On the Death of My Husband: A Message from Matushka Yuliya Mikhailovna Sysoeva, Widow of Fr Daniil Sysoev

Matushka Yuliya Mikhailovna Sysoeva and her daughters Iustina Daniilovna Sysoeva and Dorofei Daniilovna Sysoeva laying flowers on the grave of her husband, the murdered Fr Daniil Sysoev.

Thank you, dear ones, for your support and prayers. I can’t express my pain in words. It’s like the pain of standing by the Cross of the Saviour. Yet, it’s also a joy that you can’t convey by mere speech… it’s the joy of coming to the empty tomb. Where is thy victory, O death? Fr Daniil foresaw his demise several years before the crime.

He always wanted to be found worthy of martyrdom, and the Lord granted him this crown. Those who shot him, wanted to spit on the face of the Church, as once they spat on the face of Christ, but, they have not achieved what they wanted, because they failed to spit on the Church. Fr Daniil ascended his Golgotha right inside the church that he built and where he committed all his time and strength. They killed him as though he was an ancient prophet, between the altar and the place of sacrifice, and he rightly earned the title of a martyr. He died for Christ, Whom he served with all his might.

Very often, he told me that he was afraid that he wouldn’t make it; he thought that he wasn’t good enough. As a human being, he had his excesses and distortions, he stumbled and made mistakes, but, he was not mistaken in the main, his life was devoted entirely to HIM.

I didn’t understand why he was in a hurry. In the last three years, he worked constantly, without a break for weekends or holidays. I grumbled; I wished, just sometimes, that I would have the simple happiness of having my husband and the father of my children with me and the kids. However, he was called to walk another road.

He said that he’d be killed. I asked him with whom he would leave us with, that is, my three children and me. He replied that he’d leave us in good hands. “I’ll leave you with the Mother of God; she’ll take care of you”.

Over time, I forgot those words. He specified the vestments he wished to be dressed in for his burial. At the time, I joked that we shouldn’t talk about it, for we didn’t know who was going to bury whom. He said that I was going to bury him. Once we were talking about funerals, I don’t remember this conversation completely, but, I said that I had never been to a priest’s funeral. He replied, “Don’t worry about it, you can come to mine”.

I remember so many of our words together and I realise that I only now found out what they really meant. Now, my doubts are resolved; my misunderstandings are dispelled.

We didn’t say goodbye in this life, we didn’t ask each other’s forgiveness, we didn’t hug each other. It was a normal day… he went to serve the morning liturgy, and that was the last time that I saw him.

Why didn’t I go that day to meet him in the church? Indeed, I had thought I would, but, I decided that I should cook dinner and put the kids to bed. I didn’t go… I had to take care of the kids… it was as if a hand was holding me back. Often enough before, I went and met him in the church. I felt like clouds were looming over us. Over the last few days, I tried to be with him as often as possible. Last week, I thought only of death and of the life beyond the grave. I really couldn’t concentrate on either one. On that day, thoughts whirled in my head, “death blows to the head”. Last week was so difficult for me; it felt like a ton of bricks had fallen on me.

I didn’t break down. He supports me; I feel that he is near me. At that time, we said so many tender words to each other, more than we spoke in the rest of our lives together. Only now, do I realise how much we loved one another.

The Fortieth Day {Editor’s note: Special prayers are served 40 days after a death, we believe that is the time when the soul stands before God’s judgement.} of Fr Daniil falls on the eve of his nameday and the patronal feast of the future temple, 29 and 30 December, the feastday of the Holy Prophet Daniel. As prophesied by an old woman, the church would be built, but, Fr Daniil wouldn’t be there to serve in it. The second part is now accomplished.

23 November 2009

Matushka Yuliya Sysoeva

Missionersky Portal Khrama Proroka Daniila (Missionary Portal of Holy Prophet Daniel Church)

As quoted in Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=radio&div=1211

Video: Памяти иерея Даниила Сысоева (In Memoriam: Fr Daniil Sysoev)

This video in honour of Fr Daniil is backed by a male chorus singing Russian Orthodox chant.

