Good Mourning, Serbia
Or should that be – good grief?
The late Patriarch Pavle was a modest man, often using the public transportation to move about.
His church colleagues, however, are not that modest. Being a priest in Serbia often means one enjoys life more than one’s profession recommends. Street reporters have managed to snap this photo of couple of priests doing some pre-funeral shopping at – Hugo Boss.
You don’t need Fashion Channel to know what’s good.
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Mufti Zukorlic’s photo-montage blunder
We Are Sailing
Yesterday I walked down to Saborna Crkva, and in the bit of the street that goes into Kosančićev Venac, there was pretty much a valet parking for VIP (Very Important Priests) guests… Modesty my ass…
Patriarch Pavle was great person.
Dejan, unfortunately because Pavle was modest it doesn’t mean that all priests are modest
But the question is – are they supposed to be modest? Maybe I have a wrong perception of how a priest is supposed to act.
For me, late Patriarch’s lifestyle was a good example of this. In that way, I can accept his conservative views because his lifestyle somehow reflected that he truly believed in them.
These priests, on the other hand – I can’t take what they are saying seriously, and have no respect or understanding for their stands on, say, women or gay issues. It’s like with any nonprofit organization, or political party for example – as soon as the high ranking people start to act this way, I lose respect for their cause.
Viktor – I appreciate your sentiment, but I also recognize that there are many sincere people who regarded the Patriarch as a great man and a spiritual leader, especially through some of Srbija’s worst days. Nonetheless, I agree that this spectacle was mainly media-generated.
I would ask any Serb commenting here to guess how many of “the faithful” had stepped foot in any church during the last 10 years (or ever), but somehow managed to grieve so heavily as to wait for 8 hours to see and bow to a man that they may have had respect for, but never followed.
As I have often said to many friends here, I have never – and I mean NEVER – seen a country with so much religion, and so little belief in God or the teachings of the church. This is ridiculous. And I am a committed Christian.
Thanks for the excellent blogging – as always.
sorry – one last note – you are entirely correct. The church is corrupt, takes advantage of “what it means to be a Serb”, and is hypocritical. I hope I’m not misinterpreting what you’re trying to say. The “VIP” parking, Hugo Boss shopping, etc. is just another sigh of this. Martin Luther nailed his theses to the church door for a reason, and it wasn’t to “start a new religion”. He saw the disconnect between what the church was supposed to be, and the corrupt institution it had become, and he finally had enough. Perhaps the time has come here now (though I seriously, seriously doubt it for aforementioned reasons).
Thanks for the chance to comment – again.
Viktor, as I said in a previous post, the Church positions are how they are and it is their right to have whatever they are. Can you imagine a gay organization embracing nazi doctrines, because they are expected to by some groups? As for modesty, yes, some clerics are supposed by the Christian philosophy to be modest, as the late Patriarch was, but these two examples show how diverse streams exist in the Church and it should be our good will to help the Church to follow the path that the late Patriarch established.
David, I am also speaking here as a devout Christian and I may say that in general I agree with you, however I also believe that better ever than never should people enter a church, even to pay their respects to the Patriarch. Besides, the essence of our faith is not to count how often does one attend the church…
Cvijus, what has the late Patriarch exactly established?
The fact that Pavle sometimes walked around the city or even took public transport is just a tip of the iceberg. Pavle himself had a decent car-park (I know this for a fact), he had personal drivers and generally lived the life of luxury. But that’s besides the points…
The point is that it was PAVLE who promoted and blessed building of Churches when his flock had nothing to eat, and it was PAVLE who encouraged and blessed outrageous corporate practices of monasteries (just take a look at how many people e.g. Studenica employs to work their land and staff their hotels).
Under Pavle’s reign, the Church rotted in corruption, war mongering and all sorts of scandals, and it went into far-right lunacy.
There is a word for when a person says one thing and does another: hypocrisy. And that’s what Pavle was, a hypocrite.
Dejan, the Patriarch established with his life new standards of behavior for the following Patriarch which will be met very hardly. Such standards are the measure by which he would be popular and in order for the Church to keep its influence these standards will have to bet.
I have a serious reason your claims about the Patriarchs alleged lifestyle, as I have many acquaintances who were very close to him and what was circulated in the media was not exaggerated (maybe for the first time in our media). Besides, he lived in a very small apartment in the outskirts and went to the center using the public transportation (when it was raining) or by foot. For over two years I have seen him in the bus or on the street on his way to the Patriarchy on a daily basis.
What’s wrong with building new churches or employing people in monasteries? It provides employment and food, so this is a welfare perspective of the Church. Or maybe you would condemn the Patriarch also for employing young artists to restore icons?
Leaving for over 60 years in a fanatical far-left lunacy makes some turn far-right. The corruption, scandals, war mongering (Filaret) etc. were there before Pavle.
I will not comment on the hipocricy accusations since I don’t react to stupid remarks.
Cvijus, there are some doctrines that no ideology in their right mind would adopt, and nazism is one of those doctrines, so the parallel is a bit unfortunate, but I see your point. And I agree – Orthodox Christianity is conservative when it comes to various issues. But times are changing, many things that were unacceptable in the past for the Orthodox Church are now accepted, and perhaps one day they will loosen up on these issues too.
Before we get into yet another “communist vs theocratic state” argument, let’s try to find a main subject for this post – should a priest set an example by being modest or should they also be allowed to enjoy the finer things in life?
It is true that the late Patriarch probably could have lived much more luxurious life than he actually did, being that he had to his disposal enormous wealth of the S.O.Church. But instead he chose to carry on with the same lifestyle he had even before he became the Patriarch – modest. If we take into account that some of todays priests and candidates for the throne already live not-so-modest lives, what can we expect if one of them becomes even more powerful? That’s what I am afraid of in the future.
Cvijus,
1) Regarding employment: I’m perfectly fine with Church providing employment if they pay taxes like the rest of us do.
2) I am very sorry that you find my remarks stupid. Personal living arrangements of Pavle are all fine and dandy, but he had some responsibilities as the head of a prominent institution. It is not possible to divorce his personal life from the Church he lead. And that church grew, during his mandate, to be a everything but Christian and decent.
There are three ways to explain it: either he was stupid and naive (which everybody who talked to him says he wasn’t), or he was incapable to expose to serious scrutiny and punish the rotten elements of the church, or he was a HYPOCRITE.
M-W definition of “hypocrite”:
1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings
Viktor,
The BEST thing that could happen to SOC is that somebody like Amfilohije becomes the next patriarch. It would be the last drop before people who actually belong to the Church start asking for change.
Christianity? Did Pavle skip over the Sermon on the Mount?
Viktor, poverty and modesty can be just as effective a way of whitening the sepulchre that conceals dead men’s bones. Was Pavle known to be a fan of the Gospel of St Matthew?
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Good morning! Serbia have some nicest churches I ever saw.