Official Serbian Orthodox Church
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The
Serbian Orthodox Church (
Serbian: Српска Православна Црква /
Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva; СПЦ /
SPC) or the
Church of Serbia is one of the
autocephalousOrthodox Christian
churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople
, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia. It is the second
oldest
Slavic Orthodox Church in the world (after the
Bulgarian Orthodox
Church), as well as the westernmost
Eastern church in
Europe.It exercises jurisdiction over Orthodox
Christians in Serbia and surrounding Slavic and other lands, as
well as
exarchates and patriarchal
representation churches around the world. The
Patriarch of Serbia serves as first
among equals in his church; currently, there is no patriarch since
the death of
Patriarch
Pavle on 15 November 2009.
The
Serbian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, member of the
Orthodox communion, located primarily in Serbia
(including
Kosovo
), Bosnia and Herzegovina
, Montenegro
and Republic of Macedonia
, as well as Croatia
.
Since many Serbs have emigrated to foreign countries, there are now
Serbian Orthodox communities worldwide.
The Serbian Orthodox Church claims to own many significant
Christian
relics, such as the right hand of
John the Baptist,
Saint George's hand and skull parts,
Holy Cross segments,
St.
Paraskevi's finger, body of
St.
Vasilije of Ostrog, etc.
Official name
History
Middle ages
The
Serbs were converted to
Christianity not long after their arrival in
the
Balkans, before the
Great Schism split the Christian Church
into rival Latin-speaking (
Roman
Catholic) and Greek-speaking (
Eastern Orthodox) Churches. During the
early
Middle Ages, the religious
allegiance of the Serbs was divided between the two churches
.
The various Serbian principalities were united ecclesiastically in
the early 13th century by
Saint Sava, the
son of the Serbian ruler and founder of the Serbian medieval state
Stefan Nemanja and brother of
Stefan Prvovenčani, the
first Serbian king. Sava persuaded the
Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople to establish the Church in Serbia as an
autocephalous body, with Sava himself as its archbishop,
consecrated in 1219. This sealed Orthodox Christian supremacy in
the Serbian realm, which was up until then divided between
Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
The status
of the Serbian Orthodox Church grew along with the growth in size
and prestige of the medieval Kingdom of Serbia
. After King Stefan Dušan assumed the imperial title of
tsar, the Archbishopric of Peć
was
correspondingly raised to the rank of Patriarchate in 1346.
In the century that followed, the Serbian Church achieved its
greatest power and prestige.
From 16th to 19th century
Serbian Patriarchate of Peć (16th-17th
century)
In 1459, the
Ottoman Empire conquered
Serbia and made much of the former kingdom a
pashaluk. Although some Serbs converted to
Islam, most continued their adherence to the Serbian
Orthodox Church.
The Church itself continued in existence throughout the Ottoman
period, though not without some disruption. After the death of
Patriarch Arsenios II in 1463,
a successor was not elected.
The Patriarchate was thus de facto
abolished, and the Serbian Church passed under the jurisdiction of
the Ecumenical
Patriarchate
. The Serbian Patriarchate was restored in
1557 by the
sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, much
thanks to the famous
Mehmed-paša Sokolović, when
Macarios, his brother or
cousin, was elected Patriarch in Peć.
The restoration of the Patriarchate was of great importance for the
Serbs because it helped the spiritual unification of all Serbs in
the
Turkish Empire. After consequent
Serbian uprisings against the Turkish occupiers in which the Church
had a leading role, the
Turks
abolished the Patriarchate once again in 1766. The Church remained
once more under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople.
This period of so-called "Phanariots" was a
period of great spiritual decline because the Greek
bishops had
very little understanding of their Serbian flock.
During this period, many
Christians
across the Balkans converted to Islam to avoid severe taxes imposed
by the Turks in retaliation for uprisings and continued resistance.
Many Serbs migrated with their hierarchs to
Habsburg Monarchy where they had been
granted autonomy.
The seat of the archbishops was moved from
Peć to Karlovci
. The new Serbian
Metropolitanate of Karlovci
would become a
patriarchate
in 1848.
