Bishop denies accusations he's schismatic

The defrocked Bishop Artemije said in an interview for Vecernje Novosti that the Diocese of Raska- Prizren is "still his". He also revealed that he was not invited to the recently held Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC). Bishop denies accusations he's schismatic "The decision to defrock me is unconstitutional, it is not canonical and has no bearing on me. I’m still what I was before," said Artemije. Accompanied by about fifteen monks, the bishop returned to Belgrade on Sunday. He is residing in a house in Bistricka St. Artemije, who is now a regular monk, did not receive permission to leave the Sisatovac monastery, which was supposed to be given by the Bishop of Srem Vasilije. Until that happens, he will not be able to move to another monastery. Artemije, commenting the charges from the SPC against him, told the newspaper Vecernje Novosti that he "had not separated from anybody". “I’m still united with the one holy and apostolic Church. Also with the holy Apostles, the Holy Fathers, St. Sava, Bishop Nikolaj, Father Justin and all the Orthodox Christians who respect the Church order. Those who have transgressed from that principle, should see for themselves who they are and where they stand,“ he stated. Asked whether he considers his objection to the decisions of the Church authorities to be a strike against the unity of the Church, Artemije said that he had showed that he was in favor of that unity when he previously accepted decisions he regarded to be non-canonical. “I’ve accepted them for the sake of peace and unity of the Church. I’ve respected the ban on performing religious rituals, so as not to give them any cause for further and worse actions. I’ve expected from the Holly Assembly of Bishops to solve this issue and to establish a canonical order in the SPC,“ he said. “I’ve also expected that the Holly Assembly of Bishops will have the same aim. However, their non-canonical decisions and sanctions just continued. They unconstitutionally banned me from staying in Kosovo and Metohija, from caring for my spiritual children, from performing religious rituals,“ added Artemije. He also said that he notified the Holly Assembly of Bishops that he would not comply to the non-canonical decisions until the ruling of the Church court, and that he was the lifelong bishop of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren. When asked why he went to Kosovo over the weekend instead of appearing before the the Holly Assembly of Bishops of SPC, Artemije answered that he had not even been invited to attend. “I wasn’t invited to the Assembly. And, instead of presenting these issues before the bishops and passing a decision about that, the Assembly appointed our former Vicar Teodosije Sibalic to be bishop, even though there is a living, canonical bishop,“ Artemije told the daily. “That’s a transgression for which they should all be defrocked. When I found out about that, I decided to show that I’m the legal bishop. The Diocese of Raska and Prizren is mine and by performing a liturgy in the monastery in Duboki Potok I wanted to show in front of the whole world what the heart of the problem was,“ he added. The defrocked bishop also stated that he was not afraid of being arrested for his actions over the weekend- when he and his followers entered several monasteries in Kosovo defying a Church ban - because does not believe there is reason for his arrest. “If someone has evidence of my guilt, then they should present it. They say I usurped Church property. Did I carried the monastery Duboki Potok on my back?“ Artemije wondered. The bishop was first earlier this year temporarily removed from his position at the helm of the eparchy following charges of embezzlement filed against one of his associates.

Bishop denies accusations he's schismatic

"The decision to defrock me is unconstitutional, it is not canonical and has no bearing on me. I’m still what I was before," said Artemije.

Accompanied by about fifteen monks, the bishop returned to Belgrade on Sunday. He is residing in a house in Bistrička St.

Artemije, who is now a regular monk, did not receive permission to leave the Šišatovac monastery, which was supposed to be given by the Bishop of Srem Vasilije. Until that happens, he will not be able to move to another monastery.

Artemije, commenting the charges from the SPC against him, told the newspaper Večernje Novosti that he "had not separated from anybody".

“I’m still united with the one holy and apostolic Church. Also with the holy Apostles, the Holy Fathers, St. Sava, Bishop Nikolaj, Father Justin and all the Orthodox Christians who respect the Church order. Those who have transgressed from that principle, should see for themselves who they are and where they stand,“ he stated.

Asked whether he considers his objection to the decisions of the Church authorities to be a strike against the unity of the Church, Artemije said that he had showed that he was in favor of that unity when he previously accepted decisions he regarded to be non-canonical.

“I’ve accepted them for the sake of peace and unity of the Church. I’ve respected the ban on performing religious rituals, so as not to give them any cause for further and worse actions. I’ve expected from the Holly Assembly of Bishops to solve this issue and to establish a canonical order in the SPC,“ he said.

“I’ve also expected that the Holly Assembly of Bishops will have the same aim. However, their non-canonical decisions and sanctions just continued. They unconstitutionally banned me from staying in Kosovo and Metohija, from caring for my spiritual children, from performing religious rituals,“ added Artemije.

He also said that he notified the Holly Assembly of Bishops that he would not comply to the non-canonical decisions until the ruling of the Church court, and that he was the lifelong bishop of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren.

When asked why he went to Kosovo over the weekend instead of appearing before the the Holly Assembly of Bishops of SPC, Artemije answered that he had not even been invited to attend.

“I wasn’t invited to the Assembly. And, instead of presenting these issues before the bishops and passing a decision about that, the Assembly appointed our former Vicar Teodosije Šibalić to be bishop, even though there is a living, canonical bishop,“ Artemije told the daily.

“That’s a transgression for which they should all be defrocked. When I found out about that, I decided to show that I’m the legal bishop. The Diocese of Raška and Prizren is mine and by performing a liturgy in the monastery in Duboki Potok I wanted to show in front of the whole world what the heart of the problem was,“ he added.

The defrocked bishop also stated that he was not afraid of being arrested for his actions over the weekend- when he and his followers entered several monasteries in Kosovo defying a Church ban - because does not believe there is reason for his arrest.

“If someone has evidence of my guilt, then they should present it. They say I usurped Church property. Did I carried the monastery Duboki Potok on my back?“ Artemije wondered.

The bishop was first earlier this year temporarily removed from his position at the helm of the eparchy following charges of embezzlement filed against one of his associates.