IRINEJ

by the Grace of God

Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch,
with all the hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church - to all clergy,
monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church:
grace, mercy and peace from God The Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
and The Holy Spirit, with the joyous Paschal greeting:

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

"For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,
nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption."
(Psalm 16:10)

True, indeed, is this word of God’s prophet by which he announces the radiant feast of Christ Resurrection, this feast of great Christian joy and spiritual celebration. If there is a day among all days for celebration, that is today — the day we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ our God. Thanks to this holy day, all the days of mankind — from the beginning to the end of the world — receive their true meaning, and all that has happened in those days and is happening receives its proper meaning. If there is an event to which Christianity can be narrowed down, then that event truly is the Resurrection of Christ. If there is a feast to which all feasts can be narrowed down, then again, that is the Resurrection of Christ. That is why the Church calls the feast day of Christ’s Resurrection the Feast of Feasts; and in the Church we sing: This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalm 118:24).

The Resurrection of Christ is the foundation of Christianity, the foundation of the Church, because by it Christ has confirmed His entire teaching. Up until the Resurrection He taught about eternal life; with His Resurrection He has confirmed His teaching and has shown that He truly IS eternal Life. Up until the Resurrection, He taught about the unceasing love of God towards people. By the Resurrection He has proven that love, since for man’s sake He has conquered the greatest enemy of mankind – death. If He had not risen from the dead, Christ would have been neither God nor Lord, neither Savior nor Redeemer, but an ordinary man. It is only in the light of His Resurrection that His life and all His works become clear and explainable. Saint Justin of Celije said concerning this: “Take away the Resurrection from Christ, and you will have taken away His Divinity, because you will have taken from Him that which makes Him God-Man (Theanthropos), and Savior, and the Resurrected One.” Only in Christ’s Resurrection did people recognize in Him the God-Man. The Christian faith would be impossible and meaningless without Christ’s Resurrection, because death, the main enemy of mankind, would have remained unconquered. This truth enables the Apostle to the nations to say: “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Christ’s Resurrection gives meaning to heaven and earth, and to man and to the history of mankind. By worshipping the Living God, we worship our immortal and eternal human dignity. When Christ resurrected, the holy yeast of immortality entered into the human soul, into the human being and the human mind, and it enlightens each person so that human life receives eternal sense and eternal meaning.

The truth of the Resurrection echoes especially powerfully in our time full of tribulations and suffering — a time which, as seldom before, poses questions about the meaning and goal of life. We are witnesses to the fact that each day there are more and more lonely and forgotten people; that there are many homes without warm human words, so many children robbed of their parents’ attention and love. Hospitals are filled with sufferers, those who suffer in body and soul. Phenomena such as violence, terror, robbery of others’ property, a never before seen restlessness which has overtaken the souls of people throughout the world, a tendency towards crime, and the threatening of the peace and happiness of others, are the results of spiritually deserted and morally weakened souls, in most cases among young people who stray before they even find a path in their life. Today, as in days past, selfishness and dishonesty destroy every real life in community, all communal good and property. Distrust and theft, violence and robbery, violate the person and his or her security and dignity.

For mankind, there is no greater mystery and unknown than the existence of evil in the world. At times it appears that it has become concentrated and condensed so much that we can clearly see it or even touch it. Evil appears spectacularly; it loves to expose itself and to fill all printed and electronic media with its message: ‘I am unconquerable — life makes no sense because I reign in it.’ This message points towards the events of Great and Holy Friday: evil not only reigns on the earth, but it appears to be stronger even than God, for Him too it can cast into the tomb — this is the message of the Evil one, not comprehending that Christ by His death conquers death.

From the moment he comes into being, a person for his entire life longs for peace, happiness and success in life. He likes to be recognized and well known, to do works that will outlive him, to leave behind a name for himself. And even the simplest of people, not only the gifted, the geniuses and those of worldly stature, enjoy it when someone praises something of theirs or admires their actions. Oftentimes in life, though, we do not succeed, we are not happy, nor do we know how to use God’s gift for good. There are many more of those who leave behind themselves more days filled with pain and unrest, than of those with many days of happiness and peace.

