What does the Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church on cooperation on the establishment of the University "Sveti Sava" mean on paper, and what does it potentially mean in practice? "The establishment of the University of 'Sveti Sava' is res publica, in the most worthy meaning of that word: care for the public and general good, for the quality education of young generations and for the future of society as a whole", said Patriarch Porfirije and emphasized that "thereby the Church does not close itself into its own narrow space, nor does it distance itself from modern society, but on the contrary, it remains present in it and opens its doors, putting its spiritual, educational and cultural experience at the service of the entire community..." (from the SPC website). How much is this patriarch's statement in line with what we have in practice - dismissals from the Orthodox Faculty of Theology, the attitude of the church authorities towards the admission of students from Novi Pazar to the hostel and the consequences that arose due to that act, suspicions of financial machinations related to the Church, etc. funded by the state and what that means in practice, yes Is this another attack on Belgrade University - if so, what are the possible consequences?
photo: miloš milivojević / tanjugSIGNING OF THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING AT THE ACCOUNT OF THE THIRD: Patriarch Porfirije, A. Vučić and Đ. Macut;…
BLAGOJE PANTELIĆ, THEOLOGIST
"What that university will look like is difficult to say, because neither the creator of the idea nor the financier told us how it will actually work, how many faculties there will be, who will teach there, how it will be financed, where it will be located, etc. During the signing of the memorandum in the Serbian Patriarchate, 'His Eminence' President Aleksandar Vučić mentioned that, in addition to some kind of school for priests, that university will also have 'medicine, law, natural sciences, technical sciences, arts.' Honestly, I'm most interested in how the Faculty of Medicine will look like. In some monasteries of our Church, specifically in the Tumane monastery, anti-depression creams are sold for only 900 dinars, of course, without VAT. This is a truly innovative and accessible solution for the treatment of this mental illness, which classical medicine has not been able to cope with," says theologian Blagoje Pantelić. "This means", continues Pantelić, "and an attempt to expel the Orthodox Faculty of Theology from the University of Belgrade. That is why the dean and some professors of that faculty were present at the signing. That he wants to expel PBF from the University, because he 'doesn't need free intellectuals', the patriarch, in front of several people, among whom was the rector Vladan Đokić, stated at the PBF itself, on Saint Savo in 2025. Although the patriarch, in cooperation with the metropolitan By Irinej Bulović, he purged the faculty of a caricature of a higher education institution. He doesn't need the academic study of theology. He doesn't need people who come to the truth independently. That's why he turned to PBF."
Pantelić believes that Patriarch Porfiri should not be allowed to prevent the academic practice of theology in Serbia. "I am of the opinion," adds Pantelić, "that the University of Belgrade must insist that the PBF remain part of it. The building can be returned to the SPC, but in some form - as an independent faculty or perhaps as a department at the Faculty of Philosophy - theology should remain at the University of Belgrade. I expect that the rectorate will soon make an announcement."
According to Blagoj Pantelić, this is another attack on the University of Belgrade. That's why Vučić also supported that idea. "Look at their statements", says Pantelić, "they never once mentioned freedom and autonomy. And that is the very essence of the university, enabling people to freely and independently come to the truth. Porphyry would have destroyed the Orthodox Faculty of Theology", adds Pantelić, "and Vučić would have destroyed the University of Belgrade. That is why they joined forces and started a conflict with the Serbian academic community, the most vital and progressive part of Serbian society. And that war, of course, they will lose. It is only a question what price will be paid.”