A Biography of Fr Daniil Alekseyevich Sysoev

Fr Daniil Sysoev (1974-2009) speaking at a public gathering

Born: 12 January 1974 Moscow

Died: 20 November 2009 Moscow

Biography

In his own words, he is “half Russian, half Tatar”. His father is a priest, Fr Aleksei Sysoev. Fr Aleksei is rector of the church of St John the Divine at the Yasenevo Orthodox classical gymnasium and a clergyman of the Ss Peter and Paul church in Yasenevo. His mother, Anna Midhatovna Amirov, teaches Orthodox catechism at the same school.

He graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy in 2000 with a Kandidatura in Theology. {Editor’s note: Literally, a kandidat is a “candidate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, equivalent to a Western PhD, but, perhaps, a bit more stringent in requirements and more rigorous.} His thesis was entitled, The Anthropology of the Seventh Day Adventists and the Watchtower Society and its Analysis.

His career as a cleric began in 1994, when he became a reader. In 1995, he received ordination as a deacon, and in 2001, as a priest. He is married and has three daughters. Fr Daniil Sysoev actively engaged in missionary work among Muslims, and converted many to the Orthodox faith. He held a conservative stance towards yoga exercises, karate, Latin American dance, and belly dancing, urging Christians not to attend these classes. Rev Sysoev was critical of the Darwinian theory of evolution

Fr Daniil was the rector of St Thomas parish; he developed an active missionary movement, which included training Orthodox “street missionaries”, whose task was to attract people to Orthodoxy by appealing to passers-by on the street.

On 19 November 2009, D. A. Sysoev was mortally wounded in St Thomas church by two shots from a pistol (other sources say that four shots were fired). The masked assailant managed to escape. At 00.20 Moscow Standard Time on 20 November 2009 (21.20 UTC 16.20 EST 13.20 PST, all of these 19 November), Fr Daniil died on the operating table.

At present, detectives believe that the most plausible explanation for the crime is that the murderer had a religious motivation for the killing. Earlier, members of various extremist groups repeatedly threatened Rev Sysoev. “Fr Daniil was a prominent figure amongst the Moscow clergy, creative and vigorous, and a true preacher and missionary. I think that he was murdered because of his strong views”, said Fr Vladimir Vigilyansky, a spokesman for the MP. Indeed, Rev Sysoev himself stated that he had received death threats on 14 separate occasions.

Church of the Apostle Thomas

In 2005, the Moscow city government allocated the community led by Fr Daniil Sysoev 0.5 hectares (a little under 1.25 acres) of land near the Kantemirovskaya metro stop on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line for the construction of a stone church dedicated to the prophet Daniel. By November 2006, the parishioners had cleared all of the undergrowth and debris on the site and erected a temporary wooden church dedicated to the Apostle Thomas. The parish runs missionary courses, singing lessons, iconography classes, and a scout group. In 2009, four years after the allocation of land, the Moscow City Department of Environmental Management believed that the community was in violation of environmental legislation, although many use the floodplain of the Chertanovka River as a dump for construction debris. The Department stated that the land at this location should be a park and nature reserve, and the construction of a church would result in irreparable harm to the unique natural habitat. In August 2009, deputy prefect of YuVAO stated he approved in principle for the construction of a church in Kantemirov district, and, during public hearings on the new Master Plan of Moscow, residents demanded that a church be part of the draft General Plan.

Criticism

In 2007, Mufti Nafigulla Ashirov, Co-chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, sued in court [against Fr Daniil] for his book Marriage to a Muslim, which, he said, contained expressions offensive to Muslims. Journalist Khalida Khamidulina accused Fr Daniil of inciting hatred of Islam in his publications and filed a suit in court against him. At the same time, Neo-Nazi groups expressed their displeasure with the Fr Daniil’s views and ultra-rightwing Orthodox publications criticised him for his anti-monarchist position. In addition, some spokesmen for Old Ritualists {Editor’s note: These are mistakenly called “Old Believers” in Western circles… all too many of them are nothing but Protestants in Orthodox drag.} expressed a negative assessment of D. A. Sysoev. They believed that he attacked their faith, considering his publications on Old Ritualists as “slander against the Old Orthodox Church”. {Editor’s note: The so-called Old Orthodox Church is not in communion with any of the recognised Orthodox Local Churches. It is a sect of popovtsy (“priested”) Old Ritualists, in opposition to the sort known as bezpopovtsy (“unpriested”). The latter are literally what their Russian name indicates… they are priestless. The former have a hierarchy ordained by a renegade Orthodox bishop in the old Hapsburg Empire. Neither group is in the Church, as I said above, no Local Church considers them Orthodox. Neophytes should best avoid both sorts. Don’t be fooled by their icons and chanting… they are nothing but Protestants who reject the Church.} They accused him of poor reasoning, faulty judgement, and distortion of historical facts.

