Serbian ArchBishop Jailed in serbia

spyridon · Post by **spyridon** » Tue 26 July 2005 3:54 am

COMMUNIQUE REGARDING ARCHBISHOP JOVAN OF OCHRID AND METROPOLITAN OF SKOPJE

Because of the precarious position at present of Archbishop Jovan of Ochrid and Metropolitan of Skopje, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Ochrid met on July 10, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. in the monastery of St. John Chrysostom in the village of Nizepolje and from that extraordinary meeting it hereby issues the following communique:

We most strongly protest against the re-establishment of a totalitarian regime in the Republic of Macedonia (sic). After the inhuman persecution of the Church during the time of communism, persecution of the Church in the twenty-first century represents a new attempt to subjugate it to the regime, to take away its voice, to minimize and, if possible, to destroy it.

We call on the entire democratic world to introduce harsh measures against the intolerance of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia against the faith of the members of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Ochrid. It is a faith that has survived the centuries, and there is no reason why members of the Orthodox Church, which exists in most countries in the world, should be forbidden to practice their faith in the Republic of Macedonia.

By its intolerance toward the religious affiliation of its citizens, the Republic of Macedonia has shown itself before the entire world to be a country inhabited by uncivilized people ready to use the financing of the International Community but not ready to change their manner of behavior.

If someone imprisons the Head of an Orthodox Church in the twenty-first century on charges that he is “inciting national and religious hatred” then he is lost to the progress of civilization. The decision of the Bitolj Appeals Court does not imprison only His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan of Ochrid and Metropolitan of Skopje but condemns to imprisonment all members of the Orthodox Church everywhere in the world. The Bitolj Appeals Court, which according to international investigation is the most corrupt institution in the Republic of Macedonia, has also condemned Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Patriarch Alexey of Moscow and the Heads of all other local Orthodox Churches which have the same faith as Archbishop Jovan. The court in Bitolj did not condemn Archbishop Jovan as an individual, it condemned the faith of all those who consider the so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church to be schismatic. The Archbishop has done nothing other than what every Head of an Orthodox Church would do toward those who are in schism with the Orthodox Church.

The Holy Synod of Bishops demands that the Assembly, Government and Courts in the Republic of Macedonia honor (international) Conventions on Human Rights and Freedom of Worship of which the Republic of Macedonia is also a signatory.

The Synod asks that the Government of the Republic of Macedonia urgently register the Orthodox Archdiocese of Ochrid and grant it legitimacy as a religious community. Because the Government in the Republic of Macedonia is in violation of the State Constitution with respect to religious freedoms of its citizens, as well as international conventions on freedom of religion, one gets the impression that it wishes to follow the example of totalitarian regimes to settle the score with those who do not share the government’s opinions.

The Synod asks that the International Community exert pressure on the Government in the Republic of Macedonia to respect international conventions on freedom of religion, instead of just begging for money.

The Synod asks press and media in the Republic of Macedonia to adhere to a minimum of professional ethics. All editors and journalists individually need to think about the decision of the Bitolj Appeals Court, which represents an attack on freedom of thought. Today they have sentenced an innocent Archbishop and tomorrow it will be much easier to condemn any journalist or editor who does not think in the same way as the ruling regime.

We expect all local Orthodox Churches, as well as other Christian Churches and the heterodox who in their faith emphasize freedom of the spirit and tolerance towards others to support the Orthodox Archdiocese of Ochrid and to send protests to the Government of the Republic of Macedonia because of its uncivilized behavior towards its own citizens of Orthodox Christian faith.

Deputy Chairman of the Holy Synod of Bishops
of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Ochrid
+Bishop Joakim of Polog and Kumanovo

Jean-Serge · Post by **Jean-Serge** » Tue 26 July 2005 7:35 am

The title should be : Serbian bishop jailed in Macedonia not in Serbia

spyridon · Post by **spyridon** » Tue 26 July 2005 11:10 am

oops I made an accident,Im only human and atleast the text is there in full to help decree this excrucial dilema......

Priest Siluan · Post by **Priest Siluan** » Tue 26 July 2005 1:40 pm

Surely, this is related with the church nation of Macedonia under the Metropolita Stefan, which is the only one recognized by the Macedonian state but the Serbian Church continues affirming that Macedonia is part of its canonical territory. In fact this whole problem is not another thing that nationalism.

http://www.mpc.org.mk/English/

spyridon · Post by **spyridon** » Wed 27 July 2005 12:03 pm

MACEDONIA: ORTHODOX ARCHBISHOP JAILED - WITHOUT THE GOSPELS

Wednesday 27 July 2005

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia, Archbishop Jovan (Vranisskovski) of Ohrid and Skopje, has now been jailed for 18 months on charges of "inciting national, racial and religious hatred, schism and intolerance". Jovan's colleague, Bishop Marko of Dremvica and Bitola, told Forum 18 News Service that, as well as keeping Jovan under conastant surveillance, police forced him to change out of his cassock and refused to allow him to take anything with him into prison. "The archbishop was not permitted to take his prayer book, the Gospels, an icon or any of the insignia of his rank with him," Bishop Marko told Forum 18. During the first 30 days of his jail term, Jovan is not being allowed visits from anyone, apart from his lawyer and his immediate family, who are only being allowed to visit him once, for five minutes only. After the initial 30 days he will be either be sent to a maximum security prison unit, or to a unit with less strict discipline.

