel to his homeland only in
Numerous problems in the organization of the normal life of the Church. Bishops and
Priests were arrested and imprisoned for lengthy periods, many
They ended up in jail without any trial or investigation. A large number of priests
It was killed. Metropolitan was killed in the vicinity of Arandjelovets
Montenegrin-Seaside Ioanniki. Bishop of Bach Irenaeus (Chirich) 17 months
He was beaten and died after a serious illness. Metropolitan Joseph of Skopl 18 months
He was imprisoned in the monasteries of Zicha and Lubostin, after which he
I got sick. Metropolitan of Montenegro-Primorsky Arseny (Bradvarevich) and vicar
Bishop of Khvostansky Barnabas (Nastich) went through many years of imprisonment.
The state rudely interfered in the life of the Church: all the registers of birth were seized,
A civil marriage was introduced, the teaching of the law of God in schools was stopped,
Funds for the maintenance of retired priests were transferred to
Property of the Ministry of Labor. The priests were deprived of all
Social protection. By the law on agrarian reform, 70,000 were taken from the Church.
Hectares of cultivated land and forest land, 1180 church buildings were nationalized
Buildings. A large number of episcopal residences were taken away. But it was even worse
Destruction of monasteries and temples. in some places local authorities obstructed the clerics
Carry out your ministry. Bishops were forbidden to return in southern Serbia
To their pulpits, and priests to parishes, and therefore in these areas it is not long
A normal church life could get better.
At the Bishops' Council held in 1948, it was decided to transfer
The Czech-Moravian Diocese of the SOC under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church.
With the resumption of the normal work of theological educational institutions, the matter was also
Not easy. State authorities did not give permission to start work for a long time
Theological schools under the pretext of lack of necessary conditions. After the war with
The Faculty of Theology continued its work with great difficulties.
University of Belgrade. The work of the Prizren Seminary was resumed only in
1947, and the Belgrade Seminary of St. Sava in 1949. The situation was no better with
Publishing activities. Since 1949, the Big Church ceased to be issued
Calendar. "Bulletin of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate" during the war and in the first
Month. Since 1946, a small pocket calendar has been published. Since 1949
A newspaper for the parish clergy "Vestnik" was published.
The enthronement of the new head of the SOC, Patriarch Vikenty (Prodanov), who
He was one of the most gifted hierarchs of the SOC. Despite the pressure from
He managed to avoid the recognition of the self-proclaimed "Macedonian
Orthodox Church. "The great merit of Patriarch Vincent is that
Priests and people working in the Church received the right to social
Protection and medical care. Patriarch Vikenty owes merit to
Restoration of fraternal ties with Local Orthodox Churches, weakened
During the Second World War. Under Patriarch Vincent, a newspaper was founded
"Orthodox Missionary", which over time became the largest circulation
Periodical publication of the SPC. Since 1957, the journal of Bogoslovsky began to be published again
Faculty of Theology. In 1958 the journal "Pravoslavnaya Mysl" was founded,
1958, Patriarch Vincent died suddenly after a regular meeting
1958, Bishop German of Zichy was elected the new head of the Serbian Church
(Joric), who held the throne of the Serbian patriarchs for over thirty years.
During the reign of Patriarch German, the restoration and construction of churches was carried out.
A new building of the Faculty of Theology was built. One of the main merits
Patriarch Herman was the opening in 1964 of the Seminary in the name of St. Arseny in
Sremski Karlovci. In Krka Monastery (Dalmatia), a biennial and
Five-year seminary. The work of the monastery school in Ovchara resumed, and in
In 1967, a similar school was opened in the Ostrog monastery. At the beginning of 1986 he began
The Theological Faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Libereville
(USA). The Theological Institute opened at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade with
A two-year course of study. The publishing activity of the SOC was developing. Since 1965
G. again began to publish a large Church calendar, and from 1967 the news
Bulletin of the Serbian Patriarchate "Pravoslavlje". The children's edition began to be printed
"Svetosavsko Zvonce" ("Svyatosavsky bell"). In 1968 began to appear
Theological collection "Teoloshki pogledi" ("Theological views"). Periodically
The review "Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva from the Past and
Sadashnosti "(" SOC in the past and present "). During the time of Patriarch Herman was
Several new dioceses were founded. At the same time, there were two splits in the TWC: in
1963 American, which was subsequently overcome, and in 1967
Macedonian, continuing to this day.
In 1990, Patriarch Herman, due to illness, was sent to retirement. 1
December 1990, a bishop was elected the new head of the Serbian Church
Rashko-Prizrensky Pavel. One of the first deeds of the new head of the SOC for
The accession to the patriarchal throne was the beginning of work to overcome the ecclesiastical
Splits in America and Canada. As a result, in 1992 the long-awaited
Canonical unity.
The collapse of Yugoslavia was accompanied by bloody and destructive military
Clashes in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbian people were
Expelled from many areas on the territory of these former republics of the SFRY, together with
By their bishops and priests. As in World War II destruction
A large number of Orthodox churches were exposed. Some bishops are forced to
Were to leave the place of their ministry. At the same time, churches and monasteries, church
Buildings and Orthodox cemeteries were destroyed as in the course of fierce fighting
Action, and after the expulsion of the Serb population in order to exterminate
Monuments of Serbian culture. Added to this was the suffering of the Serbian
Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija, especially after the start of NATO aggression and
Deployment of international KFOR forces in these territories. According to official data, already
From June to October 1999, 76
Temples and monasteries.
At the same time, revival and revival are taking place in many dioceses of the SOC.
Church life, a significant number of new temples and other
Church facilities. During the management of the Serbian Church by Patriarch Pavel
A large number of episcopal ordinations have been performed. Founded several new
Diocese. A number of theological educational institutions resumed their work. Despite
Difficulties, there is a gradual restoration of church life in the devastated
War dioceses. A landmark development is the ongoing construction in
Belgrade, the largest Orthodox church in Europe - the Cathedral of St. Sava.
Currently, the SOC has more than 3,500 parishes, 204 monasteries,
About 1900 priests, 230 monks and 1000 nuns.
In the fall of 2000, the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church played a significant role in
Preventing tragic events during the change of power in Yugoslavia. V
Recently, there have been serious changes in the relationship of the Serbian
Orthodox Church and state bodies of Yugoslavia. You can be sure
International arena
Serbian archbishops and patriarchs
ARCHBISHOP
Sawa I ……………… .. …………………………………… .1219-1233 (+ 1236)
Arseny I ………………………………………………. 1233-1263 (+ 1266)
Savva II ………………………………………………… .1263-1271
Daniel I ………………………………………………… .1271-1272
Ioanniki I …………………………………………… .1272-1276 (+1279)
Eustathius I ……………………………………………… 1279-1286.
Jacob ……………………………………………………. 1286-1292.
Eustathius II …………………………………………… .1292-1309.
Savva III ………………………………………………… 1309-1316.
Nicodemus …………………………………………………… .1317-1324.
Daniel II ………………………………………………… 1324-1337.
PATRIARCHS
Ioannicius II ……………………………………………. 1338-1346-1354
Savva IV ……………………………………………… ..1354-1375
Efrem …………………………………………………… .1375-1380 and 1389-1390
Spiridon ……………………………………………… .. 1380-1389
Daniel III ……………………………………………… 1391-1396
Savva V ……………………………………………… .. 1396-1409
Kirill …………………………………………………… 1409-1418
Nicodemus ……………………………………………….… .1418 - after 1435
Nicodemus II ………………………………………………… 1445-1455 (?)
Arseny II ……………………………………………… 1457-1463.
John, Archbishop ……………………………………. 1508 ...
Mark, Metropolitan ……………………………………… ..1524 ...
Pavel, Metropolitan Smederevsky …………………… .. 1527-1535 (?)
Macarius …………………………………………………… 1557-1571 (+1574)
Anthony …………………………………………………… 1571-1575.
Gerasim ………………………………………………… .1575-1586.
Savvaty ……………………………………………… .. 1587.
Hierotheos ………………………………………………… 1589-1590.
Philip …………………………………………………… ..1591-1592.
John ……………………………………………………… .1592-1613.
Paisius ……………………………………………………… 1614-1648.
Gabriel …………………………………………………… ..1648-1655 (+1659)
Maxim ……………………………………………………… 1655-1674 (+1680)
Arseny III ……………………………………………… .1674-1690 (+1706)
Kallinikos I ………………………………………………. 1691-1710.
Athanasius I ……………………………………………… .1711-1712.
Moses …………………………………………………… 1712-1726
Arseny IV ………………………………………………… .1726-1737 (+1748)
Ioannicius III …………………………………………… .1739-1746.
Athanasius II ……………………………………………… 1746-1752.
Gabriel II ………………………………………………… 1752.
Gabriel III ………………………………………………… 1755.
Vikenty Stefanovich
Paisius II
Gabriel IV ………………………………………………… .1758.
Cyril ………………………………………………………… .1758-1763.
Vasily ………………………………………………………. 1763-1765 (+1772)
Kallinikos II ………………………………………………… .1765-1766.
Demetrius …………………………………………………. 1920-1930
Barnabas ……………………………………………………. 1930-1937
Gabriel …………………………………………………… .1938-1950
Vincent …………………………………………………… 1950-1958
German ………………………………………………………. 1958-1990; +1991
Pavel …………………………………………………………… 1990-
SACRED ARCHIEREAN CATHEDRAL
The Holy Council of Bishops is the supreme body of the ecclesiastical legislative
Authority in matters of faith, worship, church order, or church discipline
And the internal organization of the Church. He is also the highest judicial authority in
Your competence. The Holy Bishops' Council is made up of all diocesan
Bishops chaired by the Patriarch and his decisions are recognized
Valid if, when adopted, more than
Half of the diocesan bishops.
PATRIARCHIC COUNCIL
The Patriarchal Council is the supreme administrative body in matters
External material and financial church management.
The Patriarchal Council includes:
1. Patriarch, or his deputy, as chairman
2.four members of the Holy Synod, or their deputies,
4.two representatives from monasteries
5.one rector of the seminary
6. one representative of the white clergy from each diocese,
7.Vice-presidents of diocesan councils
8.Ten lay representatives
The said members are appointed by the Holy Council of Bishops
SUPREME CHURCH COURT
The highest ecclesiastical court deals with questions of crimes
Priests, monastics and laity, as well as the solution of all controversial
Questions that are not within the competence of the Holy Council of Bishops and the Synod.
The highest ecclesiastical court is a permanent body and is located in the residence
Patriarchy.
The VCC includes:
1.three bishops who are appointed by the Holy Synod of Bishops from among its
Members, one of them being the chairman (WCC);
2.two honorary members from among the married clerics
3.two substitutes elected by the Synod for four years
4.An referent from among the clergy
The VCC is the second and last instance that studies, claims
Changes or revokes decisions of diocesan church courts, by service
Necessity or upon appropriate appeal.
DIARCHIAL COUNCIL
The Diocesan Council is the body of diocesan self-government.