Works

1. Прогулка протестанта по православному храму (A Walk from the Protestant to the Orthodox Church) (Moscow, 2003, 144 pages) ISBN 5-94264-009-2 {Editor’s note: “Church” in this case is khram, not tserk, so, the meaning is “church building”, not “Church”.}
2. Брак с мусульманином (Marriage to a Muslim) (Moscow, 2006) ISBN 5-98988-007-3

Wikipedia (in Russian)

http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8%D0%BB_%D0%A1%D1%8B%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B5%D0%B2

Video: Патријарх Павле – Вјечнаја памјат

The musical backdrop for this vid is church chant, I believe that it is Russian… it’s definitely a mixed chorus.

Video: Његова светост Патријарх српски господин Павле, 1914 – 2009

This video in honour of the late Patriarch Pavle is backed by a very nice Serbian folk-rock music track. It’s not mournful… exactly as His Holiness would’ve wished.

Stories that Became Proverbial: Why Patriarch Pavle Wore Old Shoes

Patriarch Pavle Stojčević (1914-2009) of Serbia (right) with Patriarch Aleksei Rediger (1929-2008) of Moscow and all the Russias (left) in 1999. Vladyki Aleksei was visiting Belgrade at the time of the NATO aggression against Serbia to show his solidarity with the victimised Serbian people, who were under indiscriminate American-led bombing at the time (this was a great shame for us… to bomb those who had helped us in WW2… disgraceful… the US even bombed Belgrade deliberately on Orthodox Easter… sacrilege!).

Patriarch Pavle died on Sunday in the 96^th year of his life. Some called him “a righteous man of our time”, and Serbs considered him as “a living saint” because of his closeness to the people and for his asceticism, which became a byword.

A Great Ascetic

According to Serbian President Boris Tadić, “There are people who by the very fact of their life bond entire nations. Patriarch Pavle was such a man”. Fr Nikolai Balashov, the Deputy Chairman of the MP Department for External Church Relations, an expert in the field of inter-Orthodox relations, called the late Serbian Patriarch “a symbol of the spiritual unity of the Serbian people” and “a righteous man of our time”.

Numerous stories attest to the fact that Patriarch Pavle was very close to the people and that he loved the people very much. In particular, one finds many tales telling of the asceticism and selflessness of the patriarch. Everyone knows that he either walked or rode on public transport in the city; he went through the crowds without guards or assistants. Anyone could go up him and have a chat. One of the stories about him, published in the publication Tatiana’s Day, states that once, on his way to the building of the Patriarchate, Patriarch Pavle noticed some posh cars parked near the entrance and asked whose cars they were. His assistant told him that they belonged to the bishops. At that, the patriarch said with a smile, “If they who know the Saviour’s commandment on poverty have such cars, then, what kind of car would they have if there wasn’t this commandment?”

Everyone knows that the First Hierarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) always wore old scruffy shoes. A story in Tatiana’s Day related that a woman came to call on the patriarch. During their discussion, she happened to glance at the patriarch’s feet and the sight of his shoes shocked her… they were beat-up, torn, and cobbled-together old boots. The woman thought, “It’s shameful to us that our patriarch should go about in such clodhoppers. Surely, someone could get him a new pair of proper shoes?” Just as she was thinking this, the patriarch said, with great glee, “See what great shoes I have! I found them near the dustbins when I went to the Patriarchate. Somebody threw ‘em out, but, they’re real leather. I sewed ‘em a bit… see, they’ll last for a long time yet”.