PROF. DR. DRAŽEN PAVLICA, SOCIOLOGIST
Professor Dražen Pavlica strives to get as comprehensive and complete an idea of the current relations between the church and the state as possible, and to insert those relations into a broader historical context. "In the twilight of socialism, during the 80s of the last century, the signs of desecularization became more and more unequivocal," says Dr. Pavlica. "In the post-socialist era, which has been going on for more than three and a half decades, relations between the state and the church are articulated and calibrated in various ways in Serbia. When thinking about all this, one must not lose sight of, nor overemphasize, the ancient, established Orthodox pattern of the relationship between the church and the state - the symphony." To that extent, Professor Pavlica continues, "the constitutional proposition is quite clear. Serbia is based on the principle of demarcation between the state and the church. However, these prescribed boundaries have proven to be very porous and movable, and that, as a rule, in the direction of gaining social power and increasing influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The increased secular power has always represented too great a temptation for the true Christian mission. In such an asymmetric configuration, on the other hand, the state disempowers itself, decisively weakening its capacities to be a guarantor of generality, equality and plurality."
In other words, the relations between the state and the church are viewed through the prism of power relations, that is, as prof. Pavlica, "in the categories of a kind of microphysics of power" and continues: "The very tops of the ruling political class and the church, with the absence of an authoritative public discussion, make decisions of far-reaching importance. The announced establishment of the University of Saint Sava requires unadulterated social dialogue (more precisely, polylogue) and credible public confrontation. One of the major reasons why our society and culture fail to produce a creative breakthrough is the deficit of value-rational foundation and will for (disinterested) dialogue. In order to draw a more explicit conclusion about the justification of such a university, it is necessary to have much more information than what the public currently has, which faculties would be formed, who would be the owner, how would the existing Faculty of Theology be attached to it, and finally, what kind of relationship would it have with the existing universities? 'Saint Sava' is an expression a kind of dedifferentiation, blurring of structural social differences."
SRĐAN MILOSEVIC, HISTORIAN AND LAWYER
"From everything we have experienced in the operation of the SPC over the past several decades," says Srđan Milošević, "we can see that the contribution of this institution to anything that constitutes a democratic society is null, non-existent, if not negative. The SPC has raised the ethnocentric world view to the pedestal of not only the highest level, but the only criterion for what is important in society and politics. And this venture with the university will serve exclusively to program young people that the Serb is always a victim of the West and domestic varieties and breeds 'unworthy of the names of human and Adamic', which will be all methodology, theory, didactics, value orientation, the only important thing that students will have to take away as well-informed 'knowledge', regardless of whether they will study history, art, technology, law or medicine. The balance of everything should be that simple, banal mantra, accompanied by blatant insinuations about some kind of anti-Serbian basis of every, literally every point of view that this, said, opposes.”
photo: marija janković...regime repression aimed at BU
ZORAN GAVRILOVIĆ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH (OFFICES)
Zoran Gavrilović says that the establishment of the Serbian-Orthodox university can be seen as a pseudo-event that should help the dilapidated rating of the executive power. "Before moving on to a nuanced analysis, we should start with conceptual clarification," says Gavrilović. And he continues: "Religion is true into absolute and mystical power. Enlightenment, on the other hand, is what makes a person a person, giving him the possibility of individual freedom to accept and reject his views on the world. Christianity originated as an anti-statist religion and remained so until the Edict of Milan. The price of such an attitude was paid by the early Christians with their heads. The Edict of Milan began the process of nationalization of Christianity, which in the Byzantine era created a symphony of state and church. This symphony was one of the factors that enabled the church to win its fight for a better position, but lose the battle with the spirit of the pagan heritage. Opportunism and abandonment of the New Testament value framework, which is embodied in love as the supreme value, led to the fact that power, that is, influence, became key values."
When asked why the Serbian Orthodox Church is the government, Gavrilović answers: "The Serbian Orthodox Church is the government because it has power that rests on its function in society, which is not only of a religious nature. On the one hand, it can turn its interests into legal and institutional solutions, on the other hand, it is capable of preventing the adoption of legal acts and institutional solutions that are not in its interest. From the point of view of analyzing the nature of the regime of personal power, which Aleksandar Vučić has been establishing since 2014, the agreement on the establishment of the Serbian-Church university is an act of Caesaropapism, a form of personal power in which the secular power - the emperor, the king or the president - rules simultaneously, but the secular power dominates the church and determines its actions. On the other hand, in the sociological literature that deals with the sociology of religion, it is known that in societies of incomplete transition, and Serbia is that, governments need support in moments of crisis, and the churches appear as 'saviors' as self-interested helpers."