The competence of the Diocesan Council includes the solution of a number of issues
Material and financial support of the diocese, control over the work of various
A kind of diocesan structures and organizations.
The Diocesan Council includes:
1. The Diocesan Bishop or his Deputy as Chairman
2. Two members of the Diocesan Church Court
3. One representative from the monastery
4. One cleric and one layman from each bishop's deanery
5. Five laity
The mandate of the members of the Diocesan Council is valid for 6 years.
The Diocesan Council must be convened by the Diocesan Bishop or his
Locum tenens at least once a year at a regular meeting and in the event
Necessities at any other time.
Most of the members (more than half) attended. All decisions are made
LIST OF DIOCS AND ARCHIERES
Archdiocese of Belgrade-Karlovy
Department: Belgrade (Yugoslavia, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Paul, His Holiness Patriarch of Serbia, Archbishop of Pecs,
Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovatskiy.
Vicar: Bishop of Khvostan Athanasius (Rakita)
Metropolitanate of Zagreb-Ljubljana
Department: Zagreb (Croatia)
Ruling Bishop: Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana John (Pavlovich)
Montenegrin-Primorsk Metropolitanate
Department: Cetinje (FRY, Montenegro)
Ruling Bishop: Metropolitan of Montenegro-Primorsky Amphilochius (Radovich)
Vicar: Bishop of Budiml Ioanniky (Michović)
Website of the Montenegrin-Primorsky Metropolis: www.mitropolija.cg.yu
Dubro-Bosan Metropolitanate
Department: Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ruling Bishop: Metropolitan Dabro-Bosan Nicholas (Mrda)
Zichy diocese
Department: Kraljevo (FRY, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop Stefan (Botsa) of Zhychsky
Shumadi diocese
Department: Kragujevac (FRY, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Dowager See
Shabatsko-Valievskaya diocese
Department: Sabac (FRY, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop Lavrenty (Trifunovich) of Shabatsko-Valievsky
Budim diocese
Department: Budapest (Hungary)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop Daniel of Budim (Krstic)
Nis diocese
Department: Nis (FRY, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop Irenaeus of Nis (Gavrilovich)
Mountain Karlovsk Diocese
Department: Velyun
Ruling Bishop: Bishop Nikanor (Bogunovich)
Zvornichko-Tuzlan diocese
Department: Zvornik, (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Zvornichko-Tuzlan Vasily (Kachavenda)
Sremsk diocese
Department: Sremski Karlovtsy (FRY, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Sremsky Vasily (Vadich)
Banyaluk Diocese
Department: Banja Luka (Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop Ephraim (Milutinovich) of Banyaluk
Timisoara diocese
Department: Timisoara (Romania)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop-Administrator of Timisoara Lucian (Pantelich)
Diocese of Banat
Department: Zrenyanin (FRY, Serbia, Vojvodina)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Banat Chrysostom (Capital)
Bach diocese
Department: Novi Sad (FRY, Serbia, Vojvodina)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop Irenaeus of Bach (Bulovich)
Bishop Porfiry (Perich) of Yegarsky, vicar of the Bach diocese.
Rash-Prizren diocese
Department: Monastery Decani, Prizren, (FRY, Serbia, Kosovo)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Rashko-Prizren Artemy (Radosavlievich)
Website of the Rasko-Prizren Diocese: www.decani.yunet.com
Bihach-Petrovach Diocese
Department: Bihac (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Bihach-Petrovac Chrysostom (Evich)
Osiechkopol and Baran Diocese
Department: Dal (Croatia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Osijek and Barana Lucian (Vladulov)
Timok diocese
Department: Zajecar (FRY, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Timoka Justin (Stefanovich)
Vrana diocese
Department: Vranje (FRY, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Vranj Pachomiy (Gachich)
Slavonian Diocese
Department: Daruvar (Croatia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Slavonian Sava (Yurich)
Branichevsk diocese
Department: Pozarevac (FRY, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Branichevsky Ignatius (Midich)
Dalmatian diocese
Department: Sibenik (Croatia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Dalmatia Photius (Sladoevich)
Zakholmsko-Herzegovina Diocese
Department: Trebinje (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Zakholmsko-Herzegovina Gregory (Durich)
Mileshevskaya diocese
Department: Priepolye (FRY, Serbia)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Mileshevsky Filaret (Michevich)
Budiml-Nikshichi diocese
Department: Berane (FRY, Montenegro)
Ruling Bishop: Administrator Bishop Ioanniki (Michovich) of Budiml
Western European Diocese
Department: Paris (France)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Western Europe Luke (Kovachevich)
British-Scandinavian Diocese
Department: Stockholm (Sweden)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop Dositheus of the British-Scandinavian (Motika)
Central European Diocese
Department: Himellstir (Germany)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Central Europe Constantine (Dokich)
Diocese of Canada
Department: Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Milton, Ontario (Canada)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop George of Canada (Dokich)
Midwest American Metropolitanate
Department: Monastery of St. Sava, Libertville (USA)
Ruling Bishop: Metropolitan Christopher of the Midwest America (Kovachevich)
Eastern American Diocese
Department: Edgeworth (Pennsylvania, USA)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of Eastern America Mitrofan (Kodich)
Western American Diocese
Department: Alhambra (USA)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop John of West America (Mladenovich)
Australian-New Zealand Diocese, Novograchanitsk Metropolitanate
Department: Monastery of St. Sava "New Kalenich", Hall (Australia)
Ruling Bishop: Metropolitan Nikanor (Bogunovich) of Australia and New Zealand
American and Canadian Diocese, Novograchanitsk Metropolitanate
Department: monastery. Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos "New Gracanitsa",
G. Libertville (USA, Illinois)
Ruling Bishop: Bishop of America and Canada Longinus (Krcho)
Dioceses of Skopl (north of Macedonia), Ohrid-Bitol (south-west of Macedonia),
Zletovsko-Strumichskaya (southeast of Macedonia) in 1967. stood out in autocephalous
The Macedonian Orthodox Church, unrecognized by any Local Orthodox
Church.
The administrator of these dioceses is Bishop Pachomiy (Gagich) of Vranja. Are underway
Negotiations between the SPC and representatives of the IPC; the question of the canonical status of these
The diocese remains open.
Bishops at rest:
B. Bishop of Zakholmsky and Herzegovinian Athanasius (Evtich)
B. Bishop of Western European Damascene (Davidovich)
HOLY PATRIARCH OF SERBIAN PAUL
Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist in the village of Kuchantsy in Slavonia (Yugoslavia).
He graduated from high school in Belgrade and seminary in Sarajevo. Then he continued his education
At the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade.
During World War II, Gojko Stoycevic was among the refugees in
Monastery of the Holy Trinity on Ovchara, where he became a novice. In the monastery, the future
The Primate of the Serbian Church taught the Law of God to the children of refugees. After
At the end of the war, Goiko became a resident of the Annunciation Monastery on Ovchara, where in
1948, on the feast day, he took monastic vows and was ordained in
The rank of hierodeacon.
From 1949 to 1955, Hierodeacon Paul was a member of the brethren of the monastery of Racha, where he carried
Various monastic obediences. In 1954 he was ordained a hieromonk, and
In 1957 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. From 1955 to 1957 he studied the Holy Scriptures
Archimandrite Paul was ordained at the Belgrade Cathedral
Bishop of Rasko-Prizren.
As the head of the Rasko-Prizren diocese, he was actively involved in organizing
Construction of new churches and work on the restoration and preservation of the Orthodox
Shrines of Kosovo and Metohija. He often made trips and services in various
Temples of the diocese. At the same time, Bishop Paul did not abandon his scientific work and
Teaching activity. 1988 Faculty of Theology in Belgrade
He conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Theology.
In November 1990, by decision of the Holy Bishops' Council of the SOC, Bishop Pavel
(Stoycevic) was elected the representative of the Serbian Church, instead of the sick
Patriarch Herman. Entronization of the 44th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church
During his high priestly ministry, Patriarch Paul visited many
Dioceses of the SOC both in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and abroad. His
The Holiness visited his flock in Australia, America, Canada and Western Europe.
"Bulletin of the Serbian Orthodox Church" publishes his research on
Liturgy. For a long time he was the chairman of the Synodal Commission for Translation
Holy Scripture of the New Testament.
HOLY SYNOD OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH:
Chairman:
Serbian Patriarch Pavel
Synod members:
Bishop of Zvornitsko-Tuzlan Vasily
Bishop Irenaeus of Bach
Bishop Justin of Timok
Bishop Pachomius of Vranj
The last composition of the Holy Synod of Bishops was approved at the next
Years in Belgrade.
THEOLOGICAL FACULTY OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN BELGRADE
Bogoslovski Fakultet Srpske Pravoslavne Crkve
Mije Kovacevica 11B
11000 Beodrad, Jugoslavija
Email: [email protected]
Dean: Archpriest Radovan Bigovich
Deputy deans: prot. Dimitrie Kalezic
Prot. Predrag Puzovich
From the history of the Theological Faculty of the SOC in Belgrade
Opening of the Faculty of Theology as part of the University of Belgrade according to
A specially adopted law was supposed to be back in 1905, but the implementation
Planned plans have been postponed for more than ten years Faculty opening
It took place only in the autumn of 1920.At this time, there was a large
The number of immigrants from Russia ,. King Alexander (Karageorgievich)
He hospitably received Russian refugees, among whom there were a considerable number
Highly qualified scientists, military and clergy. In it
Several famous Russian theologians and
Professors of theological academies. Among them were such famous scientists as
Alexander Dobroklonsky, Fedor Titov, Mikhail Georgievsky, Alexander
Rozhdestvensky, Nikolay Glubokovsky and others.
At the first meeting of the Academic Council of the Orthodox Theological Faculty 6
September 1920, presided over by Professor of Church History Alexander
Dobroklonsky. At this meeting, the first dean of the faculty was elected, who
Became professor of the history of the Serbian Church Archpriest. Stefan Dmitrievich. This day and
It is considered the birthday of the faculty.
The examination session took place at the end of June 1921. Initially, the number
The number of students was relatively small, but it grew steadily. In 1930/31
In the academic year, the number of enrolled students was 226 people, of which 98
Studied in the first year. In 1938/39. there were already 340 people at the faculty, including
There are 32 female students.
The main base for study and scientific work was represented by the faculty library,
The funds of which were replenished largely thanks to the help of voluntary donors
And patrons. In 1924, prot. Stefan Dmitrievich brought a great
The number of Russian theological literature, books and magazines from the Soviet Union.
By 1930, there were 9700 inventory numbers and more in the library catalog.
20,000 copies of various literature, and by the time the Second World War broke out
The number of literature titles has reached 13,000.
The library fund has more than 30,000 inventory numbers and over 100,000
Copies of books and a large number of magazines.
In 1926, the faculty began to publish the theological journal "Theology"
Which is regularly published to this day.
During the Second World War, the Faculty of Theology suffered severe trials.
During one of the first raids on Belgrade, German aircraft bombed up to
Foundation of the People's Library and the House of Students located next to it
Faculty of Theology. After the occupation of Yugoslavia, the faculty was taken away from it
Buildings, and the educational process has ceased. Was severely ruined
Library.
