Written By: Diogenis D. Valavanidis
president of the Center for the protection of Christian identity and president of the council for religion of the Center for geostrategic studies
Every time I look at the official newspaper of the Serbian Patriarchate "orthodoxy", my thoughts stray to the days of our early youth when we as a family were subscribed to this newspaper, which during the communist-atheist rule was almost the only print media that informed us about all the events within the Serbian Orthodox Church.
I remember that one of the greatest patriarchs in the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church, blessed German, more than five decades ago launched the publication of the newspapers "orthodoxy", "St. Sava bells" and "theological views", which was a newspaper for serious theological issues and numerous activities aimed at improving teaching in seminaries.
Unfortunately, with sadness in my heart, I can say that the editorial policy of today's "Orthodoxy" is such that this newspaper, as the official gazette of the Serbian Patriarchate, in the true sense of the word, represents a picture book or advertising newspaper of the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which makes a classic example of anthropolatry! Also, the paper is complemented by affirmative content from the life of the Roman Catholic Church? This was done in such a way that the official Catholic news agency – CNA (Catholic News Agency) would envy his professionalism.
As an example, I will mention only some of the news that was transmitted in the last issue of 1374 out of 15. June 2024. the year, and in which the editorial board of the newspaper introduces us to the fact that "Pope Francis 5. June 2024. he received the professional staff and players of the Croatian national football team in the Vatican. The pope congratulated the Croatian national team on winning third place at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. in Qatar, and the Croatian team said that playing football has the honor of representing their nation.“?
Also, Serbian "orthodoxy "reports that" Cardinal Manuel Fernandez 22. May 2024. he visited Coptic Church head Tavadros II for the purpose of smoothing relations as Egyptian Christian Copts in March reacted sharply to the Declaration of Fiducia suplicans, which became moot over the recognition of same-sex marriages..“?
We also believe that any further enumeration would be meaningless, because we are convinced that the faithful of the Serbian Orthodox Church would be incomparably more interested in getting acquainted with the answers to numerous questions concerning the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church on the pages of patriarchal "orthodoxy".
We have long been familiar with the publicly expressed sentiments of patriarch porphyry towards Zagreb, Croatia, the Roman Catholic Church and especially the Roman Pope, which represents his personal attitude, which we are sure is shared only by a negligible number of believers of the Serbian Orthodox church. At the same time, the editorial policy of "Orthodoxy" should not follow the personal sentiments of patriarch Porfirije, because he is the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church and not the Archbishop of Zagreb, right?
When it comes to issues that concern the faithful of the Serbian Orthodox Church, in the first place, it refers to the scandalous giving of Tomos to the Archbishop of Macedonia and Ohrid Stefan in the Cathedral Church of St. Archangel Michael in Belgrade, in which he writes that the Serbian Orthodox Church, as the Mother Church, fully recognizes the autocephaly of the "Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric", which led to an additional breakdown of unity and harmony in the Orthodox world. Some local Orthodox churches recognized the newly formed church with the designation "Macedonian", others did not, while a number abstained. In any case, the greatest damage was done to the SoC itself, and this is due to the renunciation of jurisdiction over one of its important administrative parts.
Also, one of our most prominent canonologists, Prof. Dr. Miodrag Petrović wrote that "it is known that the Prespa agreement was the forerunner of Tomos on autocephaly. We are also aware of the fact that both were imposed by the American administration, which aims to break the unity of the Orthodox peoples, which is confirmed by the consequences caused by the Tomos for the“Ukrainian Orthodox Church " by the arbitrary Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.
