DIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: November 8, 2004

His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of Serbia Visits Australia

On October 27, His Holiness Pavle, Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrad and Karlovac, Patriarch of Serbia, arrived on Australian soil, where His Holiness was greeted by Bishop Milutin of Australia and New Zealand, a multitude of clergymen and parishioners of the Serbian Diocese. His Holiness was accompanied by Bishop Jovan of Sumadija, Bishop Georgije of Canada and Bishop Longin of Novogracanicke, along with deacons and subdeacons. As is known, His Holiness Patriarch Pavle conducts divine liturgy every day in his church in Belgrade. Here also, visiting the parishes of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia, His Holiness served liturgy daily, during which His Holiness was joined by clergymen of the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

During the first days of his visit, His Holiness officiated at divine services at the Serbian churches of Melbourne, in which, by special invitation of the local Serbian Diocese, several clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia participated, and on November 8, on the day of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonika, Archbishop Hilarion of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand, Protopriest Michael Protopopov, Protopriest Michael Li, Hieromonk Joachim (Ross) and Deacon Vadim Gan served with His Holiness, Bishop Jovan of Sumadija and the Serbian clergy during the solemn divine liturgy conducted in the Patriarchal rite at St George's Church in Cabramatta, on the outskirts of Sydney.

The late Archbishop Anthony of Western America and San Francisco (+2000) wrote in his Nativity Epistle of 1992 on His Holiness Patriarch Pavle and on the fraternal bonds between the Serbian Church and the Russian Church Abroad:

"Along with these greetings on the Nativity, I wish to share with you that joy which was granted to us recently by the recent visit of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle to our Cathedral and the crypt of Holy Vladyka John of Shanghai. The Patriarch arrived in America, seeking from this country, from its influential people and its organizations an even-handed approach to the much-suffering Serbian people in these days of great tragedy. He arrived also as a father to his flock abroad, who have reunited through the mercy of God has, after their former division. Recent events have urged them to return. Every hour of his historic visit to America was scheduled. And still, we had the honor of greeting this humbe, yet spiritually great successor of St Savva of Serbia!

"And this was for the sake of our Vladyka John of blessed memory [glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in 1994—ed.], who is remembered and loved so touchingly by the Serbs, whom the Serbian Chrysostom, Bishop Nikolaj of Zic', so honored.

"The fact that His Holiness Patriarch Pavle wishes to pray at the crypt of Vladyka John was relayed to me even before his visit to America, promising that this would happen at 12 o'clock, then they said, closer to 4 in the afternoon. We knew that the Patriarch's schedule was overfilled, but we awaited him with hope. He came to the Cathedral at about 3:30 pm.

"Greeted by the singing of our hastily-assembled choir members, he was vested into his mantle, and the Patriarch proceeded into the altar, then to the special place prepared for him on the right-hand kliros.

"His Holiness is an austere monk, humble and earnest in his attitude, staunchly strong in spirit, uniting and accommodating within himself his entire flock. He conducts divine liturgy every day, as we learned from those who accompanied him.

"I greet the Patriarch in Serbian, I tell him of how in 1936, in Belgrade, during the burial of Metropolitan Anthony of blessed memory, at the last stop before the cemetery, where the Iveron Church is, Singel Makarius, later Bishop of Sremsk, spoke a few words. He spoke of the fatherly love and tenderness which the Metropolitan had towards the Serbian seminarians in Sremsk-Karlovac, where he lived, and ended his address with the following words: 'Ti nisi bio samo ruski Vladyka, Ti si bio I srpski Vladyka!' ('Your were not only a Russian Bishop, you were also a Serbian Bishop!')

"This is the feeling with which we greeted the Patriarch of Serbia, who found in us sympathetic hearts. Here the Patriarch was presented with two commemorative gold medals cast on the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia (one made in the German Diocese, the other in the Western American Diocese).

"His Holiness responded warmly and with feeling, speaking on the sufferings of our fraternal peoples.

"A deacon intoned a litany and enthusiastically elevated prayers for the long life of the Patriarch and the Serbian Council of Bishops. Everyone approached His Holiness, kissing the cross and his hand.

"The Patriarch's mantle was removed, and, venerating the altar table, he boldly and quickly (since he already knew the layout of the Cathedral) descended towards the crypt of Holy Archbishop John (Maximovich, +1966). He was joined by Their Eminences Metropolitan Christophor, Metropolitan Irinej and Metropolitan Amphilochij and Bishop Stefan and Bishop Irinej. The elderly Patriarch donned the epitrachelion and served the litany himself for our reposed Vladyka. The wondrous Serbian chant was sung by the bishops. And then "Eternal Memory" rang out. When Metropolitan Amphilochij of Cernogorije-Primorije (former Dean of the Theological Department in Belgrade), student of the famous theologian and podvizhnik [struggler-in-Christ—ed.] Archimandrite Justin (Popovic, +1979), began to sing the troparion, joined by all the bishops and clergymen: "You are a guide of Orthodoxy, a teacher of piety and modesty, a luminary of the world, the God-inspired pride of bishops." And everyone sang this troparion through to the end. That is how they sing to Archimandrite Justin (Popovic) in Serbia. This Nativity gift was brought early by the Serbian archpasotrs to the crypt of our Vladyka John [from the Nativity Epistle of Archbishop Anthony of San Francisco and Western America, 1992]."

Naturally, in associating with the clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the bishops of the Serbian Church remembered our late Vladyka Anthony, successor of St John (Maximovich) upon the Cathedra of San Francisco, and a friend of the Serbian Church, calling him a great man of prayer at the Divine Throne for the fraternal peoples of Russia and Serbia. The aforementioned Bishop Jovan participated in the funerary services of Archbishop Anthony in 2000, and, as Bishop of Western America, always came to San Francisco for the celebrations in memory of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco.

The Editors of the Synodal website hope to offer photographs of this event in the near future.