After the war, the position of the faculty remained rather difficult. Faculty carried
Large material and human losses. The number of teachers is noticeable
Reduced. The resumption of the normal life of the faculty and the establishment of
The new communist authorities hindered the full educational process
Yugoslavia. The country was actively ideologizing in the spirit of the Marxist
Historical materialism. At the same time, the authorities used in relation to
Orthodox Church Bolshevik methods of struggle.
In 1952, by order of the authorities, the Theological Faculty was withdrawn from
The composition of the University of Belgrade, and all worries about material support fell
Exclusively to the Church.
However, the difficult financial situation of the faculty did not affect the number of
Students. In the 1952/53 academic year, 240 students studied at the faculty, of which
129 were new entrants. Later, the number of students decreased slightly,
But then it began to grow again. In the 1997/98 academic year at the Faculty of Theology
There were 432 students, of whom 348 were males and 84 were females. For the first year
187 students enrolled.
Currently, there are the following departments at the Faculty of Theology:
Scripture of the Old Testament
Holy Scripture New Testament
Philosophy
Encyclopedia of Theology
Religious stories
General Church History
Stories of the Serbian Church
Pathology
Dogmatists
Liturgists
Pedagogy and teaching methods
Hagiology
Christian anthropology
Pastoral psychology
Homiletics and Pastoral Theology
Ecclesiastical law
Russian language
English and German
Church Singing and Music Fundamentals
Admission rules
Persons have the right to enter the first year of the Faculty of Theology
Orthodox faith, graduated from the Orthodox seminary with a certificate
Maturity without regard to nationality and citizenship by written blessing
The corresponding diocesan bishop
Persons with a diploma from any faculty are also eligible for admission.
Faculty of Belgrade or other higher education institutions also in writing
Blessing of the bishop.
Written blessing for admission to the Faculty of Theology of representatives
Other local Churches are given by the Patriarch of Serbia, on the recommendation of the
He is the bishop of the Local Church. At the Faculty of Theology can study and
Representatives of other Christian denominations with the approval of the Holy Bishop
The candidate is permanently resident.
Deprived persons are not admitted to the Faculty of Theology.
A student of the Theological Faculty loses the right to study in case of falling out of
Orthodox faith and in the event that he commits actions and deeds incompatible with
The moral image of a Christian.
For admission to the faculty, you must provide the following documents:
1. Certificate of Baptism
2. Certificate of secondary education or diploma of higher education
3. Written blessing of the diocesan bishop
4. Medical certificate
In the exams, applicants are required to have a good knowledge of the basics of the Orthodox
Beliefs (catechism).
Studying proccess
The faculty lasts four years, or eight semesters. Training
The year is divided into winter and summer semesters. Winter semester classes run from
Each student is required to attend classes regularly. At the end of each semester
The teachers confirm by their signature in the journal that the student has conscientiously
I attended classes. A student who missed a subject without a valid
The corresponding entry in the journal is lost three or more times for reasons. Those of
Students who do not have teachers' signatures in the journal for more than
Two subjects are not allowed for exams.
At the Faculty of Theology, there are four deadlines for passing exams:
April (set depending on Easter) and June (from 1 to 30
During their studies, each student is required to write at least one seminar
Work from the following groups of subjects:
1st group: Holy Scripture of the Old Testament and Holy Scripture of the New Testament;
2nd group: dogmatics, ethics, comparative theology, Christian
Anthropology;
3rd group: history of the Serbian Church, general history of the Church, patrology, ecclesiastical
Law, liturgy;
4th group: encyclopedia of theology, history of religions, history of philosophy,
Agiology, Christian archeology with ecclesiastical art, pastoral
Psychology, history of Local Orthodox Churches, pedagogy with methodology
Teaching, homiletics.
The curriculum provides for the teaching of the following disciplines:
Old Testament Scripture I ……………… 4 hours a week - exam
New Testament Scripture I ………………. 4 hours a week - exam
Encyclopedia of Theology …………………………… .... 2 hours a week - exam
History of Philosophy ………………………………… ... 2 hours a week - exam
History of religions ……………………………………… ... 2 hours a week - exam
Church Singing and the Basics of Music …………………. 4 hours a week - exam
Russian language ………………………………………… ..... 2 hours a week - colloquium
Church Slavonic language ………………………… .... 2 hours a week - colloquium
Foreign language …………………………………… .... 2 hours a week - colloquium
Old Testament Scripture II ………………. 2 hours a week - exam
New Testament Scripture II ………………. 2 hours a week - exam
Patrology I …………………………………………… ... 2 hours a week - exam
History of Philosophy ……………………………………. 2 hours a week - exam
General Church History ……………………………… .... 4 hours a week - exam
History of the Serbian Church …………………………… ... 2 hours a week - exam
Agiology ……………………………………………… ..... 2 hours a week - exam
Church Singing and Music Fundamentals ……………… ...… 4 hours a week - exam
Foreign language ………………………………………. 2 hours a week - exam
Russian language …………………………………………… ... 2 hours a week - exam
Church Slavonic language ……………………………. 2 hours a week - exam
Old Slavic language ……………………………… ... 2 hours a week - exam
Old Testament Scripture III …………… .... 2 hours a week - exam
New Testament Scripture III ………………. 2 hours a week - exam
Patrology II ………………………………………………. 2 hours a week - exam
Dogmatics I ……………………………………………… .... 4 hours a week - exam
Christian Anthropology …………………………… 2 hours a week - exam
History of the Serbian Church ……………………………… 4 hours a week - exam
Pastoral Psychology …………………………………. 2 hours a week - exam
Greek language ……………………………………………. 2 hours per week - exam
Hebrew …………………………………… 2 hours a week - exam
History of Local Orthodox Churches ………… 2 hours a week - exam
Pedagogy with teaching methods …………… .... 2 hours a week - exam
Church Singing and Music Fundamentals ………………… .... 2 hours a week - exam
Christian Archeology and Church Art .... 2 hours a week - exam
New Testament Scripture IV ………………… 2 hours a week - exam
Dogmatics II ……………………………………………… .... 2 hours a week - exam
Church Law …………………………………………. 4 hours a week - exam
Pastoral Theology …………………………………. 2 hours a week - exam
Pastoral Psychology II ……………………………… ... 2 hours a week - exam
Liturgy …………………………………………………… 4 hours a week - exam
Ethics ………………………………………………………… 4 hours a week - exam
Pedagogy with teaching methods ……………… .2 hours per week - exam
Homiletics …………………………………………………. 2 hours a week - exam
Comparative Theology ……………………………. 2 hours a week - exam
Greek language ……………………………………………. 2 hours a week - exam
SEMINARY OF ST. JOHN ZLATOUSTOY IN KRAGUEVEC
Seminary address:
Bogoslovija Sv. Jovana Zlatoustog
Naselje Aerodrom
34000 Kragujevac
Email: [email protected]
Seminary website: www.zlatousti.f2s.com
More than four years ago, through the efforts of the blessed Bishop Sava of Shumadia
The church authorities decided to start the work of the branch in Kragujevets
Belgrade Seminary of Saint Sava. The main task of the new educational institution
Started the preparation of candidates for the priesthood primarily for Shumadia
Dioceses.
Initially, there were only six teachers, but every year their number
It grew. At the same time, the number of students increased. Seminarians
They actively participated in the church life of Kragujevets and its environs: in
The Diocesan Center of Kragujevets constantly held lectures; solemnly
Church holidays were celebrated; annually in the Shumaritsa memorial park
There was a church commemoration of the Kragujevites who were shot during the Second
World War. Pilgrimage trips to shrines were organized every year
Branichevskiy, Shumadiyiskiy and Zhichskiy dioceses.
In November 2000, at an extraordinary meeting of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the SOC
It was decided to reorganize the branch of the Belgrade Seminary of St.
Savva in Kragujevets to the seminary in the name of St. John Chrysostom. So it was formed
New independent educational institution.
In memory of its heavenly patron - St. John Chrysostom. On this day
Bishop Savva of Shumadia, co-served by Bishop of Bihach-Petrovach
Chrysostomus and Bishop Ignatius of Branichev served the Liturgy in the Sabor Church
Kragujevets.
Representatives of other
Serbian theological schools, among which were the inspector of the SOC seminaries, Archpriest. Dushan
Dacic, rector of the Prizren seminary, arch. Milutin Timotievich, rector of Karlovatskaya
Seminary arch. Dusan Petrovic and Dean of the Belgrade Faculty of Theology
Prot. Radovan Bogovich.
The Seminary currently has the following daily routine:
5:45 rise
6:30 morning worship
7:30 breakfast
8:00 - 12:25 lessons
13:00 - 16:00 free time (Thursday, Sunday and holidays
16:00 -17: 30 self-study
18:00 evening service
19: 30-21: 00 self-study
21: 00-21: 45 hygiene
22:00 hang up
Teaching Staff:
Prot. Stavrophor Dragoslav Stepkovich, Jr. teacher - liturgy, church
Right, homiletics
Priest Mladen Churanovich, Jr. teacher - church singing and the basics of music
Priest Aleksandar Borota, Jr. teacher - Church Slavonic, history
Philosophy
Priest Neboisha Rakich, Jr. teacher - New Testament Scripture
Protodeacon Zoran Krstic, Jr. teacher - catechism, Greek,
Dogmatics, ethics
Deacon Raiko Stefanovich, Jr. teacher - Scripture of the Old Testament,
Patrology, apologetics
Aleksandar Senich, Jr. lecturer - History of the Christian Church, history
Serbian Church
Professor Negoslav Jovanchevic, Freelance Lecturer - World History,
Serbian language and literature
Dr Nenad Gruevich, Associate Professor of Kragujev University - Informatics
Professor Gojko Nenadic, freelance teacher - Russian language, logic
Professor Vojin Dragicevic, freelance teacher - English
RESULTS OF THE ARCHIEREAN ASSOCIATION OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
The SOC News Agency has issued an official announcement of the results
Proceedings of the regular meeting of the Holy Bishops' Council of the Serbian Church,
It was already reported earlier that all
Diocesan bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, many of whom spoke
With working papers and messages.
The Council considered the issues of the current situation of the Serbian Church,
The jurisdiction of which now extends to a number of dioceses in Europe, America and
Australia and the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Moreover, many of the latter for
The past ten years have been divided by new state borders.
Particular attention was paid to the issues of strengthening church unity both within
SOC, and between the Orthodox Local Churches. Pointing to existing
Difficulties and controversial points in relations between some Local
Orthodox Churches, the Council of Bishops expressed a firm intention to continue
"consistently and unceasingly walk the path of serving the unity of the Orthodox Church"
And loyalty to the sacred canonical order. At the same time, the Council of Bishops from
Welcomes all initiatives to protect and strengthen
The unity of Holy Orthodoxy, and condemns all actions that violate the canonical
Order and church peace.
In this regard, the question of the canonical status was once again considered.