The symphony between this and this state and this and this Church is spoiled by civil protests led by students, which, in Gavrilović's opinion, led to the collapse of the government's rating. "The need for a helper in dealing with the epicenter of the protest, the university, led first to the project of the Faculty of Serbian Studies within the University of Niš, and then to the memorandum on the establishment of the 'Serbian Orthodox University - Saint Sava', whose planned founder is the Serbian Orthodox Church, which thereby 'paid' for its 'posture' during the protest, embodied in the 'closing of the gate' and those who were in the church itself - Metropolitan Justin of Šumadija, Prof. Vukašin Milićević, professor of theology, and theologian Blagoj Pantelić, says: "The very name of the university is an eye-opener for those who are literate. Namely, the designation 'Serbian-Orthodox' is a manifestation of ethno-philetism, which was designated as such by the Synod of Orthodox Patriarchs in the late 1872th century religious (self) identification of a person."
What would be the consequences of accepting ethno-philetism, we ask Gavrilović. "By accepting and not sanctioning ethno-philetism, it becomes an instrument of reproduction of the power of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which strengthens its social and political influence. This influence is often justified by data from the last census, according to which Orthodox believers make up 81 percent of all citizens of Serbia. This resulted in an imprecise percentage of believers in Serbia, because according to sociological research, which is admittedly not extensive, but is sufficient for us to consider the data indicative, we can say that when we take the indicators that show real religious life, and not mere religious self-identification (research within the census), it does not exceed one third of the citizens of Serbia. And here the question arises whether the students of Sava University will engage in this type of research." To that extent, the social functionality of the promised university should be seen in the coordinates of ethno-philetism and ethno-nationalism, the pillars of the Serbian world, i.e. the cult of Saint Sava. "The intention of the author of this 'project' is", continues Gavrilović, "to (neo) the Middle Ages, i.e. with the help of the preserved parts of the Serbian Orthodox Church, prevent the awakening of Serbia and the realization of the dream of those who rose up before the year 221 and brought to Serbia Božidar Boža Grujović, i.e. the 'wayward son' who left the monastery in search of enlightenment, Dositej Obradović, to build Serbia according to the standards of enlightened Europe. Such Serbia is gave birth to the Constitution of Sretenj, a constitution that would pass the scrutiny of the Venice Commission. If someone were to create a university, even if it were the Serbian Orthodox Church, he would have to bear the name of the first educator in Serbia, who received part of his education in the monasteries of Fruškogorje. The law faculty of that university would have to bear the name of law professor Božidar Grujović, who came to Serbia to form the first Government as its secretary, leaving fatherland work of genius A letter about freedom", a work that was left in the darkness of our history, far from education in which someone who is not an educator presents himself as such. In modern Serbia, ethno-philetism has become a political instrument. It enables national identity to be presented as a religious obligation, and political disagreement as a form of deviation from collective identity. That is precisely why the reference to Saint Sava is symbolically significant. Rastko Nemanjić is undoubtedly one of the most important historical figures of the Serbian medieval state and church. But the presentation of Saint Sava as "Enlightenment" in the modern sense of the word often conceals the essential difference between the medieval religious education and the Enlightenment concept. The university in the modern sense exists precisely so that no dogma, whether political or religious, is exempt from scrutiny. That is why it is difficult to avoid the desire for the development of an autonomous knowledge, in other words, Serbia is today between two symbolic models Dositej Obradović and the idea of an enlightened European state, and another that rests on a combination of authoritarian politics, identity nationalism and the sacralization of power. That is why the issue of the 'Serbian-Orthodox University' is not a matter of a single memorandum. It is a question of the direction in which society is moving", concludes Gavrilović.
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