Стаза Православља THE PATH OF ORTHODOXY THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA VOLUME 48 FEBRUARY 2013 NO. 02 NEWSSerb Memorials Destroyed in Kosovo Pristina, Jan. 21 (BIRN)—Three people have been detained after a World War II memorial was demolished in the town of Vitia and more than 60 Serbian graves were attacked across Kosovo on Sunday and Monday, police said. Twenty-seven Serbian graves were demolished in the municipality of Klokot, while 38 gravestones were attacked in the town of Prizren - 18 of them destroyed and 20 others moved. Police however insisted that the attacks were not a reaction to Belgrade’s forced removal of a controversial monument to ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Presevo in south Serbia on Sunday. “No connection should be made to the developments in Presevo,” Kosovo police spokesperson Brahim Sadriu told Balkan Insight. He said police had tightened security in areas where there are Serbian graves and monuments and had already detained three people over the Vitia monument demolition. Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga called the destruction “unacceptable and intolerant”. Jahjaga urged the authorities to “catch and bring to justice the perpetrators of this vandalism”. edict Of MiLan JubiLee begins in nis The government also condemned the destruction of the Serbian graves, saying it was “contrary to Kosovo’s efforts A year-long celebration marking 1,700 years since the Patriarch’s opening speech is included at the end of this to fulfill European civil values”. Roman Empire granted Christians religious freedom began article.] It was attended by an overflow crowd, including The EU rule of law mission in Kosovo, EULEX also on January 17 in the Serbian city of Nis, where Roman many government ministers and representatives of various called for the vandalism to stop. Emperor Constantine the Great was born. Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious communities. “Peaceful protest is normal in any modern, democratic Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan, issued in Among the highlights of the event was a performance society but the deliberate desecration of cemeteries and the year 313 A.D., proclaimed religious tolerance for by the choir of Russia’s Sretensky Monastery. The event religious sites is to be absolutely condemned,” EULEX said Christians in the Roman Empire and ended the era of the was covered extensively by the media, and was broadcast in a statement. Roman persecutions of Christians that had begun in the live on Serbian television. Belgrade on Sunday carried out its threat to remove the first century. Constantine is recognized as a saint of the Nis joins other cities with ties to the life of the Holy memorial to fighters from the Liberation Army of Presevo, Orthodox Church. Emperor which will figure in the year’s celebrations, Medvedja and Bujanovac that was erected last November in The celebration was opened by the chairmen of the including Milan, Italy; York, United Kingdom; Treves, Presevo, home to some 50,000 ethnic Albanians. preparations committee for the event, Serbian President Germany; Rome and Constantinople, present day Istanbul. The ethnic Albanian guerrilla force sought to unite Tomislav Nikolic and Serbian Patriarch Irinej. [The Homily of His HolinessPatriarch Irinej on p. 3 southern Serbia with Kosovo in the late 1990s but disarmed in 2001 following an internationally-brokered peace deal. 2012 Winter Retreat: King peter’s reMains return tO serbia Bringing Midwest Serb Orthodox Youth Together Snow made for a picturesque winter scene at the Nativity of the Mother of God Monastery in New Carlisle, Indiana for the 2nd Annual New Gracanica- Midwest Diocese Winter Youth Retreat December 26-30. The theme of this year’s retreat was “Keeping it Real”. The Winter Retreat allowed youth from several Great Lake states to come together and deepen their understanding of our Orthodox faith while strengthening their relationships with like-minded peers. See story on p. 5 The casket bearing the remains of King Peter II of Yugoslavia is seen during a memorial service led by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej in the chapel of the royal palace in the Belgrade suburb of Dedinje on January 22. The remains were returned from St. Sava Monastery in Libertyville, Illinois, where they had been buried since the King’s death in 1970. See Story on p. 4 IN THIS ISSUE: • OrthOdOx Leaders Meet with white hOuse, p. 4 • Our View, pp. 6-7 • serbian sectiOn, pp. 8-12 • page twO THE PATH OF ORTHODOXY february 2013 the path Of OrthOdOxy Violence against Egypt’s Coptic Christians THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA CAIRO. Jan. 17— In Egypt a Muslim minarets in neighboring villages called mob has attacked and destroyed a building on the Muslims to destroy “the church.” editOriaL sTAFF