The self-proclaimed Macedonian Orthodox Church in 1967, unrecognized by
One Local Church. Over the past year, a number of meetings and negotiations took place
The highest representatives of the SPC and the IPC, but no specific official decisions so far
It was not accepted.
The Council of Bishops of the SOC reaffirmed that "the only canonically correct and
Useful for all Orthodox believers "by overcoming the schism in Macedonia
It is the provision of dioceses located on the territory of this country with a wide
Church autonomy under the canonical jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The Council demanded from the bishops of the TWS in the Americas to expedite work on
Elaboration of a single Charter for the speedy restoration of the administrative
Unity of dioceses.
In connection with the incessant church-political turmoil in Montenegro
The Council of Bishops again called on the state authorities of this republic
Not to support the so-called "Montenegrin Orthodox Church"
"citing democracy and human rights". Similar political manipulation
Threatens "the rights, freedom and property of the ancient Montenegrin-Primorsk diocese."
Regret was expressed for the excessive criticism and attacks from
Some public and political organizations addressed to the Serbian Church.
Participants called on everyone to respect the existing canonical norms in the spirit of
"trust, sobriety and humility."
During the working sessions, a number of reports on the current state of affairs were heard
In various dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Particular attention has been paid to
The message of the Bishop of Slavonian Sava about the difficulties with which
Faced in restoring normal life in a war-torn diocese.
The Slavonian Diocese, located on the territory of present-day Croatia, is
One of the most injured during the fierce hostilities of 1991-1995
Yy. Suffice it to say that 39 Orthodox churches were destroyed here, 41
Received severe damage. The episcopal was defeated and plundered.
Residence in Pakrac. A large number of church and historical
Relics.
It is quite natural that special attention was devoted to the tragic events in
Kosovo and Metohija and the escalation of Albanian terrorism in the area of Preseva, Medvedja and
Buyanovtsa, as well as in Macedonia. Now it is no longer a secret for anyone that the
On the territory of Kosovo, the Rasko-Prizren diocese, after the NATO aggression and deployment
In Kosovo, the UN international forces are almost completely defeated by the Albanian
Extremists. The official message emphasizes that along with refugees from
Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have seen a huge number of
Refugees from Kosovo and Metohija. Their return becomes almost impossible.
The Council points out with concern the fact that constantly arriving in Kosovo
And Metohija from neighboring Albania, immigrants, seize houses and property
Exiled Serbs. All this is happening with the direct connivance of international
Military and police forces.
In this regard, the bishops of the SOC again called on the Yugoslav and international
The public will do their utmost to ensure an early return
Refugees and protecting their homes and property.
The Council officially addressed the highest representatives of the state authorities of Serbia
And FRY with the wish that with the beginning of the next academic year to introduce in the initial
And in secondary schools, systematic teaching of the fundamentals of the doctrine. At the same time, they should
To respect the rights of other traditional religious denominations for Yugoslavia.
"In order to improve the level of spiritual enlightenment and education" was adopted
The decision to reopen the work of the Theological Seminary in the name of the Three Saints in
Krka Monastery in Dalmatia. This seminary was forced to leave the monastery in
The result of the operations of the Croatian troops in 1995. Theological seminary in the name of the Three
The saint began to operate in the Krka monastery in 1615 and is one of the
The oldest educational institutions of the Serbian Church. It has ten graduates
Members of the current Council of Bishops.
The gathered bishops expressed their wishes to the relevant state
To the authorities of Serbia and Montenegro on expediting the procedure for the return of the church
Property unjustly confiscated under the communist regime.
At the Council, a number of decisions were adopted concerning the administrative structure of the SOC.
The new composition of the Holy Synod of Bishops was approved, in which, as
Members included: bishops of Zvornitsko-Tuzlan Basil, Bach Irenaeus, Timok
Justin and Vranjskiy Pachomiy. According to the charter of the SOC, the members of the Synod are elected
By the Holy Council for a two-year term.
It was decided to found a new Budiml-Nikshichi diocese with a chair
In the monastery of Djurdjevi Stubovi in Montenegro. New manager
Bishop of Budiml was appointed vicar of the Montenegrin-Primorsky Metropolis to the diocese
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The greatest figure in the history of the Serbian Church and the entire nation can rightfully be called St. Sava, the first Archbishop of Serbia. Rastko, as the future saint was called in the world, was the youngest of the sons of the great zupan Stefan Nemanja. He was born around 1175 and from an early age showed a special desire for deed of prayer. At the age of 17, he secretly left his home on Mount Athos along with a Russian monk. On the Holy Mountain, he first asceticised in the Russian monastery of the Great Martyr. Panteleimon, where he took monastic vows with the name of Savva, and then continued his exploits in the Greek monastery of Vatopeda. With his humility and strict life, the young monk surpassed many Athonite ascetics.
In 1196 the father of the future Serbian saint renounced the throne in favor of his middle son Stephen. Soon after that, he took monastic vows with the name of Simeon at the Studenets monastery. The next year, monk Simeon moved to his son on Athos and lived with him in the same cell until his blessed death.
At the insistence of the brethren, Savva eventually took over the management of the Khilandar monastery, which was restored by the bounty of his father. Disorder soon began in Serbia. Savva's brother Stefan turned to him with a request for help. At this time, their elder brother Vukan, with the help of the Hungarians, seized part of the Serbian lands and declared himself king. To achieve his vain goals, Vukan submitted to the pope, and some of the rules of the Roman Church were adopted in his domain. St. Savva, at the request of his brother, transferred the relics of their father - St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming - to the Studenets monastery and he himself remained in it. Then he went to preach throughout the country, reconciled the brothers, and peace reigned in the Serbian lands.
In 1219 St. Savva petitioned the Greek emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople for the Serbian Church the right to have its own autocephalous archbishop. Patriarch Manuel of Constantinople ordained Saint Sava to the rank of archbishop and recognized an independent Serbian archdiocese. On his return to his homeland, the saint began to organize his Church. He founded eight new dioceses, in which he appointed his disciples, the ascetics of Khilandar and Studenitsa, as bishops. Priests were sent to different parts of the Serbian lands with orders to preach and perform church ordinances. The traditions and statutes of Mount Athos, the monasteries of Asia Minor and Palestine were introduced into the life of Serbian monasteries.
After the completion of the construction of the Zichy monastery, the archbishop's residence was transferred to it. Local councils of the Serbian Church gathered in Ziche, in which all bishops, abbots and many priests took part. The famous Pech Monastery was founded by St. Savva, in the XIV century. which became the capital of the Serbian patriarchs. Saint Sava also played a huge role in strengthening the Serbian statehood. In 1221 in Ziche, on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, St. Sava crowned his brother Stephen with a royal crown. The first Serbian king henceforth signed himself as Stefan the First Crowned. During this event, Savva spoke his famous, well-known Zhichi conversation about the Orthodox faith.
Already being archbishop Savva twice visited the Holy Land - in 1229 and 1234. On his first journey in 1229, for the needs of Serbian monks and pilgrims, he acquired the monasteries of St. George in Akon and St. John the Theologian on Mount Zion. Before his second journey, he handed over the rule of the Serbian Church to his disciple Arseniy Sremts. In the spring of 1234 he went to the Holy Land. Returning from his pilgrimage on January 14/27, 1236, the great Serbian saint passed away to the Lord in the Bulgarian city of Trnov. In 1237, his nephew Vladislav, the king, transferred the body of the saint to the Mileshevo monastery.
The successors of Saint Sava actively continued his work, always having before their eyes his image and covenants, they said and wrote that they were sitting on his throne. Due to the weak security of Zhichi, it was unsafe to stay in it, especially after the invasion of the Tatars (1242), and later the Bulgarians and Cumans (1253). Therefore, St. Arseny Sremets moved the chair of the Archdiocese from Zichy to Pecs, where, among the picturesque surroundings, at the very entrance to the Rugovskoe gorge, he built a church in the name of Sts. Apostles. The archbishops, depending on the circumstances, stayed first in Pecs, then again in Zhiche. This movement continued until the end of the 13th century, when the residence of the Serbian archbishops was not finally transferred to Pecs.
Almost all Serbian archbishops were pupils of Khilandar, which became the first higher Serbian school, which provided the knowledge that the Byzantine culture of that time could only give. There were many talented church writers among them. Special mention should be made of Saints Nicodemus (1317-1324), who wrote the second Typicus, and Daniel II (1324-1337), whose pen was the Life of the Kralians and Archbishops of Serbia.
After enslavement in the XIV century. Serbian lands by the Turks of the Pec patriarchs served as a unifying principle for the Serbs. Often, it was the patriarchs who appealed to the Christian rulers of Europe with an appeal to take up arms against the conquerors.
With the disintegration of the unified Serbian state on the lands that were once part of it, the life of the Orthodox Church had its own regional peculiarities.
Montenegrin principality until the second half of the XIV century. was part of the Serbian state, but after the death of Stefan Dusan Zeta fell away from Serbia. In 1485, Prince Ivan Chernoevich transferred the chair of the Metropolitan of Zeta to the main city of his domain, Cetinje. Despite constant military expeditions, the Turks were never able to fully conquer Montenegro. At the end of the 17th century, the Montenegrins chose Daniil Petrovich Njegos as their ruler and metropolitan, and under his leadership they won a number of glorious victories over the Turks. Since that time, the Montenegrin metropolitans have ruled the country, combining civil and spiritual power in their person. This continued until 1857.
Orthodox Serbs have long lived in the lands that later entered the Austro-Hungarian possessions. Many Serbs fled to Austria-Hungary, fleeing the persecution of the Turks. The settlers founded new Orthodox dioceses, which were dependent on the Pec Patriarchate. With the resettlement in 1690 of Patriarch Arseniy (Chernoevich) of the Austrian possessions of Pecs, an independent Serbian metropolis was founded with a large number of Serbs. Arseny (Chernoevich) became the first metropolitan. The metropolitan see arrived in different places, and in the 30s. XVIII century settled in Sremski Karlovci. In 1848, the Serbs, with the consent of the Austrian government, proclaimed their metropolitan patriarch, but later they were denied this title. The election of the metropolitan and discussion of important church and national affairs belonged to the church-people council, which consisted of deputies from the clergy and the people. The council met every three years with the permission of the government. There were separate dioceses.
Dalmatian Serbs have long been under the rule of the Venetian Republic. The Orthodox did not receive the right to have their own bishop and turned to Serbian bishops from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on all church issues. Only after Dalmatia came into the possession of the French, an Orthodox episcopal see was opened here in 1810. In 1815, by the decision of the Congress of Vienna, Dalmatia came under Austrian rule, and the Dalmatian diocese was subordinated to the Karlovci metropolitan. The episcopal see was originally located in Šibenik, and since 1841. moved to Zadar. In 1871. another department was opened in Kotor. There was a theological seminary in Zadar. One of the bishops of Zadar was the master of the Kiev Theological Academy Nikodim Milash, whose major work "The Course of Orthodox Church Law" is available in Russian translation. In 1873, both departments were subordinated to the Bukovina Metropolitan.