Another woman came to the Patriarchate, demanding to speak with the patriarch on urgent business. During the audience, she said that the night before she dreamed of the Virgin. According to her, the Mother of God told her to bring money to the patriarch so that he could buy himself new shoes. With these words, the visitor tried to hand the patriarch an envelope with money inside. Patriarch Pavle, without taking the envelope, asked, “What time did you go to bed?” The woman, surprised, replied, “Well… somewhere around eleven”. “You know, I went to bed later, about four o’clock in the morning”, replied the Patriarch, “and I also dreamed of the Virgin and I asked her to tell you to take your money and give it to somebody who really needs it”. He didn’t take the money.

He could not only repair shoes or cobble himself new boots from old women’s shoes, but, if he saw that a priest had a torn cassock or cloak, he said to him, “Bring it to me, I’ll fix it”. He did the preparations before the service, and he cleaned up afterwards, washing the utensils, and hung up his cassock and cowl. He heard the confessions of the faithful and gave them communion. He didn’t eat much, much as the ancient Desert Fathers did. One day, Patriarch Pavle was flying somewhere on an airplane. Over the sea, the plane shook as it entered a turbulent patch of sky. A young bishop, sitting next to the Patriarch, asked him if he thought that the plane was going to crash. His Holiness calmly replied. “For me, it’s just God’s justice. After all, I’ve eaten so many fish in my life that it’s not surprising if they now eat me”.

His Aunt Takes the Place of His Dead Parents

Patriarch Pavle (his secular name was Gojko Stojčević) was born 11 September 1914 on the feastday of the Beheading of John the Baptist in the village of Kućanci in Slavonia (Yugoslavia) in an ordinary peasant family. Very early on, he became an orphan. “My father went to work in America, but, he contracted tuberculosis and returned home to die”, he said in an interview with the publication Orthodoxy and the World. “I was only three-years-old then, I only had my older brother, Dušan. My mother remarried several years after the death of my father, but, she died soon after that, so, my brother and I lived with my grandmother and aunt”. Therefore, the future Patriarch Pavle loved his aunt just like a mother, for she had to take her place after his mother’s death.

“My aunt loved us, but, if we did wrong, she’d hit us with a stick”, he told an interviewer. “In my opinion, today’s educational system is sick, it’s wrong. Children are literally bereft of parental love and care; they can’t develop normally. It kills any initiative; boys grow up with a psychology of entitlement. Instead of becoming the mainstay of the family, they are wilful and capricious, expecting nothing but passing pleasure”. The future patriarch grew up in a religious family; the children attended Sunday school, learned their catechism, and learned the Our Father when they were very small. Besides, he admitted, “When you grow up without parents, you experience a greater awareness of the Heavenly Father”.

Patriarch Pavle Stojčević (1914-2009)

Doubts on the Way to God

His aunt did not let Gojko work in the fields because she felt that he was in “very poor health”. “They had already lit a candle for me once, they thought I had died. My aunt saw that I was not suited for hard farm work, so, she decided that I needed to continue my education. My family was a crucial influence in my decision to enter the Theological Academy, but, I had an interest in Physics and I studied it in my spare time”, Patriarch Pavle related. He graduated from gymnazia in Belgrade and seminary in Sarajevo. After that, he continued his education at the Theological Faculty in Belgrade. Then, at the beginning of his road, the future Patriarch had doubts about the correctness of his choice.

Patriarch Pavle said of this, “In my third year at the Academy, I thought, ‘If God knew in advance that I’d be a killer, could I change my fate? If I can, His knowledge is meaningless, but, if I can’t, where’s my freedom?’ I wrestled for a long time with this issue, without finding an answer. I couldn’t confide in my friends; they weren’t interested in such problems. You can’t ask a professor, for he could suddenly say, ‘You’re a heretic’… who knows? At that age, everything’s a mind-game, for a long time I worried this question in my mind, until I found the answer in St Augustine, who explained it with his concept of time. Time, [St Augustine] said, has a certain continuity, which has a past, present, and future. The past has been, but, it no longer exists. The future will be, but, it is not here yet, and what will it be? There is now, but, it almost is not. There is a point of convergence between past and future, where the future is constantly disappearing. Time exists only for created beings, matter, universe, and especially us men. We live and learn in terms of space and numbers. For God, they do not exist. He has neither past nor future, only an eternal present. When we talk about the future, that future is the future for us, not for Him. This was how I answered this question. If I had not come up with it, I would have chucked theology”.

