Serbian Patriarch Pavle died yesterday, aged 95. What this means for Serbian Orthodox Church is that a new leader must be chosen in next three months, according to the Church’s law. For Serbian state, the first visible sign of Patriarch’s death is proclamation of three day mourning period, during which the Republic Broadcasting Agency decided to temporarily cut off all “entertainment channels” from the cable TV. This is the first time something like this has been done during a mourning period and it already has caused bad publicity for the Agency.
As for the Patriarch Pavle himself, his reign over the Serbian Orthodox Church can be described as positive, but only if we take into account the claim that it could have been much, much worse, considering that he was the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the most turbulent times of recent Serbian history – from 1990 until this day. But, just like Spiderman, the Serbian Church has great power and along with it, the great responsibility. Has this power always been used in a best way possible for the good of the Serbian citizens? Definitely not. Could the blame for this be put entirely on the Patriarch? Definitely not, for his power over the Church was not absolute, and while he definitely was not a reformist, it wouldn’t be fair to call him a hardline retrograde either. His biggest mistake was perhaps that he did not condone actions, deeds and words of some other controversial Church officials.
Critical points of view regarding the Patriarch’s decisions and statements during his reign are not forbidden by Serbian law, but it always was a somewhat controversial topic and will remain a taboo in the society. Just like many other religious leaders’, his stands on women’s rights, homosexuality and atheism were not in touch with real life. Even so, among the candidates for the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch, he was considered a moderate – this means that there are two things certain about his successor: 1. his successor will not be a woman and 2. Serbian Orthodox Church will remain as rigid and dogmatic as it is right now – only if we’re lucky.
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2 July 1995
http://www.rexfeatures.com/set/245975
@ Viktor,
The Church has its own rules and beliefs as every organization. I am sure that homosexual organizations would for example not endorse any neo-nazi elements in their doctrine. Therefore, the Church has its own rules and if you don’t like them nobody forces you to be a follower.
Additionally, when Pope John Paul II died in Germany entertainment channels were cut off also, but nobody questioned that decision.
@ Owen
I thought secularization is wished, thus you shouldn’t expect the late Patriarch to be political. Besides, ever since his enthronement he called for peace and non-violence.
PATRIARCH PAVLE I, SUPPORTER OF KARADZIC AND MLADIC, ESCAPES MORTAL JUDGMENT
After hearing Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle I, who has just died in his 96th year, praised as an “ecumenist” by the Pope and a “man of peace” by the German Catholic Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has expressed regret that the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Patriarch has escaped mortal judgment.
GfbV/STP President Tilman Zülch observed that “Pavle maintained very close and friendly relations with the two major Bosnian Serb war criminals Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic during the time when they were imprisoning more than 200,000 Bosnian Muslims and Catholics in concentration and detention camps and 20,000 Bosnian Muslim women were being systematically raped”. The Patriarch remained silent as Serbian troops commanded by the two war criminals destroyed centuries-old mosques and madrassas (a total of 1186) and over 500 Catholic churches and other religious buildings.
Throughout Serb-occupied Bosnia only a single mosque was left standing. Pavle, who conferred his blessing on the war criminals on a number of occasions, later sought to gloss over his support for genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina later with vague declarations in support of peace. Pavle’s macabre involvement is illustrated by the photograph above which shows him blessing Radovan Karadžić (currently before the International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague) and Ratko Mladić (protected for years by the Serbian authorities and the Serbian Army).
“We are still waiting for Archbishop Zollitsch, a child survivor of a Tito concentration camps where thousands of Danube Swabian women and children perished, to show some respect at least for the victims of Sarajevo and Srebrenica”, Zülch added.
Srebrenica genocide
http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com
Cvijus, blessing the perpetrators of murder, rape and torture isn’t a political act? Did calling for peace and non-violence ever include apologising for colluding with war and violence?
Thanx for that photo,Owen.
It shows how great man Patriarch Pavle was.
He always stood with his people.
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