During the First World War, the SOC lost about a third of its clergy. In total, over 1,000 clergymen died and died. After the end of the war, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed, within whose borders all parts of the Serbian Church were. Outside the borders of the new state (since 1929 - the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), only three diocesan centers remained: Temisoar (Romania), Budapest (Hungary) and Zadar (captured by Italy), as well as Skadar with the surrounding area (Albania) and Serbian church communities in Vienna, Trieste , Rijeka, America and Canada.
Representatives of all parts of the Serbian Church expressed their desire to unite. For unification, it was necessary to resolve the issue of the jurisdiction of the Dalmatian and Boko-Kotor dioceses that belonged to the Bukovina-Dalmatian metropolitanate and the Serbian dioceses in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Southern and Old Serbia, subordinate to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The unification work was carried out by a special committee called the "Central Bishops' Council of the Unification of the Serbian Church." Metropolitan Mitrofan Ban of Montenegro-Primorsky became the chairman of this committee.
Negotiations with Metropolitan of Bukovina-Dalmatian Vladimir Repta on the status of the Dalmatian and Boko-Kator dioceses were difficult, but nevertheless, after the adoption of the relevant documents on December 20, 1919, they were annexed to the Karlovac Metropolitanate. On March 18, 1920, negotiations with the Constantinople Patriarchate ended successfully. By a royal decree of June 17, 1920, the regent Alexander Karageorgievich announced the decision of the bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church to unite. On the day of the Council of Serbian Saints, September 12, 1920, a solemn proclamation of the unification and restoration of the Serbian Patriarchate took place in Sremski Karlovci. The restored Patriarchate included the following dioceses: Belgrade, Banyaluksko-Bihach, Bach, Bitolskaya, Bokokotorsko-Dubrovnitskaya, Budimskaya, Veleshsko-Debarskaya, Vrshachskaya, Gornokarlovatskaya, Dabro-Bosnian, Dalmatiansko-Istriysko-Dubrovnitskaya Grecegovinskaya, Zvornitsko-Tuzlanskaya, Zletovsko-Strumichskaya, Nishskaya, Ohridskaya, Pakrachskaya, Pechskaya, Rashko-Prizrenskaya, Skoplyanskaya, Sremsko-Karlovatskaya, Shabachskaya, Temishoarskaya, Timokskaya and Montenegrin-Primorskaya.
On September 28, 1920, the Council of Bishops elected Archbishop of Belgrade and Metropolitan of Serbia Dimitri Pavlovich as the first Serbian Patriarch, but initially the government did not recognize this election, since the state had not yet adopted the relevant legislative acts. On October 23, 1920, the government adopted the “Order on the Election of the First Patriarch of the United Serbian Orthodox Church,” according to which the Patriarch was to be elected by a special Electoral Council out of three candidates proposed in turn by the Holy Bishops' Council. On the same day, the temporary "Order on the Serbian Patriarchate" was also promulgated. After the adoption of these documents on November 12, 1920, Metropolitan Dimitri was re-elected as the first Serbian Patriarch since the abolition of the Patriarchate of Pec in 1766. The election of the Primate was confirmed by King Alexander. The solemn nesting took place in the Cathedral of Belgrade, and the enthronement of the Patriarchs of Pec took place in 1924. On this occasion, King Alexander gave the patriarch a precious panagia, which later passed from one primate to another.
The successor of Patriarch Demetrius was the Sarajevo Metropolitan Barnabas, elected in 1930, who at one time lived and studied in Russia. Under him, a new building of the patriarchate was erected in Belgrade. After the death of Patriarch Barnabas, Metropolitan Gabriel of Montenegro became the new primate of the Serbian Church. The seat of the Serbian patriarchs was Belgrade and Sremskie Karlovci. The admonition of the patriarchs took place in the ancient Pech monastery.
Serious trials befell the Serbian Orthodox Church during the Second World War. In 1941, immediately after the occupation of Yugoslavia, the Germans arrested the Serbian Patriarch Gabriel. Having passed through the prisons of Sarajevo and Belgrade, the Primate of the Serbian Church, together with Bishop Nicholas of Zhichsky, was sent to the Dachau concentration camp. The Orthodox Church experienced great persecution throughout the territory of occupied Yugoslavia. The situation of the Serbian Church in the newly formed Independent Croatian State (NDH) was especially difficult. So in the Sremskaya diocese 44 churches and monasteries were destroyed, in Gornokarlovatskaya 157 churches, in Slavonskaya 55 churches were destroyed to the ground, three monasteries and 25 parish houses were ruined. In the Bossan region of the Dalmatian diocese alone, 18 churches were destroyed and burned, many churches were desecrated, and it became impossible to perform divine services in them.
The same situation was in other dioceses on the territory of the National House of Artists. Hundreds of Orthodox priests were killed, sent to concentration camps and expelled from their homes along with their thousands of flock. Often Orthodox Christians were forcibly converted to Catholicism. Hundreds of monasteries, churches and chapels were destroyed and plundered. Many archpastors also shared the fate of their Church. During World War II, the Serbian Church lost nine bishops. At the hands of the Croatian Ustasha, Metropolitan Peter of Dabrobosnia (Zimonich), Bishop Platon (Jovanovic) of Banyaluk, Bishop Savva (Trlaich) of Gornokarlovatskiy, Bishop of the Czech-Moravian Gorazd (Pavlik) were shot by the German authorities. Metropolitan Dosifei of Zagreb suffered torture and abuse in the prison of Zagreb, and after being transported to Serbia, he died of his wounds. The same fate befell Bishop Nicholas of Zakhum-Herzegovina. Many bishops were expelled or interned by the occupying authorities and were unable to provide for their flock. Only nine bishops remained in their chairs. In the absence of Patriarch Gabriel, the leadership of the Serbian Church was carried out by Metropolitan Joseph of Skopl.
After the end of World War II, the communists came to power in Yugoslavia under the leadership of Joseph Broz Tito, and the suffering of the Serbian Church did not stop. The authorities allowed the return of the Serbian Patriarch Gabriel to his homeland only in November 1946. Arriving in Belgrade on November 14, the Patriarch immediately faced numerous problems in organizing the normal life of the Church. Bishops and priests were arrested and imprisoned for lengthy periods, many ended up in prison without any trial or investigation. A large number of priests were killed. In the vicinity of Arandjelovets, Metropolitan Ioanniky of Montenegro and Primorsky was killed. Bishop Iriney (Chirich) of Bach was kept under house arrest for 17 months. After the arrest was lifted, Vladyka was severely beaten and died after a serious illness. Metropolitan Joseph of Skopl was imprisoned for 18 months in the monasteries of Zicha and Lubostin, after which he fell seriously ill. Metropolitan Arseny (Bradvarevich) of Montenegro and Primorsky and the vicar bishop of Khvostansky Barnava (Nastich) went through many years of imprisonment.
The state rudely interfered in the life of the Church: all the registers of birth were seized, civil marriage was introduced, the teaching of the law of God in schools was stopped, the financial resources for the maintenance of retired priests passed into the ownership of the Ministry of Labor. The clergy were deprived of any social protection. The Agrarian Reform Act seized 70,000 hectares of arable land and forest land from the Church, and nationalized 1,180 church buildings. A large number of episcopal residences were taken away. But the destruction of monasteries and temples was even more terrible. in some places the local authorities prevented the clerics from carrying out their ministry. In southern Serbia, bishops were forbidden to return to their pulpits, and priests to parishes, in connection with which in these areas a normal church life could not be established for a long time.
At the Bishops' Council held in 1948, it was decided to transfer the Czech-Moravian Diocese of the SOC under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church.
With the resumption of the normal work of theological educational institutions, things were also not easy. For a long time, the state authorities did not give permission for the beginning of the work of theological schools on the pretext of lack of necessary conditions. After the war, the Faculty of Theology continued its work with great difficulties as part of the University of Belgrade. The work of the Prizren Seminary was resumed only in 1947, and the Belgrade Seminary of St. Sava in 1949. The publishing activity was no better. Since 1949, the Great Church Calendar has ceased to be issued. The Bulletin of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate was published irregularly during the war and in the first post-war period, and from March 1, 1946, it was published once a month. Since 1946, a small pocket calendar has been published. Since 1949, a newspaper for the parish clergy, Vestnik, has been published.
Patriarch Gabriel died on May 6, 1950. On July 2 of the same year, the enthronement of the new head of the SOC, Patriarch Vikentiy (Prodanov), took place, who was one of the most gifted hierarchs of the SOC. Despite pressure from the authorities, he managed to avoid recognition of the self-proclaimed "Macedonian Orthodox Church". The great merit of Patriarch Vincent is that the clergy and people working in the Church received the right to social protection and medical care. Patriarch Vincent is credited with restoring fraternal ties with the Local Orthodox Churches, which have weakened during the Second World War. Under Patriarch Vincent, the newspaper "Orthodox Missionary" was founded, which eventually became the largest circulation periodical of the SOC. Since 1957, the journal of the Faculty of Theology "Theology" began to be published again. In 1958, the journal Pravoslavnaya Mysl (Orthodox Thought) was founded, dedicated to theological literature and various issues of church life. On July 5, 1958, Patriarch Vincent died suddenly after a regular meeting of the Holy Synod of Bishops. Two months after his death, on September 13, 1958, Bishop German (Joric) of Zichsky was elected the new Primate of the Serbian Church, who had held the throne of the Serbian patriarchs for more than thirty years.
During the reign of Patriarch German, the restoration and construction of churches was carried out. A new building of the Faculty of Theology was built. One of the main achievements of Patriarch Herman was the opening in 1964 of the Seminary in the name of St. Arseny in Sremski Karlovtsy. A two-year and five-year seminary was opened in the Krka monastery (Dalmatia). The work of the monastery school in Ovchara resumed, and in 1967 a similar school was opened in the Ostrog monastery. At the beginning of 1986, the Theological Faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church began its work in Libereville (USA). A Theological Institute with a two-year course of study was opened at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade. The publishing activity of the SOC was developing. Since 1965, the large Church calendar began to appear again, and since 1967 the newsletter of the Serbian Patriarchate "Pravoslavlje". The children's edition "Svetosavsko Zvonce" ("Svyatosavsky bell") began to be printed. In 1968, the theological collection Teoloshki Pogledi (Theological Views) began to appear. The review “Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva at the Past and Sadashnosti” (“SOC in the Past and Present”) was periodically published in English. During the time of Patriarch German, several new dioceses were founded. At the same time, two schisms occurred in the SOC: in 1963 the American one, which was subsequently overcome, and in 1967, the Macedonian one, which continues to this day.
In 1990, Patriarch Herman, due to illness, was sent to retire. On December 1, 1990, Bishop Pavel of Rasko-Prizren was elected the new head of the Serbian Church. One of the first deeds of the new head of the SOC upon accession to the patriarchal throne was the beginning of work to overcome the church schism in America and Canada. As a result, the long-awaited canonical unity was restored in 1992.