However, later, he had difficult moments in his ministry. He said that fear assailed him at such times. “To fear is very human. Then, in retrospect, you realise that failure and grief have their own meanings. Well, at one time, I remember that I was walking to a monastery; the road was long, the rain was pouring, I had no umbrella, the clay under my feet was wet and sticky, and I was barely able to move my legs. I thought, ‘Lord… why? I’m not going to a gin-mill, why is this happening?’ Then, I said to myself, ‘Where’s my patience and hope?’ Everything’s put in order, if you can accept and trust in God”.

Patriarch Pavle Stojčević (1914-2009) with clergy after services.

He did not Want and did not Expect to be Patriarch

Gojko Stojčević became a refugee as result of the events of World War II. Along with others, he found sanctuary in the monastery of the Holy Trinity in Ovčara, where he became a novice and taught catechism to the children of the refugees. Then, he became seriously ill; the doctors diagnosed tuberculosis and predicted that he had only three more months to live. He spent these three months in Vujan Monastery, where he found a cure. In gratitude, he donated an ancient cross to the monastery.

After the war ended, the future Patriarch went to the Annunciation Monastery at Ovčara, where he took monastic vows and became a hierodeacon in 1948. From 1949 to 1955, Hierodeacon Pavle was a member of the brotherhood of Rača Monastery, and carried out a variety of monastic obediences. In 1954, he received ordination to the priesthood, and, in 1957, Pavle became an Archimandrite. From 1955 to 1957, he studied New Testament Scriptures and liturgics at the Theological Faculty of Athens. In Belgrade, on 29 May 1957, Archimandrite Pavle was raised to the eposcopate, and he became the ruling archpastor of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren. In 1988, the Theological Faculty in Belgrade awarded him a doctorate in theology.

In November 1990, the Archpastoral Council of the SOC elected Bishop Pavle Stojčević as the First Hierarch of the SOC, to replace the ailing Patriarch German Đorić. His formal installation as the 44^th Patriarch of the SOC took place on 2 December 1990 in the main cathedral of Belgrade. In Vladyki Pavle’s own words, his election to the patriarchate was a “real shock”. He said, “Come on, I was 76-years-old, and at that age, it’s very difficult to start anything new. However, I slept on it. The next day, I woke up and I began to think about getting down to it and about what I had to do. You know how it is… you can do something about some things, you can’t do anything about other things, and, then, there are things that you must attend to or else. You need a sense of duty and you need to carry on… that’s the main thing”. To embody this idea, Patriarch Pavle travelled to many dioceses of the Serbian Church, both in the former Yugoslavia and abroad. His Holiness even visited his flock in Australia, America, Canada, and Western Europe.

“She’ll be the First One that I’ll Meet…”

On 13 November 2007, Patriarch Pavle entered the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade for treatment of several disorders. He tendered his resignation as First Hierarch of the SOC on 8 November 2008 on the grounds of his incapacity due to debilitating illness, but, on 12 November, the Archpastoral Council of the SOC decided not to grant the request of Patriarch Pavle. Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović of Montenegro and Primorsky was the effectual head of the Holy Synod whilst the patriarch was in hospital.

Patriarch Pavle died in the 96^th year of his life. According to his wishes, his burial shall be at the Rakkovica Monastery on the outskirts of Greater Belgrade. His funeral shall be on Thursday in the Cathedral of St Savva in Belgrade. In an interview, Patriarch Pavle, talking about his aunt, who raised him in the place of his deceased mother, said, “I think that when I die, she’ll be the first one that I’ll meet, and, then, I’ll meet everybody else”.

16 November 2009

RIA-Novosti

http://www.rian.ru/religion/20091116/193945434.html

Semi-official Biography of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle

Patriarch Pavle Stojčević (1914-2009)

On 1 December 1990, both clergy and laity greeted Bishop Pavle Stojčević’s election as the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovac, and Patriarch of all Serbia with great joy and expectation.