Modern history
The church's close association with Serbian resistance to Ottoman
rule led to Serbian Orthodoxy becoming inextricably linked with
Serbian national identity and the new Serbian monarchy that emerged
from 1817 onwards. The Serbian Orthodox Church in Serbia finally
regained its independence and became autocephalous in 1879, the
year after the recognition by the
Great
Powers of Serbia as an independent state.
This church was known
as the Metropolitanate of Belgrade, thus in the end of the 19th
century and beginning of the 20th century, two separate Serbian
Churches existed - the Patriarchate of Karlovci in the
Habsburg Monarchy and the Metropolitanate of Belgrade in
the Kingdom of
Serbia. The
Cetinje Metropolitanate held
successorship to the Serb Patriarchate in Peć, its Vladikas were
titled "Exarchs of the Peć Throne"
After
World War I all the Orthodox Serbs
were united under one ecclesiastical authority, and two Serbian
churches were united into the single
Patriarchate of Serbia in 1920 with
the election of
Patriarch
Dimitrije.
It gained great political and social
influence in the inter-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, during which time it successfully campaigned
against the Yugoslav government's intentions of signing a concordat with the Holy
See.
In
retaliation to Serbian oppression during the Second World War the Serbian Orthodox
Church suffered severely from persecutions by the occupying powers
and the rabidly anti-Serbian Ustaše
regime of Independent State of Croatia
, which sought to create a "Croatian Orthodox Church" which
Orthodox Serbs were forced to join. Many Serbs were killed
during the war; bishops and priests of the Serbian Orthodox Church
were singled out for persecution, and many Orthodox churches were
damaged or destroyed.
After the war the Church was suppressed by the
Socialist government of
Josip Broz Tito, which viewed it with
suspicion due to the Church's links with the exiled Serbian
monarchy and the nationalist
Chetnik
movement. Along with other ecclesiastical institutions of all
denominations, the Church was subject to strict controls by the
Yugoslav state, which prohibited the teaching of religion in
schools, confiscated Church property and discouraged religious
activity among the population.
The gradual demise of Yugoslav socialism and the rise of rival
nationalist movements during the 1980s also led to a marked
religious revival throughout Yugoslavia, not least in Serbia. The
Serbian Patriarch,
Pavle,
supported the opposition to
Slobodan Milošević in the
1990s.
The
Macedonian Orthodox
Church was created in 1967, effectively as an offshoot of the
Serbian Orthodox Church in what was then the
Socialist Republic of
Macedonia, as part of the Yugoslav drive to build up a
Macedonian national identity.
This was strongly resisted by the Serbian Church, which does not
recognize the independence of its Macedonian counterpart. Campaigns
for an independent
Montenegrin Orthodox Church have
also gained ground in recent years.
The
Yugoslav wars gravely impacted
several branches of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Many Serbian
Orthodox Church clergy supported the war, while others were against
it.
Many
churches in Croatia were damaged
or destroyed since the beginning of the war in that country in
1991. The bishops and priests and most faithful of
the eparchies of Zagreb
, of Karlovac
, of Slavonia
and of Dalmatia became
refugees. The latter three were almost completely abandoned
after the exodus of the Serbs from Croatia in 1995.
The eparchy of
Dalmatia also had its see temporarily moved to Knin
after the
Republic of Serbian
Krajina was established. The eparchy of Slavonia had its see moved
from Pakrac
to Daruvar
. After
Operation
Storm, two monasteries were particularly damaged:
The eparchies of Bihać and Petrovac, Dabar-Bosnia and Zvornik and
Tuzla were also dislocated due to the
war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The
eparchy see of Dabar-Bosnia was temporarily moved to Sokolac
, and the see of Zvornik-Tuzla to Bijeljina
. Over a hundred Church-owned objects in the
Zvornik-Tuzla eparchy were destroyed or damaged during the war.
Many monasteries and churches in the Zahumlje eparchy were also
destroyed. Numerous faithful from these eparchies also became
refugees.