At the same time, in many dioceses of the SOC there is a revival and revitalization of church life, a significant number of new churches and other church facilities were built. During the administration of the Serbian Church by Patriarch Paul, a large number of episcopal ordinations were performed. Several new dioceses were founded. A number of religious educational institutions resumed their work. Despite the difficulties, there is a gradual restoration of church life in the dioceses ravaged by the war. A notable event is the ongoing construction in Belgrade of the largest Orthodox church in Europe - the Cathedral of St. Sava.
Currently, the SOC has more than 3,500 parishes, 204 monasteries, about 1,900 priests, 230 monks and 1,000 nuns. The training of future clergy and law teachers is carried out in six seminaries: in Belgrade, Sremski Karlovci, Niš (Prizren seminary moved in 1999 to Niš), Cetinje, Krka and Kragujevce monasteries. There are two theological faculties - in Belgrade and Libertville, as well as the Theological Institute at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade and the Theological Academy in Srbinje. More than 1,000 students study in seminaries, and more than 1,000 students in theological faculties and academies. In addition to these educational institutions, in 1993 the Serbian Church founded the Academy of Arts and Restoration in Belgrade with several departments - icon painting, fresco painting and restoration.
The relationship between the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Churches is based on long-standing, well-established good traditions of fraternal friendship. Throughout history, this relationship can be characterized as a love relationship.
The roots of the relationship between the two Sister Churches go back centuries. They are tightly bound by a significant event at the end of the 12th century: the adoption of monasticism in the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos by the Serbian prince Rastko (in the monasticism of Saint Sava), who was subsequently elevated to the post of the first primate of the Autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church.
In 1347, the powerful Serbian king Stefan Dusan sent to the Athos Panteleimon monastery the honest head of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon. And in the next year, 1348, having visited the monasteries of Athos, Stefan Dushan paid special attention to the monastery of St. Panteleimon, taking on the title of her church patron. The following Serbian rulers did not leave the Panteleimon monastery with their mercies: Stefan Urosh, Lazar, Dragos, Kostadin ...
According to the Moscow chronicler, in 1404 the Serbian monk Lazar worked in Moscow, who, at the request of Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich, set the clock in the prince's court behind the Annunciation Cathedral. “This watchmaker will be called the watchmaker; strikes the bell with a hammer at every hour, measuring and calculating the hours of night and day; not a man who strikes, but human-like, spontaneously and ... exaggeratedly. Master and artist Some Beese Some Cenets, and from the holy of the mountain came, from Serbin, name Lazar; the price of this is more than half a hundred and fifty rubles. "
With the conquest of the Balkan Peninsula by the Turks, the Orthodox Slavic peoples turn their gaze to the same faith and tribal Moscow Russia. In 1509, three elders from the Metropolitan of Belgrade Theophanes came to Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich with a request for help, for, the Metropolitan wrote, “the good Lord of Serbian domination was allowed into the hands of foreigners, and the monastery fell to this valley, and alms became scarce, and there are no benefactors” ... From the further content of the letter, it becomes clear that the Belgrade Metropolitanate had already received assistance earlier from Ivan III, that even now it has a single patron - the Russian sovereign.
Just as during the years of the Tatar yoke in Russia, the Serbian king Stefan Dusan became the patron saint of the Russian monastery on Athos, so now the elders of the Hilendar monastery looked towards Moscow. They called the Russian Tsar Ivan IV "the Christian sun", shining and illuminating the whole sunflower. In 1555, they sent a special embassy to Moscow with a request that the tsar take the Hilendar monastery under his protection, "so that his pilgrimage might be different in the Holy Mountain" after the first
Panteleimonovskaya. The petition was granted - the Serbian monastery received generous gifts.
In the same year, Metropolitan Selivestr of Rash arrived in “Great Rusia for the pious Tsar John and St.
Beginning in the 16th century, Orthodox Serbs used first handwritten and then printed church books published in Moscow Russia. In turn, the southern Slavs contributed to the transfer of the spiritual heritage of Byzantium to Russia, thus contributing to the spiritual growth of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“I must admit,” VM Istrin asserts, “that a large number of Byzantine works came to Russia in a ready-made, South Slavic translation, and moreover, in ancient times, in Bulgarian translations. They continued to pass even later, when Russia had already developed its own written language, and translations and Serbian ones began to join the Bulgarian translations ”.
In 1641, Metropolitan Simeon of Skopia received permission in Moscow to collect donations for the suffering Serbian people. Since that time, the hierarchs of the Serbian Church have repeatedly come to Russia and taken away from here the willing gifts of the Russian people. And Patriarch Gabriel I (Raich) for two
years he lived in Moscow. (After returning to Serbia, he was accused of high treason and was hanged by the Turks in 1659.) Patriarch Vasily Brkich, who fled from the wrath of the Turks, found shelter in Russia. In 1772 he died in St. Petersburg, where he was buried in the Lavra.
In the 18th century, thousands of Orthodox Serbs found shelter in today's Ukraine. Once they left their homeland due to Turkish oppression and moved to Austria-Hungary, but even there they met humiliation and injustice.
The fraternal attitude of the South-Western Slavs towards the same faith and blood-consanguineous Russian people was expressed in the answer of the Metropolitan
Montenegrin Peter I to the French, who proposed, on the instructions of the Vatican, to abandon relations with Russia in exchange for granting him the title of Patriarch of all Serbs and 200 thousand francs. “The Russians are not our enemies,” said the Metropolitan, but brothers in faith and tribe, they love us as we love them ... The Slavs only expect salvation and glory from an alliance with powerful and dear Russia ... to all other Slavs! "
The fact that Montenegrins received support from the fraternal Orthodox Russian people, V. V. Makushev (XIX century) testifies as follows: “When I visited Montenegro in 1865, it had 12 schools - the main four-year school in Cetinje (Cetinje) and 11 smaller with 2 classes in more populated areas. Then it was supposed to open three more schools; now there are up to 30 schools with 2,000 pupils. The schools are supported by the monastic income and the sums received from Russia. "
When the theological educational institution "Theology" was opened in Belgrade in 1836, two teachers from those who had graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy were sent here. Since 1840, the custom was introduced to send the best graduates of "Theology" to the Theological Academies of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In 1920-1925, the Russian nun Ekaterina (in the world Evgenia Borisovna Efimovskaya, originally from Moscow), having arrived in Serbia with a group of nuns from the Lesninskaya monastery and becoming abbess of the Hopovo monastery on Fruska Gora, was the parent of Serbian female monasticism. Many of her students later became abbesses of the convents in Serbia.
In 1923, Archpriest Stefan Dimitrievich, in the past the closest assistant and employee of the Serbian Metropolitan Michael (1826-1898), chairman of the Serbian Red Cross Society (founded in 1876), as part of the mission of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, assisted the starving in Odessa and Yekaterinoslav provinces. On January 6, 1924, a photograph of him was posted in "Krasnaya Niva", which captured the moment of the conversation between the father of the archpriest and the editor of "Izvestia" Yu. M. Steklov. There was also a note on the activities of Archpriest S. Dimitrievich and his mission.
In the 1920s and then in the 1930s, when the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church was threatened by internal schismatics, mainly "renovationists", the Serbian Church was one of the first to resolutely support the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Tikhon and condemned the schismatics as violators of the holy canons and apostates from the purity of holy Orthodoxy.
Serbian Patriarch Barnabas, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and tonsured Alexandre Neveko and Lavra, has always maintained friendly relations with the Locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Sergius (Stragorodsky). At one time, in connection with the anti-canonical actions of the throne of Constantinople, aimed at subjugating the entire Orthodox diaspora, including Russian parishes abroad, Patriarch Barnabas, in a letter to Metropolitan Eleutherius (Epiphany) of February 14, 1932, condemned these papal aspirations of Constantinople.
A difficult issue to resolve, which somewhat complicated the good relations between the two Churches, was the so-called "Karlovy Vary". Having received refuge in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, a group of Russian bishops-emigrants in November-December 1921 in the town of Sremski Karlovtsy (hence the "Karlovtsy") formed a church council, which established the "Synod of Bishops" headed by the former Metropolitan of Kiev Anthony (Khrapovitsky, who arbitrarily accepted the title of “Viceroy of His Holiness Patriarch of All Russia.” Henceforth, the “Karlovites” began to speak out on behalf of the Russian Church to the detriment of her. Although the schismatics in their activities found the support of the then royal government, nevertheless the Serbian Church took upon itself the feat of mediation in negotiations with them the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne. ”If the desired result was not achieved, then the schismatics, who rejected the measures taken to appease them, were to blame.
After the Second World War, the Church of Svyatosavvskaya will maintain fraternal relations with the Russian Church. Thus, at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1945, there was a delegation of the Serbian Church headed by the Deputy Patriarch, Metropolitan Joseph of Skopia.
In April 1945, the Serbian Orthodox Church was settled by a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Bishop Sergius of Kirovograd (Larin). In the same year, he again visited the Serbian Church. In October 1945, the archpastors of the Serbian Church satisfied the desire of the Orthodox Transcarpathians of the Mukachev diocese to return them to the bosom of their native Russian Church, from which they were forcibly torn away more than 700 years ago.
In 1946, an agreement was reached on the transfer by the Serbian Church of Orthodox parishes in the Czech Republic to the jurisdiction of the Russian Church, and in 1954 the churches, clergy and parishes of the deanery of the Moscow Patriarchate in Yugoslavia, with the exception of the Holy Trinity Church - a courtyard in Belgrade, were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Serbian Churches.
At the celebrations dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the autocephaly of the Russian Church, and at the Meeting of the Heads and Representatives of Local Orthodox Churches in Moscow (July 1948), the delegation of the Church of St. Sava was headed by Patriarch Gabriel.
In 1956, Patriarch Vikenty, who arrived in the Soviet Union with a group of leaders of the Serbian Church, was a guest of the Russian Church. And in October next year, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I, accompanied by the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, paid a return visit to the Svyatoslav Orthodox Church. During his stay in Yugoslavia, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I visited the Belgrade Theological Faculty, at a ceremonial meeting of which the decree of the Council of this Faculty on conferring the title of Honorary Doctor of Theology to Patriarch Alexy I was announced. On October 30, 1956, both Patriarchs signed a joint communiqué, which reflected the unity of views of both Churches on issues of church cooperation and the struggle for peace.
In 1958, a delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church headed by Bishop John of Nis attended the celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in Russia in Moscow.
His Holiness Patriarch German, at the invitation of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I, visited the Russian Orthodox Church in October 1961. During his stay in Moscow, meetings and conversations took place between the two Patriarchs, which took place in an atmosphere of brotherly love and complete mutual understanding. The result of the conversations was the adoption of a communiqué, which noted the desire of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches to strengthen fraternal ties with the rest of the Local Orthodox and non-Orthodox
Churches and associations, and promote world peace. Patriarch German was elected an honorary member of the Moscow Theological Academy.
In May 1962, Patriarch Alexy I paid a second visit to the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Patriarchs again signed a communiqué on strengthening the union of the two Sister Churches and on the need to make every effort to establish a lasting and just peace on earth.