Is this because evil is stronger than us, or because we do not know how to live? What are we missing in order that we too might become happy? The answer for Christians is well known: in the first place, it is that we learn how to truly love, and in the second, to learn to forgive more. Never can a person reach such true heights as when he loves and gives of himself out of love. Likewise, he ascends to heights when he forgives and when in forgiving he does not turn to insults. Never does a person look so much like God as when he prays to God for forgiveness and asks his brother for forgiveness. Love and forgiveness offer us unlimited joy. A person is greatest when he understands that every bad word he utters to someone else returns to him and hurts him. We cannot bring evil to someone else without first hurting ourselves. Everything we endure and then reconcile with forgiveness gives us the strength to be victorious, whatever evil it might be. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God – said our Savior (Matthew 5:9); and peacemakers are all people of big heart who love and who forgive.

Life is beautiful only when it is imbued with love, and it is meaningful only when we bring ourselves into the life of others with love, when we are one with the hungry and thirsty, with the poor and persecuted, and when we are in prison with those who have been convicted. Love is not just a word. Love is God’s power only when it is permeated and filled with sacrifice, with giving of oneself for others, for the good of others. A life with meaning is a call to love, a call to service to God and to every human being. As long as we understand life to be self-serving, there will be conflicts, restlessness and wars in the world. When a man recognizes that he is called to give himself for the general good of all people and to multiply his talent by giving it out for the good of his neighbor, every time he does a good deed, he has a foretaste of the Heavenly Kingdom in history.

In the great and all-encompassing Mystery of Divine Love, permeated with the Resurrection of Christ, the Mystery of Christ’s Church is revealed and created, to which all people and all creatures of God are called. The Precious Cross, which Saint Constantine the Equal-to-the-Apostles saw in the skies and under which sign he won in battle 1700 years ago, with its vertical and horizontal lines annihilates all barriers among people and creatures and gathers all mankind in one community, a unique living organism which is called to eternity and the unending Kingdom of God.

In this community, gathered around the Resurrected Christ, there is neither Greek nor Jew…, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. (Colossians 3:11) That is why we Orthodox Christians confess One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, one People of God gathered around Christ from all corners of the earth, from all nations and from all ages.

From this it follows that it is an unforgiveable sin to attempt to lay a foundation for the Church, whether in this world or the next, whether universally or locally, on anything or anybody other than the Resurrected Christ and His Precious Cross. The Church is founded on Christ as the Cornerstone, on the Prophets, Apostles and the Holy Fathers, and she is filled with the Holy Mysteries and holy virtues. Her structure and historical order is based on this, her inner Mystery, calling all the peoples of the earth to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to observe all that the Lord has commanded to His disciples (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). We especially emphasize that the Church is founded only on the Resurrected Savior because, unfortunately, even in our time some people — in their ignorance or evil-mindedness — try to found the Church on themselves, and in doing so they are rending apart the living organism of God’s Church, leading some individuals into the destruction of “the Land of No Return”. Let us guard ourselves, dear brothers and sisters and spiritual children, from all old and new idols! Let us live with the eternal truth of the Catholic Church of God, which alone gives freedom from sin, the devil and death!

Let us firmly plant our life in the Church upon love and forgiveness! Let us keep in mind that God will be the final Judge of all, and that He will measure solely according to the yardstick of good, of love for God and love for man. It is necessary to follow these values in our lives – and that means without exception, without justification and without any excuse based on the easy or hard circumstances of our life – inasmuch as we wish to be numbered among God’s children. The last word will not be man’s, but God’s. Never forget this teaching of our holy ancestors, dear children of Saint Sava, who are scattered willingly or unwillingly throughout all the world’s meridians from Australia and America to Europe and Asia.

Calling all of you to love for God and love for man, our dear spiritual children, we call upon you to always remain with Him Who has conquered all suffering and temptations, Who in the end has conquered death as our greatest enemy; that remaining with Him, we may remain in soul and heart with our suffering people in Kosovo and Metohija, and in all earthly regions where Orthodox Christians are suffering because of their name and their faith in the Christ Who said: “Fear not, I have overcome the world”. (John16:33)

By His Death and Resurrection the Lord has conquered our death and gave to people an unconquerable and imperishable power, which cannot be surpassed by any power of this world. That power is not manifested as evil — with self-promotion and worldly noise. On the contrary, it is manifested in peace, endurance, and in the seeming weaknesses of the children of the Light. He Who has triumphed over the world grants power to those who are His, that they too may triumph through peace and endurance over the fear within themselves, as well as over their lack of faith; to triumph over all violence inflicted upon the children of God; to endure violence, again with peace and endurance, confident that God’s power is everlasting, while human power is only temporary; that all the powers of this world have come and disappeared while God has remained, and that His Church has remained standing and unshakable. It was like that, it is like that, and it will be like that. This truth is being attested to from his prison cell by the Archbishop of Ochrid and Metropolitan of Skoplje Jovan, to whom we send our words of love, comfort, courage and hope, that the Resurrected Christ may open the eyes even of his persecutors.