By 1998 the situation had stabilized in both countries. Most of the
property of the Serbian Orthodox Church was returned to normal use,
the bishops and priests returned, and that which was destroyed,
damaged or vandalized was restored.
The process of rebuilding several
churches is still under way, notably the cathedral of the Eparchy of Upper Karlovac in
Karlovac. The return of the SOC faithful also
started, but they are not nearly close to their pre-war numbers, as
of 2004.
Eparchy of Ras and Prizren, which
includes whole of Kosovo
Due to the
Kosovo War, after 1999
numerous Serbian Orthodox holy sites in the province were left
occupied only by clergy.
Since the arrival of NATO
troops in
June 1999, 156 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries have been
damaged or destroyed and several priests have been killed.
During the few days of the 2004
unrest
in Kosovo, 35 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were
damaged and some destroyed by Albanian mobs. Thousands of Serbs
were forced to move from Kosovo due to the numerous attacks of
Kosovo Albanians on Serbian churches and Serbs.
As a
reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration
of independence, the Serbian
government Minister of Religion Radomir Naumov (DSS) decided to pay the salaries
to Serbian Orthodox clergy in Kosovo.
Adherents
Site
Adherents.com estimates the
number of believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church to be between
6,500,000 and 7,500,000, while other estimates go up to 11,000,000.
Orthodoxy is the largest single religious
faith in Serbia with 6,371,584 adherents (84% of the
population belonging to it), and in Montenegro with 460,383 (74%).
It is the
second largest faith in Bosnia and Herzegovina with 36% of adherents.
Structure
The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church is the
patriarch.
He is also the head (metropolitan) of the Metropolitanate of
Belgrade
and Karlovci. Currently, there is no patriarch since the
death of
Patriarch Pavle
on 15 November 2009. The full title of the patriarch is
His
Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and
Karlovci, Serbian Patriarch.
The highest body of the Church is the Holy assembly of Bishops ( ).
It is consisted of the Patriarch, the
Metropolitan,
Bishops,
Archbishop of Ohrid and
Vicar Bishops. It meets twice
a year in spring and in autumn. Holy assembly of Bishops makes
important decisions for the church's life and elects the
patriarch.
The executive body of the Serbian Orthodox Church is the
Holy Synod. It has five members: four bishops and
the patriarch. Holy Synod takes care of the everyday life of the
Church. It meets on regular basis.
The territory of the Serbian Orthodox Church is divided into:
Dioceses are further divided into episcopal
deaneries, each consisting of several
church congregations and/or
parishes. Church congregations consist of one or more
parishes. A parish is the smallest Church unit - a communion of
Orthodox faithful congregating at the
Holy Eucharist with the parish priest at
their head.
Holy assembly of Bishops
Metropolitans
Eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox
Church in Serbia
Eparchies and monasteries of Serbian
Orthodox Church in Vojvodina
Bishops
Vicar bishops
Vicar bishop (or
titular bishop) is a bishop who is not in
charge of a diocese. Vicar bishop bears in his title the name of a
town or region that is within a diocese. He has no independent
jurisdiction (even in his titular town), but is subordinate to his
diocesan bishop. Only large dioceses have vicar bishops. There are
six vicar bishops:
- Vicar Bishop of Hvostno (northern Metohija) Atanasije (Rakita)
- Vicar Bishop of Jegar Porfirije
(Perić)
- Vicar
Bishop of Lipljan
Teodosije (Šibalić)
- Vicar Bishop of Dioclea Jovan
(Purić)
- Vicar Bishop of Moravica
Antonije (Pantelić)
Autonomous Archbishopric of Ohrid
The
Autonomous Archbishopric of Ohrid or Orthodox Ohrid
Archbishopric is an autonomous archbishopric in the Republic of
Macedonia under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox
Church. It was formed in 2002 in opposition to the
Macedonian Orthodox Church, which
had had a similar relationship with the Serbian Orthodox Church
prior to 1967, when it unilaterally declared itself
autocephalous. Bishops from this archbishopric
are:
Worship, liturgy and doctrine
Services cannot properly be conducted by a single person, but must
have at least one other person present. Usually, all of the
services are conducted on a daily basis only in monasteries and
cathedrals, while parish churches might only do the services on the
weekend and major feast days. The
Divine
Liturgy is the celebration of the Eucharist. The Divine Liturgy
is not celebrated on weekdays during the preparatory season of
Great Lent. Reserve communion is prepared
on Sundays and is distributed during the week at the
Liturgy of the Presanctified
Gifts. Services, especially the Divine Liturgy, can only be
performed once a day on a single altar.
