Serbian Church "won’t invite pope to Serbia"

The Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) will probably not invite Pope Benedict XVI to the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, Tanjug has learned. The SPC Holy Assembly of Bishops has not reached a consensus regarding that matter, the SPC Patriarchate told Tanjug. Serbian Church "won’t invite pope to Serbia" The 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan will be celebrated in 2013 in the southern Serbian town of Nis. Apostolic Nuncio to Serbia, Archbishop Orlando Antonini stated earlier that Pope Benedict XVI would not visit Serbia without a SPC formal invitation. The pope might have received the invitation if during his recent visit to Croatia he had visited Jasenovac and honored the victims of that concentration camp, in which, according to the most frequently quoted data and the report of the commission in charge of establishing the truth as regards that camp, 700,000 Serbs and about 100,000 Jews and Roma were killed, the Patriarchate pointed out. Since that did not happen, and the pope paid a visit to the tomb of former Croatian Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, who after World War II was tried for collaboration with the Nazis, it is likely that “the formal invitation to the pope will have to wait for some other times,” the Patriarchate released. Serbian Patriarch Irinej told Tanjug in the fall of 2010 that although it was a good idea, it was the Holy Assembly of Bishops that should decide on the visit. The patriarch also said that the pogrom of Serbs in Croatia during the last civil war could have been avoided had the ties between the two churches been stronger and their communication better. Russia, Serbia and Montenegro are the three prevalently Orthodox countries which have never been visited by the pope. The last time the dignitaries of the Eastern and Western Christian Churches met was way back in 1054, and the meeting resulted in the separation, often referred to as the Great Schism of 1054. Serbian Patriarch Irinej (FoNet, file)

Serbian Church "won’t invite pope to Serbia"

The 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan will be celebrated in 2013 in the southern Serbian town of Niš.

Apostolic Nuncio to Serbia, Archbishop Orlando Antonini stated earlier that Pope Benedict XVI would not visit Serbia without a SPC formal invitation.

The pope might have received the invitation if during his recent visit to Croatia he had visited Jasenovac and honored the victims of that concentration camp, in which, according to the most frequently quoted data and the report of the commission in charge of establishing the truth as regards that camp, 700,000 Serbs and about 100,000 Jews and Roma were killed, the Patriarchate pointed out.

Since that did not happen, and the pope paid a visit to the tomb of former Croatian Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, who after World War II was tried for collaboration with the Nazis, it is likely that “the formal invitation to the pope will have to wait for some other times,” the Patriarchate released.

Serbian Patriarch Irinej told Tanjug in the fall of 2010 that although it was a good idea, it was the Holy Assembly of Bishops that should decide on the visit.

The patriarch also said that the pogrom of Serbs in Croatia during the last civil war could have been avoided had the ties between the two churches been stronger and their communication better.

Russia, Serbia and Montenegro are the three prevalently Orthodox countries which have never been visited by the pope. The last time the dignitaries of the Eastern and Western Christian Churches met was way back in 1054, and the meeting resulted in the separation, often referred to as the Great Schism of 1054.