Believing in the Resurrection of Christ, we believe in the unending renewal of human dignity. Believing in the Resurrection of Christ and in the general resurrection, we believe in the possibility of the resurrection of human morals, of a sense of shame, and of goodness! Only faith in the Resurrection can renew faith and faithfulness in unselfish love. Only faith in immortality can burn up with its flames selfishness as a false principle of life, revealing that the solution and our salvation from our darkness and from all of our hopelessness lies in self-sacrificial love towards God and our neighbor!

Dear brothers and sisters, our spiritual children, let us rejoice in our Resurrected Lord! By rejoicing in Him we are rejoicing in ourselves because in Him we become eternal and immortal. In worshipping Him, the Resurrected One, we worship eternal Life! By partaking of His Body and Blood in Communion, we become one with Him and we gain life eternal. In the Resurrected Christ we discover all of our ancestors. All that which is good in the history of the world and in the history of our people rests in Him, and it becomes eternal and indestructible. In the Resurrected Christ we are in communion with our Saints, and they with us! In the Resurrected Christ justice always triumphs! With Him and in Him it will triumph even in our days! If the Resurrected Christ is with us and we with Him, then – who will be against us? With these thoughts and wishes, we greet you with the most joyous salutation:

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

Given at the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade at Pascha 2013.

The first meeting between Belgrade and Pristina teams for the implementation of an agreement on normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo ended in Brussels late on Thursday, and the talks will be resumed the next day, the EU said in a release Thursday.

The meeting, which was attended by EU Special Representative in Kosovo Fernando Gentilini, was begun this morning and it ended without any public statements made.

Belgrade's team in these talks is led by Serbian president's Adviser Marko Djuric, and comprised of Serbian government Secretary General Veljko Odalovic, Justice and Public Administration Minister Nikola Selakovic and Deputy Police Director Branislav Mitrovic.

Pristina's team is headed by Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci.

The agreement, which was initialed by Prime Minister Ivica Dacic on behalf of Belgrade and Prime Minister Hasim Taci on behalf of Pristina on April 19, is dealing with executive powers to be enjoyed by a community of Serb municipalities in Kosovo, including in the judiciary and the police, and the task of the teams is to agree on the details of its implementation.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Suzana Grubjesic has said that the teams for the implementation of the agreement will discuss order of implementation of the points agreed on and implementation deadlines.

The Serbian government accepted the draft of the agreement with Pristina on Monday, and Serbian lawmakers will meet Friday to debate a government report on progress in the Belgrade-Pristina talks, including the agreement under consideration.

Sources close to the Serbian state leadership have told Tanjug that the debate on the plan for implementation of the Brussels agreement is of vital significance, since an answer to the question of whether the agreement will lead to a real autonomy for Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija depends on the contents of the plan.

"Let the government fall, but the agreement with Pristina will not be annulled because the decision from Brussels is the only one offering the country any kind of future", Aleksandar Vucic, first deputy prime minister of Serbia, said after talks with Serb leaders in northern Kosovo on Thursday.

Vucic and Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic held a three-hour meeting in Belgrade Thursday with representatives of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs, who are refusing to accept the agreement on normalizing relations with Pristina reached during the last round of EU-facilitated talks in Brussels on April 19.

After the meeting, Vucic told a press conference that the government is ready to put the Brussels agreement to a referendum, but the Serbs in northern Kosovo will have to guarantee that they will accept the referendum decision, whatever it may be, and that they will take part in its implementation.

He said the talks with representatives of Kosovo Serbs will continue on Tuesday and added that the decision about the referendum will depend on what they will say then.
"If they tell us on Tuesday that they will accept the results of the referendum, i.e. the decision of the majority, we will have a 15 day deadline and we will wrap this up," said Vucic.

He said it is very important for Serbia to start the process of implementation of the Brussels agreement united. "Divided we cannot do anything in the future," warned the deputy prime minister.

The state leaders bear maximum responsibility for the Brussels decision, but if the people feel differently, then someone else should lead the country, said Vucic. If Serbs from Kosovo and some others think that the Serbian government and parliament have no legitimacy because they accepted the agreement with Pristina, then the people's will should be reviewed (in the elections), he added.

