serbianna
November 20, 2010 – 5:52 am
Well, if you were a Serbian priest, this week would not have been a pleasant one.
Serbian monk Davidovic was already arrested earlier this week for leading a protest that Serb police claims was not legal; days later Bulgarians join the fray and nab Bishop Jovan who is in exile from Macedonia, and yesterday Albanian separatist police arrested former Bishop Artemije in Duboki Potok monastery in Kosovo.
Davidovic and Artemije were arrested by “warrants” issued by the Serbian Orthodox Church which claims these man are causing a schism, while the arrest of Bishop Jovan comes after a warrant issued by the authorities in Skopje where the already schismatic so-called “macedonian” Orthodox Church accuses Bishop Jovan, just like Belgrade accuses Artemije, of mishandling money and causing religious discord.
Complex…! except for the embezzlement accusation as the most potent argument against any theological schism.
While Davidovic looks to be just a collateral damage in the attack on Artemije, Artemije himself looks to be a collateral damage precipitated by many forces who, for different reasons, may have seen Artemije as a liability.
What are some of those forces?
First, the western occupiers of Kosovo, repeatedly complained over Artemije and the way they expressed those complaints is by having the “mainstream” media such as Associated Press brandish Artemije as an anti-western Serbian nationalist.
Such branding of Artemije is a splendid augment for a faction of Serbian Orthodox Bishops who see Artemije as the ecclesiastical rival because he opposes ecumenism and is against rapprochement with the Vatican for variety of theological and political reasons. Serbia’s ecumenists like Bishop Irinej of Backa have been steadfast in denouncing Artemije.
Serbia has been courting the Pope for sometime and Vatican has reciprocated by not recognizing Kosovo. In return, Serbia’s ecumenists are pushing for a historical Pope’s visit using the 1700 years anniversary of the proclamation of the Edict of Milan by the Constantine the Great as the pretext. Constantine was born in what is today’s city of Nis and the city, which already has its airport named Constantine the Great soon will get one of the largest crosses in Europe.
Artemije could also be the casualty of Serbia’s Foreign Ministry that is led by Vuk Jeremic.
Artemije’s anti-Jihad rhetoric over Kosovo stood in the way of Jeremic’s diplomacy to the Islamic nations whom he was lobbying not to recognize Kosovo. During his visits to Egypt, Morocco and Algeria, Jeremic went out of his way to reiterate that there is no religious dimension to the Kosovo Albanian Muslim separatism. To understand the irritation one has to just read Jeremic’s press statements immediately following those meetings in 2009.
Some also point to Jeremic’s background who was vetted by the Washington strategists during Jeremic’s schooling at Harvard and inserted into Serbia’s so-called Otpor movement, Serbian wing of Washington’s color revolutions initiative.
Still others note that Jeremic’s dislike of Artemije grew during Artemije’s anti-Jihad rhetoric because Jeremic himself is of Islamic ancestry.
Says Wikipedia:
Through his maternal grandmother Sadeta Buljubašic (née Pozderac), the daughter of politician Nurija Pozderac, Jeremic also stems from a long lineage of Pozderac family considered one of the most influential Bosnian Muslim political family (see Hamdija Pozderac).
Finally, Artemije’s demise may have been precipitated by the selection of the new Patriarch of Serbia who, while in his 80s, wanted to be quick and decisive to eliminate any schism and corruption.
Artemije was soon accused of neglecting to oversee financial manipulation attributed to his secretary, monk Simeon and another handy-man in the midst of them both.
Monk Simeon ran off to Greece and was given sanctuary by the Greek courts by their ruling that Simeon is a subject of Serbian government’s political persecution.
While lack of any due process, public demonization of Artemije and dubious judicial persecution of him and his followers stinks to many on neo-Stalinist pogroms, majority of folks still sides with the Serbian Orthodox Church by deciding to believe that perhaps, just like the planted rumours, Artemije may desire to be a Church chief.
This atmosphere of angst and political forces that pressure for Artemije’s removal is a self amplifying loop of insidiousness that pits all parties to act in the extreme and it looks like the Church, behind whom stands the state, will win.
To cap the irony though, yesterday, the Serbian Orthodox Church requested help of the Kosovo Albanian separatist authorities that have been busy destroying Serbian churches until now.
Perhaps delighted, Kosovo Albanian separatist police dispatched their units “Rosa” and arrested Serbian priests not by the desires of an enraged Albanian Muslim mob but by orders of the Church they want to destroy in the first place, and now… they don’t know what to do with Artemije.
