The Administrator of the Diocese of Raška-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija, Bishop Atanasije today served Holy Liturgy in Končul Monastery, also known as the “Nikoljača Church”, with the concelebration of Vicar Bishop Teodosije, five priests and two deacons. The Končul sisters with their abbess, Mother Minodora, sang at the Holy Liturgy together with the sisters of Gradac Monastery (Diocese of Žiča), who arrived with their abbess, Mother Efimija and hieromonk Vitalije. Also at the Liturgy was the former abbess of Končul Monastery, Mother Katarina, who has done much to restore Končul Monastery, gather a young sisterhood and build a new residence. Also taking part in the Liturgy were about ten faithful who regularly come to the monastery and three children.

Audio of the Sermon of Bishop Atanasije in the Koncul church (in Serbian) 15 Мb

Bishop Atanasije's sermon on the Fear of God (in Serbian) - 5 Mb

For days a group of monks of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren who do not acknowledge the hierarchy of the church or the decisions of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church dated 13 February 2010 and who have been placed under canonical prohibitions, together with certain like-minded individuals, led by monk Antonije Davidović of Crna Reka Monastery, against whom an ecclesiastical legal case has been initiated, have been disseminating throughout the cities of Serbia and in some monasteries a text entitled “Appeal of the Clergy, Monks and Nuns and Faithful to the Holy Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church Council” and collecting signatures of support.

This is a text that has been published on several anti-church Internet sites on March 19 this year that, under the guise of alleged support for Bishop Artemije of Raška-Prizren, who has been temporarily relieved of the duty of administering the Diocese, seriously undermines the unity of the church and the canonical hierarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In this “Appeal”, which most closely resembles sectarian pamphlets, there is a direct attack on the institution of the Holy Synod of Bishops, which is chaired by His Beatitude the Serbian Patriarch, and denigration of the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The drafters of this extremely ill-intended and anti-church text do not have honest intentions because they do not seek the solution for their concern, sincere in some, faked in others, in obedience to councilar church hierarchy but further complicate and make even more difficult the position of His Grace Bishop Artemije by associating his name with their non-church and destructive positions. Purportedly seeking justice, the drafters and proponents of this pamphlet rise against all law and order, resigning their canonical obedience to the canonically appointed administrator of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren, as well as to His Beatitude the Serbian Patriarch and the Holy Synod of Bishops, who requested that His Grace Bishop Atanasije accept this difficult and responsible duty, granting him, during the period of his administration, all rights of a diocesan bishop in order to reestablish law and order in the Diocese of Raška and Prizren, which has been seriously compromised especially from the moment when Simeon Vilovski was elevated to the office of bishop’s deputy and practically controlled the entire life of the Diocese.

Bishop Atanasije, the administrator of the Diocese of Raška-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija, visited Serbian villages - returnees to Metohija today, together with protopresbyter Bogomir Stević from Zvečan and presbytera Svetlana Stević, chairwoman of the NGO “Majka devet Jugovića” (Mother of the Nine Jugoviches). First, the village of Novake near Suva Reka, where twenty Serbian families have returned to their destroyed village. The NGO “Majka devet Jugovića” distributed 20 piglets, one for each family, among them. The piglets are a gift from the humanitarian organization “Srbi za Srbe” (Serbs for Serbs), which has been helping the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija for three years through “Majka devet Jugovića”. After speaking with the Serb returnees, Bishop Atanasije with Father Mihajlo Tosić and presbyter Aleksander Našpalić also visited the village Church of the Unmercenary Physicians on the hilltop above the village in the midst of torched Serbian vineyards. The foundation of the church (probably built on an older foundation) in the old Serbian cemetery was blessed by Bishop, later Patriarch, Pavle of blessed repose, and it was consecrated by Bishop Artemije soon after his arrival in this Diocese. In the tragic events of 1999 the church was vandalized and torched, and there was an attempt to destroy it using a bomb or dynamite but it was not destroyed. However, the graveyard around the church was destroyed, and there is not one intact tombstone. The original bell was stolen and taken away; another bell was given as a gift by a German sergeant, the Roman Catholic Miller, but two days ago, probably at night, it was toppled from the belltower and taken away by Albanian thieves. A few days ago the Serbs in the village of Novake caught two thieves from the neighboring Albanian village red-handed and the police took them to jail. The village has a lot of trouble with wolves, wild pigs and dogs, who have flooded this fertile valley from Novake to Gornja Srbica and Donja Srbica, where a vast majority of Serbs lived before the horrible events.

