On Friday, February 19, it will be exactly three months since the 45th head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Irinej, died as a result of the corona virus. The day before, 39 bishops will meet to elect a new patriarch. History so far speaks of two rules. The first could be called the fate of favorites - whoever was seen in public as the new patriarch in recent times before the vote in the Patriarchate, came out remaining the bishop. The second rule says that the reckless interference of the state in the selection of the first among equals in the Serbian Church is a tradition, as it were, carved throughout the entire 20th century.
DASHBOARDS AND NOTES
"Your government has not yet decided which personality is most suitable for the patriarch?" asks Bishop Hrizostomo, Acting President of the Synod, Dobrivoje Radosavljevic, President of the Federal Commission for Religious Affairs. The date is September 8, 1958. Rumors spread that the previous Patriarch Vicente died under suspicious circumstances, poisoned after drinking coffee with an unannounced guest. Bishop Hrizostom then offers Radosavljević to choose five bishops, and of those, they will choose three from the Church, to which the state representative replies: You suggest suitable persons, so if we have no objection, the matter will be fine.
The members of the Synod then say that they cannot give names, but that they are willing for the patriarch to be chosen by agreement, and they implore the state authorities to state what they have against whom, and based on that, see what and how to proceed. The conversation lasts 15 minutes in total, and is concluded by the president of the Federal Commission for Religious Affairs: "Let one of the three be Bishop German of Žižka, and the other two whoever the episcopate wants."
In those days, the pressure was unbearable. Discussions are held with bishops, but also with members of their families and friends; he threatens and promises everything and everyone. The next day, the Parliament postpones the election of the patriarch, Radosavljević with members of the Udba comes to the Parliament session, accuses Bishop Vasilij Kostić, the long-time secretary, of working for foreign interests, accuses those present of wanting to disrupt the cooperation between the Church and the state, to harm the state... If you want war, you will get it him, he says.
On that day, however, the Assembly came out with three candidates: bishops German, who has not even five years of active service, Chrysostom and Visarion. The rest is known - German Đorić became the patriarch, and Vasilije Kostić was arrested, investigated, then released, then again arrested and imprisoned.
But it was under the leadership of Patriarch Germano that the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church was changed; it was he who made sure that no one else would be elected the way he was elected. Since 1967, the patriarch has been elected at the session of the Holy Synod of Bishops, by apostolic lot; only archbishops participate in the election. This change in the Church Constitution was a very unpleasant surprise for the then government.
CHRONOLOGY OF CHOOSING
Until 1967, the patriarchs were elected at Electoral Assemblies, in which, apart from the bishops, other representatives of the Church, as well as some lay people, participated. After the First World War (SPC ceased to be a state church in 1921 with the Vidovdan Constitution), in September 1920, Archbishop Dimitrije was elected patriarch at the session of the Parliament. Very quickly, the Government published the Decree on the Election of the Patriarch - which was the basis for the Law on the Election of the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church adopted ten years later - and requested that the election be repeated.
According to the aforementioned Regulation, the Electoral Assembly chose between three bishops proposed by the Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It included, in addition to the archbishop and other church representatives, all ministers, current and former presidents of the Council of Ministers, representatives of the National Assembly, presidents of courts and certain municipalities, rectors... The main role in the whole process was played by the minister of religion - he was even the one who convened the Electoral Assembly. The candidate with the highest number of votes would be confirmed by the king and then enthroned.
The election was repeated - and Archbishop Dimitrije was again elected as patriarch.
The new Law was passed on April 6, 1930, and the majority in the Electoral Assembly were, according to that Law, laymen; the members of the Synod were not at all satisfied. Allegedly, in those days, Metropolitan Gavrilo even had a fight with Prime Minister Petar Živković, because he did not want such influence of politicians and secular persons on the selection of the head of the church. It wasn't worth it. According to this Law, Patriarch Varnava Rosić was elected.
Eight years later, due to the struggle over the Concordat, the death of Patriarch Barnabas will be sudden and suspicious to many. The new Patriarch Gabriel will be chosen by the Royal Viceroyalty on behalf of the King from among the selected candidates. The pressure from the authorities on which candidates would be shortlisted was great - according to some sources, the police were on duty in the streets around the church because of this.
After the Second World War, the Constitution of 1946 separated the Church from the state. It is known how it looked in practice. According to the Church Constitution from 1947, the patriarch was elected by a majority of votes at the session of the Parliament, and in addition to the archbishop, other representatives of the Church also took part in the election, while among laymen there were members of the Patriarchal Board of Directors. In other words, there was no longer, formally speaking, a representative of the state. But that's why she, in all possible and impossible ways, always had a decisive influence on that choice, as before.
In 1950, Patriarch Vikentije Prodanov was elected. He was expected to solve the Macedonian question and the government was sure that he was the one. They were mistaken. Although he was flexible and discussed many topics with government representatives, the problem with the so-called He never resolved the Macedonian church, although he said many times that it was almost a done deal.
Eight years later, Patriarch German came to head the Church. He balanced the next 32 years, yielding to the authorities, but also fighting for the Church. In December 1990, while he was lying in a hospital bed, the election for a new patriarch began. It was chosen from among 17 bishops.