At the jubilee celebrations in Moscow in 1963 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the episcopal ministry of Patriarch Alexy I, the delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church was also led by Patriarch German of Serbia.
In September 1965, a delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church headed by Bishop John of Nis visited the Moscow Patriarchate.
In the summer of 1968, a delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church headed by Patriarch German took part in the solemn celebration by the Russian Orthodox Church of the fiftieth anniversary of the restoration of the patriarchate.
At the celebrations of the election by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church and the enthronement of the new Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Pimen in May-June 1971, the Serbian Orthodox Church was represented by a delegation led by Metropolitan Vladislav of Dobrobossan.
In connection with the accession to the Moscow Patriarchal throne, His Holiness Patriarch Pimen, together with the high delegates of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the second half of October 1972, visited the Serbian Orthodox Church, as well as the Greek and Romanian Orthodox Churches. “When visiting the Serbian, Greek and Romanian Orthodox Churches,” reports the WMP, “there were conversations between the Primates of these Churches and the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on issues of interest to the fraternal Local Churches and related to inter-Orthodox and ecumenical problems and to the Churches' service to the good of mankind.”
In October 1974, the guests of the Russian Orthodox Church were delegates of the Serbian Orthodox Church, headed by Patriarch German. Exactly one year later (in October 1975), representatives of the Serbian Theological Schools were in the Soviet Union, who got acquainted with the life of the Theological Schools in Moscow, Leningrad and Odessa.
In March 1992, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia met in Phanar (Istanbul) with His Holiness Patriarch Pavel of Serbia, when the Primates of fourteen Local Orthodox Churches signed a Message, where they expressed their positions on issues of concern to both the Christian and non-Christian world today.
Multiple mutual visits of leaders of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches, exchange of views on the most important church issues, exchange of festive messages of the Primates of Churches for Christmas and Holy Easter, fraternal greetings on the most important church events of the Sister Churches, exchange of church publications, training in our Theological schools of students Serbian Orthodox Church and others - all this testifies that traditional living fraternal relations are not interrupted between the two Churches.
9. Participation in ecumenical and peacemaking movements
The Serbian Orthodox Church maintains fraternal ties with other Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, as well as with heterodox confessions. Since 1965 she has been an active member of the ecumenical organization - the World Council of Churches. At the IV Assembly of the World Council of Churches, held in Uppsala from 4 to 19 July 1968, Patriarch Herman would be unanimously elected as one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches. In early 1974, a Serbian Orthodox Center was opened in Vienna, which houses a chapel, library, reading room and club. There is also a social service here, whose consultants provide assistance to those who apply to them.
The current situation in the Serbian Church is very difficult, complex and unprecedented in its history. We believe that in the rest of the Local Churches, the true extent of the spread of non-Orthodox teachings, modernism and reformism in the SOC is unknown. Yes, people today have the opportunity to learn news from sister Orthodox Churches using the Internet, but ignorance of the language does not allow them to understand the essence of the problems. Therefore, we consider this conversation with you extremely important and are immensely grateful to you for finding it useful for your readers.
The first reformatory steps in our Church were made about twenty years ago: then non-Orthodox teachings appeared and some liturgical reforms were carried out. Ecumenical contacts were carried out before: the SOC has been a member of the "World Council of Churches" since 1965, and the Serbian Patriarch Herman (1899-1991) was even the deputy chairman of this all-heretical ecumenical organization (Rev. Justin Chelisky called ecumenism "all-heresy" The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism ”provides the best theological analysis of this false teaching, disguised as“ love ”for the heterodox). The liturgical reforms in the Serbian Church began to be carried out by the followers of Greek and Russian neo-modernism - the hieromonks Amfilochiy (Radovich), Athanasius (Evtich) and Iriney (Bulovich).
They began their spiritual life and work under the blessed guidance of the Monk Justin of Chely, and while he was alive, they wrote in the patristic spirit of their mentor. Hieromonk Irenaeus (Bulovich) defended his doctoral dissertation on the "zealot" of St. Mark of Ephesus, Hieromonk Amphilochius - about St. Gregory Palamas, also a great anti-Latin theologian, and Hieromonk Athanasius - about the ecclesiology of the Apostle Paul, who taught to turn away the heretic after the first rejection of the heretic and the first. 3, 10). Hieromonk Athanasius, when he was still following in the footsteps of Father Justin, said that the Orthodox Church should avoid any liturgical reform, so that the same thing happened to her that happened to the papists after the Second Vatican Council. Father Amphilochius in his article on kollivads also clearly opposed liturgical reforms ... But, as it is said in the Holy Scripture, the customs of good and evil talk (1 Cor. 15, 33) - the influence of modernists like Fr. Alexander Schmemann and John (Zizioulas) made them alien to the spirit of Holy Tradition and its champion, the Holy Father of the Church of our days, the Monk Justin of New Chely, and the above-mentioned bishops are now the main supporters and agents of reforms.
Bishop Athanasius recently published the Great Trebnik in his translation and with a preface by Metropolitan Amphilochius, replete with various innovations. He even changed its name to the Greek manner - "Big prayer book", since "Trebnik" is supposedly a name from Slavic paganism (!). Earlier he published the Psalter and the Book of Hours, also in his translation, which is full of not only translation, but also theological errors. For example, in “his” Book of Hours, in the troparion of the monks, instead of “being diligent about the soul, things are immortal”, as it was originally written in both Greek and Church Slavonic, it is written “to be diligent about eternal life,” because, according to the teachings of the neo-modernist Zizioulas, the soul cannot exist independently of the body and only God is immortal. (All of us Orthodox, of course, know that the soul does not have the fullness of existence without the body, but exists as a conscious and gracelessly immortal even after its separation from the body, while God is immortal by nature).
So, as long as they were hieromonks and children of the Monk Justin, they adhered to the Tradition. Having become bishops-intellectuals, they, little by little, were carried away by the "philosophical" neo-modernism. At the same time, constantly referring to their belonging to the number of the Monk Justin's disciples, they gained a large number of followers and admirers, especially among students of theology, future clerics of the SOC.
His Grace Amphilochius today is the Metropolitan of Montenegrin-Primorsky. Earlier, acting as the ailing Patriarch Paul, he illegally appropriated the title of Archbishop of Cetinje for himself. Athanasius is currently a "retired bishop" (how counter-canonical it sounds!). He is also known as the leader and founder of the "circus movement" (an unpleasant but accurate expression) in the SOC, which unites football players and athletes among bishops, monks and priests. And Irenaeus is Bishop of Bach. Nothing happens in the Serbian Church without his knowledge and approval. He is a faithful servant of the Phanar in his striving to subjugate the diaspora of all Local Churches and to make the Patriarch of Constantinople an “Eastern Pope”.
In the early 90s of the last century, another hieromonk appeared - Ignatius (Midich), now Bishop of Branichevsky, a disciple of the titular Metropolitan of Pergamon John (Zizioulas), who, with the support of the aforementioned modernists, caused chaos in the SOC. Only God knows the extent of the harm done by these people to the Orthodox Serbian people. It is no exaggeration to say that this damage is much greater than the damage inflicted on our people by the Turks for 400 years of tyranny. Because the Turks destroyed the buildings of Serbian temples, but did not touch human souls. And the current above-listed figures, with their non-Orthodox teachings, devastate the souls of thousands of Serbian clergy, monastics and believers. By their disrespect for the decisions of the Holy Bishops' Council, they destroyed the canonical system of the SOC, and with innovations they defiled the sacred order of the Holy Liturgy, so that in some dioceses it is already more like a Latin Mass.
All innovations and false teachings entered the SOC quietly and insidiously, we would say - in Jesuit style. From the theological faculty in Belgrade - from where thousands of monks, priests, future bishops, and religious teachers emerge - the Orthodox dogma of the Monk Father Justin (Popovich) was removed and the non-Orthodox dogma of the modernist John (Zizioulas) was introduced. Bishop Ignatius of Branichevsky, the most faithful follower, disciple and spiritual child of the shepherd without the flock, John (Zizioulas), was appointed the teacher of this main theological subject. The believers of the SOC have long noticed heresy in his teaching, and against him, due to his heretical views, several years ago Bishop Artemy of Rash-Prizren filed a complaint, which, however, was not considered at any Council due to the opposition of the ecumenical and innovative majority participating in the Councils. The main postulate of Zizioulas's teaching is the assertion that everything that is created is mortal, and therefore the soul is also mortal. However, this is a Pelagian heresy, condemned by the 123rd Canon of the Local Council of Carthage, which reads: “<_>Adam was not created mortal by God. But if anyone says that Adam, the primordial man, was created mortal, so that even if he sinned, even if he did not sin, he would die in body, that is, he would leave the body - not as a punishment for sin, but out of necessity of nature, yes will be anathema. "
In his lectures on dogma, Bishop Ignatius (Midić), among other things, teaches students that morality and moral laws change, that even God's commandments are changeable, and that homosexuality is natural. Here is a quote from his lecture: “Whatever they say, say, about moral laws, which often restrain us as a kind of, as it is ... the measure of truth. Morality is changing! And moral laws. It all depends on the civilization ... You will listen to our theologians ... I don’t know how to say ... with such views: homosexuality is a sin, and ... I don’t know ... marriage is blessed by God. But this ... These are arbitrary things! If one is measured on the basis of the other, it will be true, because it is natural, and the other is untrue, my God, "unnatural." Well, and it is natural! Where, otherwise, it came from, because it did not fall from the sky! "
Bishop Ignatius also teaches students the following:
- if Adam had not sinned, Adam would have been Christ, because he would have united with the Son of God. Then Christ would not be Jesus Christ, but Adam Christ;
- the statement that God is holy because he is righteous and infallible is pagan. God is holy because He exists, not because He fulfills the commandments;
- the biblical God in the Old Testament did not adhere to the principle of justice and morality, he himself acted unjustly and commanded others to act unjustly;
- The Biblical God in the Old Testament is strange, gives contradictory commandments;
- God was unjust to Job;
- God is not an Essence, but a Personality;
- A Christian can pray to God the Father only at the Liturgy and never outside the Liturgy (it turns out that the prayer "Our Father" cannot be read outside the Liturgy!);
- God does not know in advance what will happen;
- the fall of the first Adam surprised God;
- God is fickle. The idea of the eternity and immutability of the Divine is pagan;
- from an ethical point of view, Christ is very sinful, because many of His actions from an ethical point of view were sinful, for which the Jews accused him;
- imitation of Christ and following Christ is wrong - this is a consequence of the Augustinian and Origen delusions;
- Christ is absent in this world;
- if there are not many at the Liturgy, then in the Eastern, Orthodox experience there can be no talk of the presence of Christ at the Liturgy, although Christ is identified with bread and wine;
- Christ is manifested in the bishop at the Liturgy. Therefore, the bishop is the guarantor of the Church's unity and identity. For unity, it is not the correct confession of faith that is essential, but one person, and this person is the bishop.