ДToday on St. Thomas Sunday the Administrator of the Diocese of Raška-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija, Bishop Atanasije, served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in St. George Cathedral in with the concelebration of Vicar Bishop Teodosije, four protopresbyters - Milenko Dragičević, Srđan Stanković, Živojin Kojić and Aleksandar Našpalić, and hierodeacon Kiril from Visoki Dečani Monastery. Some one hundred faithful from Prizren, Velika Hoča, Orahovac and Sirinička Župa took part in the Liturgy. For them this was another opportunity to gather in the newly restored St. George Cathedral since Bishop Atanasije had previously served Holy Liturgy in this church on the Sunday of Orthodoxy as well as an evening service before Easter. Singing from the choir was Dejan Ristić, a former student of the Prizren Seminary, along with two students from Greece. Most of the faithful in attendance took communion, including children and the four elderly women who came for the Liturgy from Đakovica. Bishop Atanasije awarded two priests with the office of protopresbyter-stavrophor: protopresbyter Milenko Dragičević (who has served as the parish priest of Velika Hoča for 30 years) and the bishop’s deputy for Prizren, protopresbyter Živojin Kojić, thus recognizing the two priests for their dedicated pastoral work. Vicar Bishop Teodosije delivered a festal homily. Attached is a photo gallery and a brief address by Bishop Atanasije.

Bishop Teodosije's Homily 9 MB (In Serbian)

Work on the renewal of Đurđevi Stupovi (Pillars of St. George) Monastery near Novi Pazar, the endowment of Stefan Nemanja from the 12th century and a UNESCO World Heritage Site is scheduled to resume as soon as late April or early May.

As Father Gerasim, the hegumen of this holy shrine, points out restoration will be supervised by experts of the Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments, as in previous years. “Everything is going according to plan, we expect the continuation of work on the great towers (pillars) which, once fully completed, restore the original appearance of the monastery. The towers are slowly ‘rising toward heaven’ and this summer they should reach the height of the monastery, and work on other parts of the church of St. George, which is at the heart of the monastery complex, will be going on at the same time,” said Father Gerasim.

The Administrator of the Diocese of Raška-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija, Bishop Atanasije, served Holy Liturgy today in the church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Goraždevac near Peć. Concelebrating with the Bishop were Vicar Bishop Teodosije and four priests. Taking part in the Holy Liturgy were about 150 faithful, especially children. A considerable number of the faithful took communion.

After the Liturgy, the Bishop gave out Easter eggs, talked to the people and children, and even played soccer with them. They also sang the old songs of Kosovo, and the residents of Goraždevac had prepared a lunch for the Bishops, clergy and faithful.

Tomorrow, on St. Thomas Sunday, Bishops Atanasije and Teodosije will serve Holy Liturgy in St. George Orthodox Cathedral in Prizren.

We are attaching a PHOTO GALLERY and excerpts from Bishop Atanasije's homily:

To all our readers we are sending our warmest Paschal Greetings

CHRIST IS RISEN - TRULY HE IS RISEN!

(The English translations of our previous news since March 26 has unfortunately been delayed. All who are interested to follow the recent news in our Diocese since March 26 may turn to our pages in Serbian and at least see the photogalleries.We hope the English translation of the all remaining news will be posted to our Site shortly)

The photos in the following slideshow cover the Easter Celebrations in Gračanica and Dečani Monasteries, the Paschal Vespers in Prizren and Dečani as well as the celebration in Mušnikovo village near Prizren and the Liturgy on Paschal Monday in Southern Mitrovica.