The Serbian Orthodox Church is characterized by
monotheistic Trinitarianism, a belief in the
Incarnation of the
Logos (
Son of God), a
balancing of
cataphatic theology
with
apophatic theology, a
hermeneutic defined by
Sacred Tradition, a concrete
ecclesiology, a robust theology of the
person, and a therapeutic
soteriology.
Ecumenical relations
The Serbian Orthodox Church is in
full
communion with 14 other
autocephalous (that is, administratively
completely independent) local
Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Art and architecture
The Gračanica monastery
Church architecture
Services are conducted in church buildings and involve both the
clergy and faithful. The original style of Serbian Orthodox Church
was the church built out of
wood. These
churches were typically found in poorer
villages where it was too expensive to build a
church out of stone.
Serbo-Byzantine Style
This is the typical style of churches built. This style of church
architecture was developed in the late 13th century combining
Byzantine and Raskan influences to
form a new church style.
By the end of 13th and in the first half of
14th century the Serbian state
enlarged over Macedonia, Epirus and Thessaly
up to the Aegean
Sea
. On these new territories Serbian art was
even more influenced by the
Byzantine
art tradition.
Gračanica
, which was entirely rebuilt by King Milutin in 1321, is
the most beautiful monument of Serbian architecture from the 14th
century. The church of this monastery is an example of a
construction that achieved the highest degree of architecture not
only in the Byzantine form but in the creation of an original and
freestyle exceeding its models. The wall creation in steps is one
of the basic characteristics of this temple.
The Kings's
Church in Studenica, characterized as an ideal church, was
built in the first decades of the 14th century.
By the end of the third decade of the 14th century the Pec
Patriarchate had finally been shaped. The exterior of the
Patriarchate is a vision of shapes characteristic of contemporary
Serbian architecture. On the major part of the outer walls paint
decoration was used instead of stone relief and brick and stone
decoration. A typical Serbo-Byzantine church has a rectangular
foundation, with a major
dome in the center
with smaller domes around the center one. The inside of the church
is covered with frescos that illustrate various biblical stories
and portrays Serbian
saints.
Western Influences
During
the 17th Century many of the Serbian Orthodox Churches that were
built in Belgrade took all the characteristics of baroque churches built in the Austrian
occupied regions where Serbs lived. The
churches usually had a bell tower, and a single nave building with
the iconostasis inside the church covered with
Renaissance-style paintings.
These
churches can be found in Belgrade and the northern half of Serbia, which were
occupied by the Austrian
Empire
from 1717 to 1739, and on the border with Austrian
(later Austro-Hungarian empire)
across the Sava and Danube rivers from 1804 when Serbian statehood
was re-established.
Icons
Icons are replete with
symbolism meant to
convey far more meaning than simply the identity of the person
depicted, and it is for this reason that Orthodox
iconography has become an exacting science of
copying older icons rather than an opportunity for artistic
expression. The Orthodox believe that the first icons of
Christ and the
Virgin Mary
were painted by
Luke the
Evangelist. Orthodox regard their depiction of
Christ as accurate, with
Christ
having brown semi-curly hair, brown eyes, and
Semitic features (the
Virgin
Mary being similar). The personal, idiosyncratic and creative
traditions of
Western European
religious art are largely lacking in
Orthodox
iconography before the 17th
century, when Russian icon painting was strongly influenced by
religious paintings and engravings from both
Protestant and
Catholic
Europe. Greek icon painting also began to take on a strong romantic
western influence for a period and the difference between some
Orthodox icons and western religious art began to vanish. More
recently there has been a strong trend of returning to the more
traditional and symbolic representations.