MACEDONIA: ORTHODOX ARCHBISHOP JAILED - WITHOUT THE GOSPELS

By Branko Bjelajac, Forum 18 News Service

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia, Archbishop Jovan

(Vranisskovski) of Ohrid and Skopje, was taken to Idrizovo prison in Macedonia's capital Skopje on 26 July, to begin an 18 month jail sentence, imposed in 2004, on charges of "inciting national, racial and religious hatred, schism and intolerance". Jovan's colleague Bishop Marko of Dremvica and Bitola complained of the way police took Jovan to jail, seizing him from his car in Skopje, forcing him to change out of his cassock and refusing to allow him to take anything with him into prison.

"The archbishop was not permitted to take his prayer book, the Gospels, an icon or any of the insignia of his rank with him," Bishop Marko told Forum 18 News Service from Bitola in southern Macedonia on 27 July. Archbishop Jovan was not permitted to speak to the press assembled in front of the prison.

During the next 30 days, Jovan is not being allowed visits from anyone, apart from his lawyer and his immediate family. His family are only being allowed to visit him once, for five minutes only. After the initial 30 days he will be relocated within the prison, either to a maximum security unit or to a unit with less strict discipline.

Metropolitan Jovan's sentence came into force after the Appeal Court, in his home town of Bitola, rejected his request for his 18 month prison sentence to be delayed until the Supreme Court rules on his appeal.

Jovan's appeal to the Supreme Court could last for up to a year (see F18News 24 June 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=593 ).

Jovan will then be entitled to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and told Forum 18 that "I may sit in jail and cannot make my case abroad until I completely finish with all the domestic courts. This is why my hearing before the Supreme Court is being delayed for so long."

An order was issued on 25 July for Jovan to report the following day not to the local Bitola prison, but to Idrizovo prison, for no apparent reason. Bishop Marko told Forum 18 that when he and Jovan drove from Bitola to Skopje on 26 July, they were escorted by a police car for the whole journey and that "several times we were stopped by police and our car searched, and our documents checked, and rechecked."

"When we arrived in the suburbs of Skopje, we were finally stopped by another patrol, and told to wait until further notice. Then, after an hour, about 10 police squad cars appeared, surrounded us, and they pulled the Archbishop out of the car and put him in a police car," Bishop Marko complained. "They said that he would be driven to a police station nearby and that we will receive all other information there. Upon our arrival, we were told that he was in jail, after he was forced to change his clothes. The police then told us that Archbishop Jovan was late and that an arrest warrant was issued for him. This is ridiculous, since his passport was taken ten days ago, and our monastery was under non-stop police surveillance the whole time."

Jovan has previously been jailed in 2003, when he was given five days'

solitary confinement for baptising his sister's grandchild (see F18News 24 July 2003 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=113). Subsequently, on 31 October 2003, he was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, for performing the baptism in a church building belonging to the rival Macedonian Orthodox Church, which was deemed to be violent entry into Macedonian Church property (see F18News 13 January 2004 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=228).

Archbishop Jovan told Forum 18 that "I did not offend against the law in any way. But, the government can also activate the suspended sentence if facts not previously known to judges are found. They activated the sentence because they claim that they did not know that I was the Serbian Orthodox Exarch (protector) of the Ohrid Archbishopric! This is absurd, since the previous sentence is accusing me of exactly that on two pages. They are trying to sentence me twice for the same act."

The state is also pursuing two more criminal investigations against Archbishop Jovan, both for alleged fraud and mismanagement of funds while he was serving as a bishop of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. All the trials and charges were launched when Jovan left the Macedonian Orthodox Church and transferred to the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The roots of the dispute between the Serbian and Macedonian Churches lie in the creation of the Macedonian Church in 1958 under heavy pressure from the then-communist government of Marshal Tito. In 1968 the Macedonian Church proclaimed its autocephaly (complete independence) from the Serbian Orthodox Church, but no other canonical Orthodox Church in the world recognises this autocephaly.

Ekaterina · Post by **Ekaterina** » Thu 28 July 2005 3:47 pm

Serbian church and government denounce conviction of priest in Macedonia

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -- A dispute between separate Orthodox churches in the Balkans is being played out in a criminal case against a Serbian priest.

A Macedonian court has convicted Bishop Jovan of inciting religious hatred for holding services last year for loyalists of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The Macedonian Orthodox Church broke from the Serbian church in 1967. Three years ago, the Serbian Orthodox church offered to accept the Macedonian community back into its fold, with some autonomy. The idea was rejected by the Macedonian hierarchy -- except for Bishop Jovan.

Jovan has since been ostracized in Macedonia, stripped of his church rank and officially referred to by Macedonian authorities only by his secular name, Zoran Vraniskovski. Serbian officials have continued to call him Bishop Jovan.

A Macedonian court in the southern town of Bitola this month sentenced Jovan to 2 1/2 years in prison. Serbia's government ministry in charge of religion said ''the persecution of Bishop Jovan is the most brutal purge of an archpriest in today's Europe on political grounds.''

The government office called on the world's Orthodox churches and human rights groups to protest ''the unjust punishment.''

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/nationa ... nted=print

romiosini · Post by **romiosini** » Thu 28 July 2005 9:40 pm

What is known for sure is, that Metropolitan John of Ochrid Scopje is happy to be encarcerated for the Truth. I recieved recent news from Serbia, with an open declaration of him to reporters at the prison that he was more than overjoyed to be battled for his Faith and for his flock. Saint Nectarius of Aegina did not become Sanctified for his ascetism, but his patience undergoing all spiritual trials. Same here, the innocent Metropolitan John will be sanctified in fully fullfilling the teaching of Christ, faithfully accepting everything as it comes, and patiently till the end standing strong for Him.

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