Vucic underscores that in Brussels, Serbia took care about the interests of its people and guarantees for their security.

In the agreement with Pristina, there are certainly solutions that are less than great, but they are better than the current unrecognized situation, by a great number of Western powers in particular, he added.

He notes that for the first time since the 1990s, Serbia went to the talks in Brussels with a defined plan.
"This is the first time we are talking about the future, and not about history, and the international community has for the first time reacted in a way which shows that it owes us something," said the Serbian deputy prime minister.

Vucic recalled that Serbia has been divided throughout history and the price of this lack of unity were tens and hundreds of thousands of victims and a bleak outlook for the country and its people.
"I think 80 percent of our people are not happy about the agreement (with Pristina), but they understand the government did the only thing it could. I am convinced the majority of Serbian citizens would say 'yes' at a referendum - not to the agreement, but to a future for Serbia," he said.

Asked about objections voiced by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Vucic said the government does not meddle in the Church's affairs, but will not allow it to shape government policy. He rejected claims from the SPC that point 14 of the Brussels agreement, which states that Serbia and Kosovo will not block one another in the EU integration process, means recognition of Kosovo.

Vucic said he expects an agreement with the Kosovo Serbs, noting that the most dangerous thing for Serbia would be to start the implementation process divided, and stressing that unity of all relevant factors on the political scene is imperative.

source: Tanjug News

The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. Congress will stage a session on Wednesday to discuss the relations between Serbia and Kosovo, Tanjug learnt in the Serbian Embassy in Washington.

Chairman of the Subcommittee for Europe and Eurasia Dana Rohrabacher released ahead of the session entitled 'Kosovo and Serbia: Path to Peace' that it is in the interest of both countries to find solutions to the problems experienced so far and noted that the Congress needs to be sure that the State Department has a constructive role in all of this.

Rohrabacher is well-known as one of the first advocates of the Kosovo independence, which he justified as the people's right to self-determination. He is also well-known as the supporter of the right of northern Kosovo Serbs to self-determination if they do not want to live in an independent Kosovo.

The other guests invited to the Congress session include Jonathan Moore of the State Department, Shirley DioGuardi of the Albanian-American Civic League, Robert Churcher as the former director of the Office of the International Crisis Group in Pristina, Daniel Serwer as the professor of the Johns Hopkins University and Obrad Kesic, Serb activist and analyst from Washington.

source: tanjug news

North Kosovo Serbs did not accept the Brussels tentative agreement, but called for a referendum in which all Serbian citizens would voice their opinion regarding it, and adopted a declaration on the formation of an assembly of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija at Monday's protest in Kosovska Mitrovica.

The declaration adopted at the protest that was held under the slogan "Northern Kosovo-Metohija Stays in Serbia" reads that the agreement that was reached in Brussels and approved by the Serbian government earlier on Monday is illegitimate and invalid and that "the people living in Kosovo-Metohija will not allow its implementation, as that would mean coming under the rule of the false state of Kosovo."

The declaration reads that by signing the agreement, Serbia would give up on its right to Kosovo-Metohija, and not only to its institutions.

It adds that "the Serb people will not allow the implementation of the agreement" and that a direct answer to detrimental effects of this forced agreement would be acting in line with the Constitution, which was also confirmed in the referendum.
Zvecan Mayor Dragisa Milovic said that Belgrade's negotiating team delivered the decision on behalf of Kosovo Serbs, but that they were not asked what they think about that, underscoring that Serbs do not need any other state, as they already have Serbia.
"No one has the right to push us into some unrecognized state of Kosovo contrary to our will, our interests and the Constitution. This was an opportunity for someone from the negotiating team and the government to address the people and say whether this agreement is in keeping with the Constitution, Platform that was drafted by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Resolution that was passed by the parliament," Milovic said.

No Serb official from Kosovo was present at the last round of talks, when the agreement was initialed, Milovic added, calling on Serbian citizens to offer support so that Kosovo remains a part of the state of Serbia, while Zubin Potok Mayor Slavisa Ristic said that no one could take away Serbia from Kosovo Serbs, as "it belongs to that people, and not to upstarts in Belgrade".
"We will not accept Kosovo institutions, we do not want to vote in their elections, we do not want their personal documents," Ristic said, urging all those who have such documents that were not issued by the state of Serbia to tear them up.

source: tanjug news