Icons are not considered by the Orthodox to be "graven images" or
idols, but prohibitions against three-dimensional statuary are
still in place, though before the crisis of Iconoclasm there was an
Eastern Christian tradition of statuary, though not as major as in
the West. Biblical prohibitions against material depictions have
been altered by
Christ (as God) taking on
material form. Also, it is not the wood or paint that are
venerated, but rather God is through the individual (or event)
portrayed.
Large icons can be found adorning the walls of churches and often
cover the inside structure completely. Orthodox homes often
likewise have icons hanging on the wall, usually together on an
eastern facing wall, and in a central location where the family can
pray together.
Icons are often illuminated with a candle or oil lamp. (Beeswax for
candles and olive oil for lamps are preferred because they are
natural and burn cleanly.) Besides the practical purpose of making
icons visible in an otherwise dark church, both candles and oil
lamps symbolize the Light of the World which is
Christ.
Tales of miraculous icons that moved, spoke, cried, bled, or gushed
fragrant myrrh are not uncommon, though it has always been
considered that the message of such an event was for the immediate
faithful involved and therefore does not usually attract crowds.
Some miraculous icons whose reputations span long periods of time
nevertheless become objects of
pilgrimage
along with the places where they are kept.
See also
Notes
- http://www.eparhija-dalmatinska.hr/Frames-e.htm
- see: Orthodox Ohrid
Archbishopric
- Србија : Мошти светог Ђорђа у Прокупљу : ПОЛИТИКА
- Serbia To Pay Kosovo Church Bills,
BalkanInsight.com, February 29, 2008
- REPUBLICKI ZAVOD ZA STATISTIKU - Republike Srbije
- see: Religion in Montenegro
- see: Religion in Bosnia and
Herzegovina
- СВЕТИ АРХИЈЕРЕЈСКИ САБОР СРПСКЕ ПРАВОСЛАВНЕ ЦРКВЕ, st
the Serbian Orthodox Church web site
- For the references on names, see: List of the
Eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church
- Serbian Orthodox Church: Bishop Atanasije Clebrates Memorial Service for the
Victims of the NATO Bombings Against Serbia, 24 March
2008
- Projekat Rastko: SREDNJI VEK I ETNIČKE PRILIKE HA BALKANU PRE
DOSELJAVANJA SRBA
- Vikarni Episkop jegarski PORFIRIJE (Perić) at
www.spcportal.org
- VIKARNI EPISKOP LIPLJANSKI TEODOSIJE
- VIKARNI EPISKOP DIOKLIJSKI JOVAN
- VIKARNI EPISKOP MORAVIČKI ANTONIJE
- B I O G R A P H Y OF THE BISHOP OF STOBI AND
ADMINISTRATOR OF STRUMITSA KYR DAVID on www.poa-info.org
References
Further reading
External links
was damaged by unknown Croatian assailants. It is located at the
southern slopes of Velebit
, halfway between Obrovac
and Knin. Monastery was built in 1317.
was looted to an extent. It is located in the
Krka
National Park
by the river Krka. In 1345, this monastery was
mentioned for the first time as the endowment of princess Jelena Šubić .
and All Italy
Jovan
(Pavlović)
and Canada
of the
New Gračanica Metropolitanate
Longin (Krčo)
Irinej (Dobrijević)
Irinej
(Bulović)
Jefrem (Milutonović)
and
Petrovac
Hrizostom (Jević)
and Scandinavia Dositej
(Motika)
Mitrophan (Kodić)
Irinej
(Gavrilović)
and Baranja Lukijan
(Vladulov)
and
Prizren
Artemije (Radosavljević)
Lavrentije
(Trifunović)
Vasilije
(Vadić)
Milutin (Knežević)
Pahomije
(Gačić)
and Tuzla
Vasilije
(Kačavenda)
Jovan VI
and locum tenens of
Bitola
Marko
(Kimev)
and locum tenens of Debar
and
Kičevo
Joakim
(Jovčeski)
David (Ninov)
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