Well, if you were a Serbian priest, this week would not have been a pleasant one.
Serbian monk Davidovic was already arrested earlier this week for leading a protest that Serb police claims was not legal; days later Bulgarians join the fray and nab Bishop Jovan who is in exile from Macedonia, and yesterday Albanian separatist police arrested former Bishop Artemije in Duboki Potok monastery in Kosovo.
Davidovic and Artemije were arrested by “warrants” issued by the Serbian Orthodox Church which claims these man are causing a schism, while the arrest of Bishop Jovan comes after a warrant issued by the authorities in Skopje where the already schismatic so-called “macedonian” Orthodox Church accuses Bishop Jovan, just like Belgrade accuses Artemije, of mishandling money and causing religious discord.
Complex…! except for the embezzlement accusation as the most potent argument against any theological schism.
While Davidovic looks to be just a collateral damage in the attack on Artemije, Artemije himself looks to be a collateral damage precipitated by many forces who, for different reasons, may have seen Artemije as a liability.
What are some of those forces?
First, the western occupiers of Kosovo, repeatedly complained over Artemije and the way they expressed those complaints is by having the “mainstream” media such as Associated Press brandish Artemije as an anti-western Serbian nationalist.
Such branding of Artemije is a splendid augment for a faction of Serbian Orthodox Bishops who see Artemije as the ecclesiastical rival because he opposes ecumenism and is against rapprochement with the Vatican for variety of theological and political reasons. Serbia’s ecumenists like Bishop Irinej of Backa have been steadfast in denouncing Artemije.
Serbia has been courting the Pope for sometime and Vatican has reciprocated by not recognizing Kosovo. In return, Serbia’s ecumenists are pushing for a historical Pope’s visit using the 1700 years anniversary of the proclamation of the Edict of Milan by the Constantine the Great as the pretext. Constantine was born in what is today’s city of Nis and the city, which already has its airport named Constantine the Great soon will get one of the largest crosses in Europe.
Artemije could also be the casualty of Serbia’s Foreign Ministry that is led by Vuk Jeremic.
Artemije’s anti-Jihad rhetoric over Kosovo stood in the way of Jeremic’s diplomacy to the Islamic nations whom he was lobbying not to recognize Kosovo. During his visits to Egypt, Morocco and Algeria, Jeremic went out of his way to reiterate that there is no religious dimension to the Kosovo Albanian Muslim separatism. To understand the irritation one has to just read Jeremic’s press statements immediately following those meetings in 2009.
Some also point to Jeremic’s background who was vetted by the Washington strategists during Jeremic’s schooling at Harvard and inserted into Serbia’s so-called Otpor movement, Serbian wing of Washington’s color revolutions initiative.
Still others note that Jeremic’s dislike of Artemije grew during Artemije’s anti-Jihad rhetoric because Jeremic himself is of Islamic ancestry.
Says Wikipedia:
Through his maternal grandmother Sadeta Buljubašic (née Pozderac), the daughter of politician Nurija Pozderac, Jeremic also stems from a long lineage of Pozderac family considered one of the most influential Bosnian Muslim political family (see Hamdija Pozderac).
Finally, Artemije’s demise may have been precipitated by the selection of the new Patriarch of Serbia who, while in his 80s, wanted to be quick and decisive to eliminate any schism and corruption.
Artemije was soon accused of neglecting to oversee financial manipulation attributed to his secretary, monk Simeon and another handy-man in the midst of them both.
Monk Simeon ran off to Greece and was given sanctuary by the Greek courts by their ruling that Simeon is a subject of Serbian government’s political persecution.
While lack of any due process, public demonization of Artemije and dubious judicial persecution of him and his followers stinks to many on neo-Stalinist pogroms, majority of folks still sides with the Serbian Orthodox Church by deciding to believe that perhaps, just like the planted rumours, Artemije may desire to be a Church chief.
This atmosphere of angst and political forces that pressure for Artemije’s removal is a self amplifying loop of insidiousness that pits all parties to act in the extreme and it looks like the Church, behind whom stands the state, will win.
To cap the irony though, yesterday, the Serbian Orthodox Church requested help of the Kosovo Albanian separatist authorities that have been busy destroying Serbian churches until now.
Perhaps delighted, Kosovo Albanian separatist police dispatched their units “Rosa” and arrested Serbian priests not by the desires of an enraged Albanian Muslim mob but by orders of the Church they want to destroy in the first place, and now… they don’t know what to do with Artemije.
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