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Abstract
After a brief overview of the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the article documents the dramatic changes in the last two decades that resulted in the unforeseen political, social and spiritual vigour the Serbian Orthodox Church currently enjoys. The images of vitality and growth, however, conceal problems and dilemmas which they bring along. Several of these are singled out, such as the clericalisation and centralisation of decision making, lack of transparency and the worrying neglect of many important spheres of church praxis – for example, education. The article concludes that the bitter division between conservatives and reformers among bishops will continue to haunt the church as it faces theserious challenges that lie ahead in relation to its mission. Furthermore, in theatmosphere of fragile peace in former Yugoslavia, all churches, including the Serbian Orthodox Church, need to dissociate themselves from extreme nationalism in their ranks before any attempts at inter-confessional dialogue and peace building can make sense.
Notes
1For a differentiated approach based on various surveys of countries of East Central Europe, see Tomka, Church, State.
2The slight drop is most probably related to a number of affairs plaguing the Church, and popular confidence is confirmed in polls done by the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CESID), the research agency SKAN and Strategic Marketing in Belgrade. Nevertheless, the highest confidence given to the church among all Serbian institutions is not unique. In fact The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) conducted the same research throughout the region and found similar results for all ten countries of Southeastern Europe.
3See Aleksov, ‘The New Role’.
4There are no histories of the Serbian Orthodox Church in English except for a synthesis by Pavlovich, The History of the Serbian Orthodox Church, used for the education of Serbian priests in America. In Serbian the most thorough is Slijepčević, Istorija Srpske originally written in exile and with limited sources. For the Serbian Church under Ottoman rule and its later impact, see Hadrovics, Le peuple serbe. For Church and state in post-Second World War Yugoslavia, see Buchenau, Orthodoxie und Katholizismus.
5Stokes, ‘Church and Class’.
6For the slow spread of nationalism due to the confessional character of Habsburg society (especially the role of the Karlovci Metropolitanate), see Aleksov, Religious Dissent.
7In 1921, Orthodox Christians made up about 47% of the population, Catholics were close to 40% and Muslims around 11%.
8For the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), which was based in Yugoslavia during the inter-war period, see Buchenau, ‘Russen und Serben’.
9For the analysis of Svetosavlje, see Buchenau, ‘Svetosavlje und Pravoslavlje’ and Falina, ‘Svetosavlje. A Case Study’. For the Kosovo battle in which the Serbian mediaeval kingdom was lost to the Ottoman Empire and the Kosovo myth that developed in church hymns and popular epic, see Emmert, Serbian Golgotha.
10For St Sava memorial church, see Aleksov ‘Nationalism in Construction’.
11For the most recent view of the well-studied Concordat crisis in inter-war Yugoslavia, see Manojlović Pintar, ‘Još jednom’.
12Metropolitan Dositej (Vasić) of Zagreb died after being released from Ustaše captivity. Together with the brutally murdered Metropolitan Petar (Zimonjić) of Sarajevo and Bishops Platon (Jovanović) of Banja Luka and Sava (Trlajić) of Upper Karlovac, he was glorified and entered as hieromartyr on the diptych of the Serbian Church saints by the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1998. For more details, see Đurić, Golgota.
13For Union attempts and Islamisation of Serbs and their consequences, see Aleksov, ‘The “Union”’ and ‘Perception of Islamization’.
14The recent view on the conflict from a high-ranking priest in the Serbian Orthodox Church is Džomić, Srbska Crkva. For the sociological analysis of the schism, see Fahey and Vrga, ‘The Anomic Character’ and ‘The Relationship of Religious Practices’.
15Cf. Perica, Balkan Idols. For a case study on the involvement of churches in fostering nationalism and inter-ethnic hostility, see Aleksov, ‘Marian Apparitions’.
16The scope of this article does not allow for contemplation on the nature and controversies of Velimirović's writing. On the issue of Velimirović's antisemitism, see Byford, Denial and Repression.
17Radić, ‘The Church’ cites the Synod's Official Letter to the International Peace Conference held in The Hague.
18See the speech of Bishop Fotije of Dalmatia on October 14, 2009 available at: http://www.spc.rs/sr/vladika_fotije_beseda_na_praznik_pokrova_presvete_bogorodice. Similarly bishops in Tuzla, Bihać and the Metropolitan of Sarajevo now celebrate liturgies in their original sees and offer conciliatory words to local non-Serb authorities.
19Zoran Majdin, ‘Crkvena arhitektura. Retro u modi’, Vreme 764, August 25, 2005.
20Savo Gregović, ‘Od mora do gora, oltar do oltara’, Politika, December 27, 2009.
21For a detailed analysis of this issue, see Aleksov, ‘The New Role’, 369.
22The most influential author who advocates an episcopo-centric understanding of church structure is John Zizioulas (Metropolitan of Pergamon). For English language reference, see his Eucharist, Bishop, Church.
23See the statement on the attempt to introduce the non-denominational subject Religious culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina published on www.spc.rs on May 7, 2009.
24‘Crkvene finansije strogo čuvana tajna’, Politika, February 24, 2010.
25‘Imovina vraćena crkvama’, Večernje novosti, January 18, 2010.
26Jelena Beoković, ‘Luksuz ne priliči vladikama’, Politika, January 16, 2010.
27For gruesome images and details of the torture used in Crna Reka rehab centre see Prvoslav Karanović, ‘Ubijanje Boga lopatom’, Vreme 959, May 21, 2009.
28Aleksov, ‘The New Role’, 372–4.
29For more on the issue of RE see Aleksov, ‘Religious Education’ and Veronauka u Srbiji.
30Interview with Ivo Marković and Ferid Dautović, ‘Srljanje u još dublju krizu’, Danas, October 24, 2009.
31Statement published on the official site of the Serbian Orthodox Church on September 16, 2009.
32There are no serious analyses of extreme nationalist and racist groups which are on the rise in Serbia. A recent overview is Wiesinger, ‘The Continuing’.
33‘Patrijarh Irinej: Krajnje vreme za susret sa papom’, Blic, January 27, 2010, and ‘Patrijarh Irinej: Izvinjavam se muslimanima’, Blic, January 29, 2010.