IN RECENT HISTORY
Each bishop, including vicars, rounded up three candidates. The three envelopes were supposed to contain the names of those who received more than half of the votes. Already in the first round, Bishop Sava from Šumadija (16) and Stefan from Žica (13) stood out. And then came the second round, the third... After nine rounds, another name was found, until then almost unknown to many. Some will later recount that when they heard who the new patriarch was, they looked in the previous holiday epistles to see if he even existed and wondered who that man was.
When he was elected, Patriarch Paul was 76 years old and, humble and devoted to prayer, he hardly wanted to become the head of the Church. By all standards, in layman's terms, he was an outsider. However, in the chaos and horrors that will follow, he will become a respected and beloved patriarch who managed to remain one of the voices of peace and live what he preached.
When Patriarch Irinej was elected, he was not considered as someone who is the "first pick of the government" and the congregants of the archbishops, but also of wider church and social circles in general. He was greeted by an unhappy situation in the Church, which was still searching for its place in society - although that process is still ongoing - and did not take too much care of itself.
Patriarch Irenaeus, i.e. the Council under his influence as the first among equals, in the first years of his reign, managed to really consolidate the Church in some aspects. That period, when the Parliament retired several bishops, is probably unparalleled in the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Namely, in the previous election for the patriarch, the public and a large number of believers as well as the clergy were afraid that someone like the now retired bishops Kachavenda or Filaret would come to the throne. Namely, they feared the consequences of their unworthy activities for the Church and its life, as well as for society and the clergy. Today, when it comes to the majority of candidates for patriarch, there is no such fear. However, now in the center of attention is another division and a different kind of problem - the one that is created in relation to the state power in Serbia.
In the long run, this is still simpler - every government is changeable, no matter what it does to prevent that change from happening.
THE OMNIPERSE PRESIDENT, SON AND THE MEDIA
And the atmosphere is therefore quite different from the atmosphere of 11 years ago - while the media then wrote about clans and lobbies, about wars and struggles, discords and schisms, supremacy and conspiracies within the Church, this time the main dividing line became that between the bishops who in good and more than good relations with the government on the one hand, and those, on the other hand, who are not in such good relations or even dared to criticize the same government.
Namely, in the previous years, the regime embodied in President Aleksandar Vučić succeeded to a good extent in creating a public of its own accord - an army of defenders of his image and work, among them a dedicated and ever-vigilant group of media workers, analysts, politicians and party activists, but also critics who use similar ways and vocabulary as his supporters. That is why such a struggle, due to more power and influence, always benefits him, and finally, to a good extent, the conquered institution.
Individuals - critics who are assessed as dangerous, or even those who do not praise the state government, but have social influence in the country and region - pay dearly for every jump out from this tailored public. Bishop Gregory of Dusseldorf and all of Germany has been targeted by the authorities for months, and the pro-regime tabloids are not sparing even Bishop Joaniki of Budimlja-Nikšić.
Because what would happen if after so many praises addressed to the president, so many gifts to the Church and efforts to blacken everyone who is not close to him, someone who is not with the government comes to the head of the Church?
FORGIVENESS AND LOVE
Since December of last year, President Vučić has been visiting bishops, and praises for him have been catching up with each other. Perhaps the most illustrative example was that of Bishop Sergi of Bihać-Petrovak and Rmanj.
In the middle of December last year, in an already famous text, Bishop Sergije wrote: "As long as they crucify Aleksandar Vučić, I know that we are doing well, that we are doing well, that we are where we are." When they shut up, I'll know that it's not right, that we're disappearing and that we won't be there. Vučić's crucifixion is our resurrection!"
At one time, Bishop Filaret had to repent in Parliament for supporting Slobodan Milosevic and saying that he only had one heart and one president, Slobodan Milosevic. Between those comments and the comparison of Vučić with God, there is a whole chasm.
But still less profound than the one when recently the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church distanced itself from Bishop Grigori's statement about the gathering of young people in order to bring about changes in the system in Serbia, judging that this statement was of a political and party character that had no contact points with the mission of the Church. However, the same body did not distance itself from the aforementioned comparison.
Four days later, on the Facebook page of the Diocese of Bihać-Petrovac, the news was published that His Eminence Bishop Sergius received a visit from Mr. Danilo Vučić, son of the President of Serbia, with his entourage; the bishop further thanks the delegation from Serbia for their selfless love and care. In what capacity did Danilo Vučić lead the Serbian delegation visiting the Bishop? What did Aleksandar Vučić discuss privately with the bishops, in conversations "for one minute", as he says in one of the recordings?
And on the other hand, perhaps the most interesting speech is Bishop Jovan of Šumadija, i.e. his slip. While thanking President Vučić for the promised help for the Church, he ends the sentence as follows: "Through this, we save everything from being forgotten, and what scares me the most, both as a person and as a bishop, is that people don't forget." Although it is clearly an accidental mistake, there is something striking about the scene that, as he says this, there is a man standing next to him whom he is thanking and who rules largely because people forget too much.
EXPECTATIONS
For the Church, but also for society, it is important for a patriarch to come who would not rule the Church the way Aleksandar Vučić rules the state; not to rule exclusively by fear and blackmail; not to try to destroy all who are not his, that he thinks for himself that, as the name says, he is the first among equals, and not the first above all others. It would also be important for it to be someone for whom criticism is not more terrible than the reason for the criticism, and it is not more important to him that bad things do not become public than that bad things happen. Such an atmosphere would perhaps spread to society as well.
