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Apostle Andrew , St Sava I
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1219 (lost in 1523), again in 1920
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1219 by Constantinople
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Patriarch Pavle
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Belgrade, Serbia
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Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia (disputed)
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United States, Canada, Europe, Australia
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Church Slavonic and Serbian
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15,000,000+
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Serbian Orthodox Church
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The ( Orthodox
Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after
Constantinople ,
Alexandria ,
Antioch ,
Jerusalem , and
Russia .
It exercises jurisdiction over Orthodox Christians in Serbia and surrounding Slavic and other lands, as well as
Exarch ates and patriarchal representation churches around the world. The
Patriarch Of Serbia serves as first among equals in his church; the current patriarch is His Holiness
Pavle .
The Serb Patriarch's full title is "Archbishop of
Peć , Metropolitan of
Belgrade and
Karlovci , and Patriarch of the Serbs."
The Serbian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, member of the Orthodox communion, located primarily in 's finger,
St Vasilije Ostroski ,...
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 Prvovencani , the first Serbian king. Sava persuaded the patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church to establish the Church in Serbia as an autocephalous body, with Sava himself as its archbishop, consecrated in
1219 .
The status of the Serbian Orthodox Church grew along with the growth in size and prestige of the medieval
Kingdom Of Serbia . When King
Stefan Dušan assumed the imperial title of
Tsar in
1346 , the Archbishopric of
Pec was correspondingly raised to the rank of Patriarchate. In the century that followed, the Serbian Church achieved its greatest power and prestige.
In
1459 , the
Ottoman Empire conquered Serbia and made much of the former kingdom a pashaluk ( to Muslim faith or law. Although many Serbs did convert 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 became a
Patriarchate in 1848.
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
1815 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 Orthodox churches existed - the
Patriarchate Of Karlovci in the
Habsburg Monarchy and the
Metropolitanate Of Belgrade in the
Kingdom Of Serbia .
, the largest Orthodox church in the world.]]
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 Dimitry . 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
Vatican .
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
Croatia , which sought to create a "
Croatian Orthodox Church " which Orthodox Serbs were forced to join. Several hundred thousand 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
Communist 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 communism 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 by the Yugoslav authorities 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 recognise 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 Serb Orthodox Church.
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-Petrovac, Dabar-Bosnia and Zvornik-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 Serb 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 .
During the wars in the middle-90's, some people from the Serbian Orthodox Church supported the unification of all lands inhabited mostly by Serbs into one state
Support for Greater Serbia - Serbian Orthodox Church
Due to the
Kosovo War , after 1999 numerous Serbian Orthodox holy sites in the province were left occupied only by clergy.
During the 2004
Unrest In Kosovo , about 300 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were damaged or destroyed.
The preservation and maintenance of the Church properties in Kosovo has been one of the issues considered in the process of resolving of the
Constitutional Status Of Kosovo .
Dioceses are further divided into
Episcopal Deaneries , each consisting of several
Church Congregation s and
Parish es. 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.
''The Orthodox Archdiocese of Ohrid''
The original style of Serbian Orthodox Church was the church built out of
Wood . This church built in Drven Grad, which means "Wood City", is a classic example of a wooden
Church . As the church is made purely of wood. These churches were typically found in poorer
Villages where it was too expensive to build a church out of stone.
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
Serbia n 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.
is built in Serbo-Byzantine style]]
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 .
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
Austria n 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 , which was occupied by the
Austrian Empire from 1717 to 1738, 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 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 Europe an
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. (1429).]]
Icons are not considered by the Orthodox to be "graven images" or idols, and prohibitions against three-dimensional statuary are still in place. 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.