The late spiritual leader of the Serbian Orthodox people was born 11 September 1914 to Stevan and Ana Stojčević, in the village of Kućanci, in the county of Donji Miholjac, in Slavonija. {There are very few Orthodox left in the Donji Miholjac region after the papist Ustaše terrorists carried out a systemic extermination of Orthodox Serbs in Croatia in World War II (If this is not one of the “unspoken” enormities of the 20^th century, I don’t know what it is). The area is now over 95 percent Roman Catholic by faith after this bloodletting.} His baptismal name was Gojko. The Patriarch graduated with high honours from the Fourth Male Gymnasium (high school/junior college) in Belgrade. He did postgraduate studies at the Orthodox Theological Faculty at the University of Athens from 1955 to 1957. During his stay in Greece, he studied the New Testament and sharpened his expertise in liturgics, which resulted in the Patriarch becoming one of the most prolific writers on that subject in the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC). For his many years of work and eminent reputation in the field of theology, the Theological Faculty of the SOC awarded His Holiness an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity.

From 1944 to 1955, he was a monastic of Rača Monastery, performing different disciplines. During the 1950/51 academic year, the then-Hierodeacon Pavle became a lecturer at the Prizen Seminary, a place that he retained until his election as Patriarch. He received the monastic tonsure and ordination as a hierodeacon in 1948. In 1954, he became a hieromonk and protosingelos. Bishop Emilian of Slavonija made him an  archimandrite in 1957. On 29 May 1957, the Holy Synod of the SOC elected Archimandrite Pavle as a bishop, he became the ruling archpastor of the Diocese of Raška and Prizen.

From that day to the present, he faithfully shared the plight of his suffering people. Bishop Pavle’s writings warned us of the present exodus of Serbs from Kosovo, the attacks of Albanians on Serbian monasteries, the rape of nuns, the terrorising of ordinary citizens, Muslims ransacking and desecrating Serbian cemeteries, and of the general danger, affliction, and misery facing the Orthodox population in Kosovo and in Metohija. In 1989, in Kosovo, several Albanian toughs assaulted the then-Bishop Pavle. His injuries were so severe that he required nearly 3 months of hospitalisation. However, in the spirit of Christian forgiveness, he refused to press charges against them.

It is not without reason that people called Patriarch Pavle, “The saint who walks everywhere”. Everyone who met him remarked on how simple his lifestyle was and the personal humility of this virtuous man. Every bishop of the SOC has a personal car, which he uses to travel through his diocese… with one exception… Patriarch Pavle. When people asked him why he didn’t have a car, he replied, “I won’t get one until every Albanian and Serbian household in Kosovo and Metohija has one”.

His Holiness published Devich, The Monastery of St Joanikije of Devich (1989) and Questions and Answers to the Church Reader (1988). For the past 20 years, he was responsible for the column in the Journal of the Serbian Patriarchate known as Questions and Answers, dealing with liturgical and sacramental questions. Through his efforts, the Holy Synod published a new version of Srbljak in 1968. He also coordinated a reissuing of a classic work in liturgics, Christian Feasts by M. Skabalanovich, published originally in Kiev in 1915 in 6 volumes. The most monumental contribution of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle was his work on the modern Serbian translation of the New Testament. He supervised its production until its publication in 1984. This was the first official Serbian translation of the New Testament approved by the SOC. If we collected all of Bishop Pavle’s works into an anthology, it would run to thousands of pages contained in many volumes. Patriarch Pavle exemplified simplicity through his humility and personal holiness. He was a most worthy helmsman to steer the “Ship of the Church” in these troubled times.

Official Website of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada

http://www.serbianorthodoxchurch.com/pages/s/pavle/biography-en.html

Patriarch Pavle Laid Down His Burden

Patriarch Pavle Stojčević of Serbia (1914-2009) celebrating liturgy.

On Sunday, Patriarch Pavle Stojčević, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), died in Belgrade. He headed the SOC in one of the most difficult periods in its history, when the collapse of the Yugoslavian state saw Serbs scattered over several new states. Patriarch Pavle took pains to follow a policy of non-interference in politics, but, in the mid-90s, he stood at the head of a column of demonstrating students demanding the resignation of Slobodan Milošević. A few years later, His Holiness said that Milošević was “solely responsible for the catastrophe” of the Serbian people.

Sources close to the SOC told our Kommersant correspondent that Patriarch Pavle died in his sleep on Sunday at 10.45 am in his suite at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade. In September, he was 95-years-old. “There are people who by the very fact of their life bond entire nations. Patriarch Pavle was such a man”, President Boris Tadić said yesterday. Most Serbs agree with President Tadić’s statement.

