HUNDREDS JOIN HIERARCHS AND CLERGY FOR PAN-ORTHODOX VESPERS
February 21, 2010 – Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in
Chicago, Illinois, was filled to capacity on Sunday night as hundreds
of Orthodox Christians from the Chicago area prayerfully joined eight
hierarchs and scores of clergy for an annual Pan-Orthodox Vespers
Service honoring the Triumph of Orthodoxy and affirming the unity of
the “Faith that has established the Universe” (Synodikon of Orthodoxy).
The festive Vespers Service was
celebrated by host hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER of
Libertyville-Chicago (Serbian Orthodox Church), and concelebrated by
His Eminence Metropolitan IAKOVOS of Chicago (Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese), His Eminence Archbishop NICOLAE of America (Romanian
Orthodox Archdiocese), His Grace Bishop LONGIN of New
Gracanica-Midwestern America (Serbian Orthodox Church), His Grace
Bishop SAVAS of Troas (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese), His Grace Bishop
PETER of Cleveland – Administrator of the Diocese of Chicago and
Mid-America (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia), His Grace Bishop
DEMETRIOS of Mokissos (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese), and His Grace
Bishop DANIEL of Pamphilon (Ukranian Orthodox Church). Sixty priests
and eight deacons served with the Most Reverend and Right Reverend
Hierarchs, while the Pan-Orthodox Choir of Chicago under the direction
of Gordana Trbuhovich led the faithful in singing the responses.
In
an inspirational homily that explained the spiritual meaning of the
Feast as well as its historical context, His Grace Bishop DEMETRIOS of
Mokissos called upon the assembled people to not merely profess the
faith of their forbearers—but to live it.
Following
the Vespers Service, the clergy and parishioners of Holy Resurrection
Serbian Orthodox Cathedral welcomed the distinguished guest hierarchs
and fellow Orthodox Christians for a light Lenten reception in the Main
Hall.
Bishop Irinej of Nis has been elected as the new Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church
H. H. Serbian Patriarch +I R I N E J
Friday, January 22, 2010 - 7:20 A.M.
The bells at Belgrade's Cathedral Church rang out at about 2.20pm Friday, to announce that Bishop Irinej of Nis was elected the 45th patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The newly elected head of church said that his choice was the will of God and the will of the Holy Assembly of Bishops.
"For this honorable and difficult duty I was elected with the help of brothers - bishops - with whom I will carry the burden and all the problems together," broadcaster RTS quoted the new patriarch as saying immediately after the election.
After four hours of voting, the new head of the church was elected by a random picking of a paper with the name of one of the three candidates who won most support of the 37 bishops voting. Besides the newly elected patriarch, Metropolitan Amfilohije and Bishop Irinej of Backa were also among the last three after the initial vote. Archimandrite Gavrilo from Lepavina monastery in Croatia was the one who pulled the patriarch's name out and was the first to see who would take the post.
The new patriarch is expected to restore the church's shaken unity and also to decide about episcopates. Important tasks concern the church in Macedonia and efforts to return church property in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, as well as continuing dialogue with all religious communities.
Patriarch Irinej Gavrilovic was born in 1930 in a village near the town of Cacak, central Serbia and became bishop of Nis in 1975.