being constructed by a Coptic Orthodox As a result, the building was razed to the English Section Editors Serbian Editor parish. ground. V. Rev. Rade Merick, Senior Editor V. Rev. Nedeljko Lunich Hundreds of Muslims came out Law enforcement officers arrived 530 North Fourth Street 300 Stryker Ave of the mosque in the village of Fanous after the demolition of the building. No Steubenville, OH 43952 Joliet, IL 60437 with hammers, singing Islamic songs, one was arrested, as is often the case where email:[email protected] Fax: 815-741-1883 headed for the Coptic parish. The Muslims attack Christians. Such attacks email: [email protected] Copts were building a combined social have become more frequent since the Rev. Milovan Katanic hall and kindergarten. However, the rumor overthrow of Egyptian President Mubarek 65 South Keel Ridge Road Contributing Editor spread among the Muslims that Coptic and the coming to power of the Muslim Hermitage, PA 16148 V. Rev. Thomas Kazich Christians were building a church, and Brotherhood party. Phone:724-342-1198 P.O. Box 371, not a kindergarten. Loudspeakers from email: [email protected] Grayslake, IL 60030-0371 V. Rev. Dr. Bratislav Krsic Phone: (847) 223-4300 3025 Denver Street San Diego, CA 92117 Technical Editor Phone: 619-276-5827 Vesna R. Meinert email: [email protected] email: [email protected] Business and Circulation Address The Path of Orthodoxy P. O. Box 883 Bridgeport, WV 26330 email: [email protected] The Path of Orthodoxy is a monthly publication with a double issue printed for the months of July and August. Subscriptions are $12.50 per year for U.S. residents and $15.00 per year (U.S. funds only) for Canadian subsribers. Letters to the editor are welcomed and encouraged. All letters and manuscripts sub- mitted for publication must be signed and contain the author's name and address. Please send materials through email or MS Word format. editOriaL THE END OF MARTYRDOM It should be no surprise that the coming of a new year would evoke inside us a desire to want to change, to make promises to ourselves. I’d imagine it’s only natural. We crave new beginnings, a fresh start. I can still remember as a Mon River Blessed child the frustration of struggling with a school assignment which was instantly remedied by the crumbling of the paper and starting a new sheet. I get the same at Theophany satisfaction to this day. Though we usher in the New Year with these emotions of newness and the promise to change we can’t help looking back; or, as that new Carmichaels. PA—As they do every year, year’s ballad we’ve grown accustomed to hear in the West asks: “Should old Prota Dr. Rodney Torbic and the parishioners acquaintances be forgotten, And days of long ago?” of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church went to the banks of the nearby Monongahela River in southwestern Pennsylvania to bless the Indeed, that’s one thing each New Year inevitably brings, the remembrance waters there. They joined Orthodox Christians throughout the world in blessing water at of days of long ago: observances of anniversaries, milestones, and jubilees. the great feast which marks the baptism of Christ and the self-revelation of God as Trinity. And for that matter, this year is no different, save for the fact that what we In blessing water, the Church emphasizes that Christ has come to redeem and renew all of commemorate this calendar year is significant not only for us Serbs, or even the His Creation. In the lower photo the Cross fashioned out of ice is seen floating down the Orthodox world, but for all of Christianity. Namely, it is that remarkable date- river. the 1700th Anniversary of the Edict of Milan. A legal document issued in Milan, Italy in 313 that, among other things, states “…no one whatsoever should be denied the opportunity to give his heart to the observance of the Christian religion, of that religion which he should think best for himself”. Certainly there are a great many things that could be said both about this document and that particular time in history, and much more about the person to which this great Croatian NGO criticizes ruling victory is attributed, St. Constantine the Great. Over the course of this year I am certain we will hear much about that. Instead, let us consider for a moment the against Vukovic sisters most obvious result of this famous edict: it brought the age of the martyrs to an end. Zagreb, Dec. 19— A Croatian Human According to Documenta, during There is nothing gradual about the appearance of persecution in Christian Rights NGO has criticized a decision to make Operation Flash in the village of Medari 22 history. After all, it was shortly after the birth of Christ that Herod decreed two sisters, war victims who sued Croatia civilians were killed, including 11 women the killing of all little boys in his mad search for the true King of the Jews.