Even during his lifetime, many Serbs called their spiritual leader a living saint. Although he received privileges from the state because of his rank, Patriarch Pavle consistently refused to take advantage of his state-supplied car and driver; he preferred to use public transport or walked when he was in Belgrade. He ate only Lenten food; he mended his own clothes and shoes, and he lived in a room that was like a monk’s cell. They say that, leaving the Patriarchate, he saw several posh limos parked nearby, and he asked whose cars they were. “They’re the cars of the bishops who came to the cathedral”, said his assistant, who was walking by his side. “Just look at those cars! Why… bishops have vows of poverty… don’t they?” Patriarch Pavle said with a puckish grin.

Patriarch Pavle, its 44th First hierarch, led the SOC for 19 years, as the SOC Archpastoral Council elected him Patriarch in November 1990. Patriarch Pavle became head of the SOC shortly before the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). During his time as First Hierarch of the SOC, the constituent republics of the SFRY went their separate ways, a bloody Balkan civil war erupted, NATO aircraft bombed Yugoslavia, and, finally, Kosovo proclaimed itself an independent state. As a result, Serbs were scattered across several new states. Many consider that the past two decades are one of the most tragic periods in Serbian history. Therefore, the role of the spiritual leader of the Serbs in this period was particularly significant.

Patriarch Pavle pointedly steered clear of any political activity. He did not even vote in any election, whether it was local, parliamentary, or presidential. However, he could not completely withdraw from politics… it was impossible. He met not only with the leaders of the Serbian government, but, also, with the opposition, and, in 1993, he wrote a letter to Serbian President Slobodan Milošević asking for the release from prison of opposition leader Vuk Drašković.

In late 1996, the patriarch made some even more unambiguous political choices, when student demonstrations broke out in Serbia against the ruling régime. When the Belgrade students reached the police checkpoints, the cops prepared to fire at the students, but, the patriarch stood up at the head of the student columns…  the police stepped aside. In the summer of 2000, Patriarch Pavle clearly stated that Slobodan Milošević and his régime were “solely responsible for the catastrophe” of the Serbian people.

Liberals often criticised Patriarch Pavle for his contact with Radovan Karadžić, whom the Hague tribunal accused of genocide. However, the patriarch talked with him as the leader of a part of the Serbian people. He did not spurn Karadžić, when, in 1995, Slobodan Milošević, in order to present himself as a peacemaker in the eyes of the West, imposed a blockade of the Republic of Srpska Bosna. Indeed, it seemed as though Milošević abandoned to their fate those who were carrying out the “sacred struggle for the Serbian land”. Speaking in the spring of 1996 with a correspondent of Kommersant, Patriarch Pavle did not openly condemn the actions of the President of Serbia, but, said only that there was a need of “unity with the Serbs across the Drina River” (the Serbian-Bosnian border).

Serbia declared three days of public mourning for the patriarch. This Thursday is the scheduled day of Patriarch Pavle’s funeral. Yesterday, Serbian media reported that Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias would attend. However, highly-placed sources in the MP Department for External Church Relations told Kommersant yesterday, “This is not yet definite”. The head of the Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias, Fr Vladimir Vigilyansky, told Kommersant, “Patriarch Pavle was a great friend of the Russian Orthodox Church. In Russia, he was very well-loved and revered. All the MP mourns along with the SOC”. Yesterday, President Dmitri Medvedev sent condolences on the death of Patriarch Pavle to Belgrade.

By tradition, the burial place of deceased Serbian patriarchs is supposed to be the Peć Patriarchate, which is located in the breakaway Kosovo region. However, Patriarch Paul’s burial shall be at Rakovica monastery, on the outskirts of Greater Belgrade, in accordance with his will. During his life, he said, “I would not wish to trouble anyone on account of this”.

17 November 2009

Gennady Sysoev

Pavel Koroboev

Kommersant (The Businessman)

As quoted in Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=print&div=10639

Video: Patriarch Pavle of Serbia

A very well-done vid on Patriarch Pavle from Romania.

Video: Патријарх српски Павле, Вјечнаја памјат!

The title means, “Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, Eternal Memory!”