In Serbia - 4/1/13 TANJUG BELGRADE – Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Irinej addressed his traditional Christmas epistle to Orthodox believers in Serbia who celebrate the holiday according to the Julian calendar, with special emphasis on the position of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) where suffering and injustice persist. “Unrest and violence rule in Kosovo-Metohija. For decades and ...
TANJUG - 10/11/13 The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej, said that Serbia can not give up on Kosovo, and if the price for the entry into Europe is losing Kosovo, then, he said, we would rather be out of Europe. “If the price of entry to Europe is to secede Kosovo then we have ...
TANJUG - 2/8/13 BELGRADE -- The Serbian Army (VS) has reintroduced priests to its ranks this week - "after a break of 70 years," Tanjug is reporting. They include eight Orthodox Christian priests, a Muslim imam, and a Catholic chaplain. The appointment orders were read at a ceremony at the VS headquarters. Colonel Milan Aleksić said the reintroduction fulfilled ...
TANJUG - 23/7/13 BELGRADE -- Tuesday marks 14 years since 14 Serb farmers were ambushed and murdered while working in their fields in the village of Staro Gracko in Kosovo. SPC Bishop of Raška-Prizren Teodosije led a religious service in their memory, followed by a gathering in front of a memorial plaque in the center of the ...
TANJUG - 11/7/13 BELGRADE -- The Conference of European Churches (CEC) has called on the Macedonian government and PM Nikola Gruevski to ensure a fair trial for Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid. They were also urged to release him from custody pending his trial, in line with the country's criminal law provisions. The appeal was issued at the end ...
TANJUG - 1/7/13 PODGORICA -- SPC Metropolitan of Montenegro Amfilohije has referred to the western military alliance NATO as "the Fourth Reich." The media in Podgorica are quoting him as saying that NATO represented "a continuation of fascism and a desire to rule the whole world." This dignitary of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) also appraised that it ...
TANJUG - 13/5/13 BELGRADE -- Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Patriarch Irinej and President Tomislav Nikolić met on Monday and urged "absolute unity and responsibility". This is necessary "in the search for a solution to the Kosovo and Metohija issue as the most important national matter." “We wish to resolve the Kosovo and Metohija issue in a way that ...
TANJUG 11/2/13 BELGRADE -- Aleksandar Vulin says threats and protests in front of the Serb medieval monastery Visoki Dečani were an attempt to complete the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. According to the director of the Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija, they also aimed to remove any evidence of the existence of Serbs there. Vulin thanked members of the ...
TANJUG - 25/1/13 BELGRADE -- A SPC bishop based in Kosovo has said that the position of the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija (KiM) has not been this difficult ever since March 2004. Ethnic Albanians at that time organized widespread attacks on Serbs, their property, and holy places. “Eight full years have passed since the horrible event, ...
BETA, TANJUG - 21/1/13 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Incidents were reported from Kosovo on Sunday and Monday, including an attempt to stage an attack on a monastery, and desecration of several Serb cemeteries. In Kosovska Mitrovica, two firebombs were thrown at the municipal building, causing no injuries or material damages. The perpetrators "quickly escaped the scene", while members ...
TANJUG - 21/01/2013 PRIŠTINA -- An ethnic Albanian terrorist group used Facebook late on Sunday to call for the Serb Orthodox church in Đakovica in Kosovo to be destroyed. This is according to Priština's Albanian language daily Koha Ditore, which writes on Monday that the Albanian National Army (ANA), which previously announced "a mobilization" of its members, called ...
BETA, TANJUG - 8/1/13 GRAČANICA -- The Kosovo police, KPS, on Monday detained several young Serbs after they attended Christmas liturgy in Gračanica. The medieval Serb Orthodox monastery is located near a Serb enclave south of the Ibar River. Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Aleksandar Vulin told Tanjug that he wished to visit the police station ...
TANJUG 3/1/2012 BELGRADE -- The head of the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Hilandar in Mt. Athos, Greece, has sent a letter of support to President Tomislav Nikolić. In the letter, Archimandrite Metodije writes that the monastery supports the president's efforts to protect the Serbian national interests, and especially for creating a platform for the resumption of the talks ...
BETA, TANJUG - 25/11/2012 BELGRADE -- Serbian Patriarch Irinej said on Sunday that the Hague Tribunal had finally showed its true face by acquitting Croat Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač. He added that the Tribunal also proved that it was a political court. “With this verdict the Tribunal removed a mask from its face and finally showed ...
TANJUG 1/11/2012 SKOPJE -- The Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) has reacted to Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić's proposal for resolving a dispute with the Serbian Orthodox Church. In a statement, the MOC Synod said that they expected the proposal "to lead toward the resumption of the suspended dialogue between the churches". After a week-long analysis, the Macedonian Church welcomed President ...
TANJUG 1/11/2012 BELGRADE -- Serbian Patriarch Irinej says the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) "will joyfully accept the talks with non-canonical Macedonian Orthodox Church (MPC)". However, he specified in a statement for Tanjug on Monday, this will be possible "only in line with canons and previous agreements". The most important agreement was signed in Niš in 2002. “It is our ...
TANJUG 26/5/2012 BELGRADE -- The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church says "a new escalation of persecution targeting priests of the Ohrid Archdiocese in Macedonia was disturbing". The Synod appealed "to domestic and international public to prevent it", according to Tanjug. Bishop of Bačka Irinej said the escalation of persecution against the Ohrid Archdiocese (which is under the ...
TANJUG 17/5/2012 ORAHOVAC -- A group of ethnic Albanian youths provoked and threw a stone at Serb Orthodox Christian monk Dionisije in Kosovo on Tuesday. The monk was inside the monastery of saints Cosmas and Damian in the village of Žočište, near Orahovac. "A group of five to six young ethnic Albanian men, as they passed by the monastery, ...
TANJUG 19/4/2012 VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI is not planning to visit Serbia next year for the 1,700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, Holy See Spokesman Federico Lombardi has said. The Belgrade-based Religious Information Agency (VIA) reported that Lombardi said that the contacts with the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate included Pope's possible visit to the southern Serbian ...
TANJUG 12/4/2012 BELGRADE -- Serbian Patriarch Irinej called on Orthodox believers to safeguard and rightfully confess the Orthodox faith. He also called on them to pray for their brothers and sisters in Kosovo on the day of the resurrection of Christ. "We offer our unceasing prayers to our resurrected Christ for our brothers and sisters in Kosovo and Metohija. ...
23/3/2012 TANJUG BELGRADE -- The Serbian government decided Thursday to form a committee for exhumation and transfer of remains of members of the Karađorđević royal family to Serbia. The committee will be headed by Serbian President Boris Tadić, Minister of Religion and Diaspora Srđan Srećković told a press conference after today's session. Srećković said that the committee will comprise ...