There is evidence for all these statements - audio recordings from the lectures of Bishop Ignatius. The same notes were attached to the complaint of the Bishop of Rash-Prizren Artemy, which, as we have already noted, was ignored by the Council of the SOC.
The non-Orthodox teachings introduced in the SOC had a negative impact on the ascetic nature of the Orthodox faith in Serbia, on the liturgical order, church discipline, icon painting, fresco painting, etc. In the Serbian Church, the principle of conciliarity, on which the Church rests, has long been violated. All reforms are introduced at the discretion of individual reformer bishops, false dogma and erroneous understanding of conciliarity, who justify their self-righteousness.
Let us list some of the innovations introduced into the sacred order of celebrating the Divine Liturgy (but in reality there are many more of them):
- before the Liturgy, prayers are not read: “Heavenly King”, “Holy One”, “Our Father”;
- both bishops and priests and hieromonks serve the Liturgy at the constantly open Royal Doors;
- all prayers at the Liturgy, which are supposed to be read quietly, secretly, are read aloud;
- do not sing "Blessed", replacing them with arbitrarily chosen antiphons;
- instead of the correct one: "About this holy temple ...", they say: "About this holy church ...";
- when pronouncing: "Most Holy, Most Pure<_>remembering all the saints, ourselves, and each other, and our whole life to Christ God we will surrender ", the clergy, instead of the icon of Christ, bow to the bishop (in accordance with the teaching of Bishop Ignatius that Christ is present at the Liturgy allegedly in the personality of the bishop, and not in the Holy Mysteries);
- in accordance with the heretical teaching that the soul is mortal, all references to the soul are removed from the Liturgy, so that, for example, in the supplicatory litany after the Great Entrance instead of: “Good and useful souls<_>We ask the Lord ", it says:" We ask the Lord who are good and useful to us. " The soul is not commemorated either at the funeral service or at the parastas (a follow-up of the great funeral service for all departed Orthodox Christians, performed at the All-night vigil of parental Saturdays. - Note by M.D.);
- when pronouncing the words "Woe we have hearts" raise their hands in the direction of the west, and in the words "We thank the Lord" bow to the west;
- do not allow people to sing "It is worthy and righteous to worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity Consubstantial and Inseparable", but only: "It is worthy and righteous." In the remaining time, the priest reads aloud the prayer: "Worthy and righteous for Tya ...", which is supposed to be read in secret;
- when pronouncing the words: "Take, eat: This is My Body ..." they do not point with their hand to the holy diskos, and while pronouncing the words: "Drink from her all ..." they do not point with their hand to the holy chalice, as it should be;
- do not allow people to sing "and we pray Tis, our God" twice for a long time and twice briefly, but only once - for a long time;
- during the Epiclesis (petitions during the Eucharistic Canon, calling on the Father to send down the Holy Spirit on bread and wine and to transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ. - Note M.D.), the troparion of the third hour is omitted, as well as the verses: “Create a pure heart in me ... "and" Cast me not away from Thy presence ... ";
- they omit the entire supplicatory litany before "Our Father";
- the priests partake of the Blood of Christ only once, instead of the prescribed three;
- do not read the prayer before the sacrament of believers: "I believe, Lord, and I confess ...";
- they commune believers with united particles instead of (as it should be) only particles of NI and KA (which the blessed Patriarch Paul called idolatry);
- believers are given communion by a deacon instead of a priest or bishop;
- they do not pronounce the formula that, according to the rules, the priest must say during the believer's communion: "The servant of God (name) of the honest and holy Body and Blood of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ takes communion for the forgiveness of his sins and for eternal life", but only: "The Body and Blood of Christ" (as the Latins);
- the Royal Doors are removed from the iconostasis, and sometimes the iconostasis is completely removed;
- priests and deacons are ordained without prior confession and the required oath;
- Communion was introduced at each Liturgy, and the innovators commune believers without preliminary preparation by fasting, prayer, repentance, Confession and the prayer rule for Holy Communion;
- bless the Wedding during the fast.
In the Serbian Orthodox Church, there is no uniformity in worship for a long time, which pushes believers towards schism. In the churches of neighboring parishes, the Holy Liturgy is served in a different order. The closest associates of Bishop Ignatius once said that they themselves do not know before the beginning of the Liturgy how it will be served, because the bishop determines the order in the process of the service.
Translated from Serbian by Maria DERKACHEVA
http://www.blagogon.ru/biblio/541/
People of the Serbian Church [History. Destiny. Traditions] Luganskaya Svetlana Alekseevna
Serbian Orthodox Church: a brief background
The first baptism of the Serbs took place under the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610–641). Christianity was further spread among the Serbs in the 9th century, when in 869, at the request of Prince Muntimir, the Byzantine emperor Basil the Macedonian sent Greek priests to him. The final establishment of Christianity among the Serbs was largely facilitated by the activities of Saints Cyril and Methodius.
The greatest figure in the history of the Serbian Church and the Serbian people is rightfully considered Saint Sava (1175-1236), the first Serbian archbishop, the youngest son of the great Zhupan Stefan Nemani. In 1219, Serbia received from the Greek Emperor and Patriarch of Constantinople the right to have its own autocephalous archbishop. Saint Sava founded the famous Pecsky Monastery, which in the XIV century became the capital of the Serbian patriarchs. Saint Sava also played an enormous role in strengthening the Serbian statehood: in 1221 he crowned his brother Stephen in the Zicha monastery.
At the end of the 13th century, the residence of the Serbian archbishops was finally transferred to Pecs. It was unsafe to stay in Zhiche because of the invasion of the Tatars (1242) and Bulgarians (1253). After the seizure of Serbian lands by the Turks in the 14th century, the Pec patriarchs became a unifying principle for the Serbs.
Until the second half of the 14th century, the Montenegrin principality was part of the Serbian state, but after the death of Stefan Dusan it fell away from Serbia. At the end of the 17th century, the Montenegrins chose Daniel Petrovich Njegos as their ruler and metropolitan, and under his leadership they won a number of victories over the Turks. From that time on, the Montenegrin metropolitans ruled the country, uniting civil and spiritual power in their person until 1857.
Orthodox Serbs have long lived on the lands that later entered the Austro-Hungarian possessions. Many Serbs fled to Austria-Hungary to escape the Turks. With the resettlement in 1690 to the Austrian possessions of Patriarch Arseniy (Charnoevich) of Pecs with a large number of Serbs, an independent Serbian Metropolitanate was founded. In 1848, the Serbs, with the consent of the Austrian government, proclaimed their Metropolitan Patriarch, but later he was denied this title.
Serbs in Dalmatia were under the rule of the Venetian Republic for a long time. The Orthodox had no right to their bishop and turned to Serbian bishops from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on all church issues. After the transfer of Dalmatia to the possession of the French, an Orthodox episcopal see was opened here in 1810. In 1815, by the decision of the Congress of Vienna, Dalmatia came under the rule of Austria, and the Dalmatian diocese was subordinated to the Metropolitan of Karlovatskiy.
After the end of the First World War, in which the Serbian Church lost more than a third of the priesthood, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed, within whose borders all regions of the Serbian Church were.
Representatives of all parts of the Serbian Church expressed a desire to unite. And on September 12, 1920, the solemn proclamation of the unification and restoration of the Serbian Patriarchate took place in Sremski Karlovci. It included 28 dioceses.
On September 28, 1920, the Council of Bishops elected Archbishop of Belgrade and Metropolitan of Serbia Dimitri (Pavlovich) as the first Patriarch of Serbia. The successor to Patriarch Demetrius was Metropolitan Barnabas of Sarajevo, who was elected in 1930, who at one time lived and studied in Russia. After his death, Metropolitan Gabriel of Montenegro became the new Primate of the Serbian Church.
Serious trials befell the Serbian Orthodox Church during the Second World War. In 1941, immediately after the occupation of Yugoslavia, the Germans arrested Patriarch Gabriel of Serbia. Having passed through the prisons, the Primate of the Serbian Church, together with Bishop Nikolay of Zhichsky, was sent to the Dachau concentration camp. The Orthodox Church experienced great persecution throughout the territory of occupied Yugoslavia. The situation of the Serbian Church in the newly formed Independent State of Croatia (NGH) was especially difficult. Hundreds of monasteries, churches and chapels were destroyed and plundered, hundreds of Orthodox priests were killed, sent to concentration camps and expelled from their homes along with their thousands of flock. Often Orthodox Christians were forcibly converted to Catholicism. Many archpastors also shared the fate of their Church. The Serbian Church has lost nine bishops.
After the end of World War II, the communists came to power in Yugoslavia under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito. The suffering of the Serbian Church did not stop. The authorities allowed the return of Patriarch Gabriel of Serbia to his homeland only in November 1946. Arriving in Belgrade, the Patriarch immediately faced numerous problems in organizing life.
Churches. Bishops and priests were arrested and imprisoned for long periods, many went to prison without any trial or investigation. A large number of priests were killed.
The state grossly interfered in the life of the Church: all registers of births were seized, civil marriage was introduced, teaching of the Law of God was stopped in schools, financial resources for the maintenance of priests who were at rest were transferred to the property of the Ministry of Labor. The Agrarian Reform Act deprived the Church of 70,000 hectares of arable land and forest land, and nationalized 1,180 church buildings. In southern Serbia, bishops were forbidden to return to their pulpits, and priests to parishes, and therefore in these areas a normal church life could not be established for a long time.
Patriarch Gabriel died on May 6, 1950. On July 2 of the same year, the enthronement of the new Primate of the SOC, Patriarch Vikenty (Prodanov), took place, who, despite pressure from the authorities, managed to avoid recognition of the self-proclaimed “Macedonian Orthodox Church”. On July 5, 1958, Patriarch Vincent died suddenly, and two months after his death, on September 13, 1958, Bishop German (Joric) of Zichsky was elected as the new Primate of the Serbian Church. During the patriarchate of German, several new dioceses were founded. At the same time, there were two splits in the SOC: in 1963 the “American” split, which was overcome, and in 1967, the “Macedonian” split, which continues to this day.
In 1990, Patriarch Herman, due to illness, was sent to retirement, and on December 1, 1990, Bishop Pavel of Raska-Prizren was elected as the new Primate of the Serbian Church. One of the first deeds of the new Primate of the SOC upon accession to the Patriarchal throne was the beginning of work to overcome the church schism in America and Canada. As a result, the long-awaited canonical unity was restored in 1992.
The collapse of Yugoslavia was accompanied by bloody and destructive wars, the Serbian people were again expelled from the territories of the former republics of the SFRY along with their priesthood. As in the Second World War, a large number of Orthodox churches were destroyed. Some bishops were forced to leave their places of service. Added to this was the suffering of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija, especially after the start of NATO aggression and the deployment of international KFOR forces in these territories.
Currently, the Serbian Orthodox Church has 46 dioceses, more than 3500 parishes, 205 monasteries, about 2000 priests, 300 monks and 1200 nuns. The training of future clergymen and teachers of the law is carried out in six seminaries; there are two theological faculties.
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