However, what is not clear to us is the answer to the question of why Tomos uses the same name imposed by the communist-atheist Brozomorsk power, at the church-people's Council after the Second World War – the so-called. "Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archdiocese"? On top of that, Bishop Irinej Bulovic of Backa, otherwise the spiritual father of the Serbian Patriarch (it is symptomatic that neither completed the seminary), commenting on the Giving of Serbian churches and monasteries in the area of old Serbia (today North Macedonia) so-called. "Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archdiocese", December 2023. he told The Magazine " seal "that"we did not sell or hand them over, but gave them to use". Such a worded explanation would rightfully be regarded as nonsense and fraud, which gave the occasion to Prof. Dr. Miodrag Petrović to inform the Greek public about the truth and the essence of such a statement. On this occasion, the prominent Greek newspaper "Orthodox press" (Ορθόδοξος Τύπος), number 2487 of 15.03.2024. he published a front-page article entitled "Non-Canonical product of church-state cooperation", explaining that one who gives something to use does not thereby renounce ownership, while the Serbian Orthodox Church, by giving Tomos about autocephaly, publicly renounced ownership of Serbian churches and monasteries in the area of old Serbia. Prof. Dr. Petrović pointed out that the hasty giving of Tomos MPC was welcome to Patriarch Bartholomew and as an excuse to ignore the existence of autocephaly of the SOC. On this occasion, he added that "Bishop Irinej of bačka, with the help of patriarch Porfirije, acts in a similar way as Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.with such Tomos on autocephaly, they break the unity and conciliarity of the Orthodox Church".
This is best seen from the fact that shortly after the presentation of Tomos in the Cathedral Church in Belgrade, Patriarch Bartholomew I canonized patriarch Jeremiah I of Constantinople, who in 1531. he abolished the existence of the Patriarchate of PEC in favor of the Archbishopric of Ohrid. This sent a more than clear message to the dignitaries of the SOC, especially if one takes into account the fact that patriarch Jeremiah I bought patriarchal dignity for money, which is called in Church language Simonyfor this reason, according to church canon law, he should have been deprived of his patriarchal dignity, and not canonized with a saint.
In addition, heresy Patriarch Bartholomew I has not called the Serbian Orthodox Church by his name for a long time, but says "the Orthodox Church of Serbia", thus unequivocally indicating that it recognizes its autocephaly only within the state-recognized borders of the Republic of Serbia? It is almost unbelievable that such great and important signals from the Church of Constantinople were not noticed at the top of the SoC, and commented on in "Orthodoxy".
These are questions that interest the faithful of our church, not to read entertaining content marketed for the purpose of self-promotion, as well as texts about events within the Roman Catholic Church. They are much more interested in the answers to the numerous serious and difficult questions before the Serbian Orthodox Church, such as the decision made by the Holy Assembly of bishops at the session of 14. to 20. may O. G. on the introduction of new metropolises and the new title of bishops in metropolises. Believers wonder why this was done, since this decision can have severe consequences, i.e. leading to a schism in our church. We all know that the term archbishop also has the meaning of the head of the autocephalous church, as St. Sava originally carried this dignity and was the first Serbian Archbishop. This fact creates a doubt and concern that today's Metropolitans will also be called archbishops, which, God forbid, in the future one of them can create a new church from his archdiocese and separate himself from the SOC?
Finally, I decided to write this text, primarily inspired by the words of St. Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović, who said that in the struggle of truth and lies and justice, to be neutral means to help evil. As with a sharp sword, Christ divided the people into two groups, saying, "He who is not with me is against me." In other words, it means that those who are neither hot nor cold, therefore neutral, are disgusting to him. It is difficult to imagine a Christian who behaves neutrally in such circumstances, i.e. to stand aside and watch the battle between the crossbowmen and the crossbowmen.
St. Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović testifies that the Serbs of about 100 years ago were not nearly as educated as today's generations. Despite this fact, they did not complain of evil, but fought against evil. St. Francis says that today's generations lack heroism. In this context, he emphasizes that today people are a great fire without fire, and he notes that a burning fire is better, but a pile of wood in the snow, which is as cold as the snow. Heroism is the fire that ignites our heart and warms our soul.
"Orthodoxy," I think, given the circumstances, it would be more appropriate today to bear the name "solemnity"!
- July 2024.
