Serbs Bid Emotional Farewell To Patriarch Pavle

[Svarog]

BELGRADE, Serbia November 19, 2009, 08:31 am ET

Hundreds of thousands of people joined a somber funeral procession Thursday for Patriarch Pavle, the leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church through its post-Communist revival and the Balkans' bloody ethnic conflicts in the 1990s.

Pavle, a highly popular patriarch known for his modesty and humility, died over the weekend at age 95 after being hospitalized for two years with heart and lung problems. He had led the 7 million-member church since 1990.

White-robed church elders held funeral prayers in Belgrade's Church of St. Michael the Archangel, or Saborna Crkva in Serbian, where Pavle's body, covered by a green-and-gold embroidered cloth, lay surrounded by flickering candles in an open casket.

The frail-looking Pavle, known as "the walking saint," had called for peace and conciliation during the Balkan wars that killed tens of thousands and left hundreds of thousands homeless. But critics say he failed to openly condemn the extreme Serb nationalism of the late President Slobodan Milosevic, which triggered the clashes with Catholic Croats and Bosnian and Kosovo Muslims.

The casket was placed on a funeral caisson as crowds joined Serbian leaders and clergy in a solemn procession to the St. Sava Temple, the biggest Orthodox Christian church in the Balkans.

State television estimated that about half a million Orthodox believers, many from neighboring Bosnia and Montenegro, attended the funeral procession through downtown Belgrade as bells tolled from churches.

Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of world's Orthodox Christians, led a liturgy in front of the masses gathered outside the white marble church.

Bartholomew described Pavle as a "great spiritual leader" during the turbulent era for the nation.

"His face and appearance were radiant with holiness and righteousness," he said. "He was a true monk, a man of endless prayers, kind and calm but also a fighter who does not back down and is ready for any sacrifice when needed."

Serbia's President Boris Tadic, who attended the prayers, thanked the late patriarch "for having been there for us with his deeds and message that we should always be human and never respond to the evil in the others with the evil within us."

Pavle was buried later Thursday at a monastery in a Belgrade suburb in a private ceremony attended only by church leaders and Serbian officials.

"I come to bid last farewell to the best man who ever lived," said Gojko Ljubovic, 53-year-old teacher from the southern town of Vranje. "He has done so much for the Serbian nation."

There have been reports of an internal struggle over who would succeed Pavle. The election cannot be held until 40 days after Pavle's death. The favorite is influential Bishop Amfilohije, a hard-liner known for his anti-Western and ultranationalist stances, who served as the acting head of church during Pavle's hospitalization.

After the liturgy, Amfilohije described Pavle as a "modest and quiet man who is now a beacon of light that shines on us from the sky."

"People have poured like a river only to touch him," Amfilohije said of the large crowds who had come to the Saborna church to pay their last respects to Pavle since Sunday.

Source



Now the other side of the story, it's a shame that in a country who is separated from church everything stops for 4 days and make a circus out of one of the biggest Serb's to recently lives (and when i think so who is anti-church in all possible ways) funeral. It is disgrace and shameful it was used in political purposes, the person that he was he would NEVER want his funeral to be a public entertainment, gross.

RIP

Patriarch Pavle (Paul) (Serbian: Патријарх Павле, Patrijarh Pavle; 11 September 1914 - 15 November 2009) was the 44th Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church[1]. He was the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs from 1990 to his death. His full title was His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, Serbian Patriarch Pavle. He was the oldest living leader of an Eastern Orthodox church. His health was bad. For this reason, he had to spend his last years in a Military Medical Academy in Belgrade. During this time, his duties were done by Metropolitan Amfilohije.

[Anthropos]

Now the other side of the story, it's a shame that in a country who is separated from church everything stops for 4 days and make a circus out of one of the biggest Serb's to recently lives (and when i think so who is anti-church in all possible ways) funeral. It is disgrace and shameful it was used in political purposes, the person that he was he would NEVER want his funeral to be a public entertainment, gross.

RIP

Who says it's 'entertainment'? By the way, in the cloister where I go to attend the Liturgy, people often come to celebrate the passing away of a relative, and sometimes they bring lot's of good food and invite everyone to join them. This is something new to me, but I appreciate it, because this is the real way to remember a loved one.

[Svarog]

Who says it's 'entertainment'?

No one needs to say it friend, it's enough to look at circumstances he was burried in - while he was alive no one listened to him in the last few years, when he was the only voice of sense around - he was just a crazy old man no one gave a shit about but NOW everyone are so sad and so devastated that they need to fuck the entire system up to show their 'concerned' asses around and promote their name in the public. Even communists.

By the way, in the cloister where I go to attend the Liturgy, people often come to celebrate the passing away of a relative, and sometimes they bring lot's of good food and invite everyone to join them. This is something new to me, but I appreciate it, because this is the real way to remember a loved one.

I know what you're talking about, it is the feast for the dead, or in the honour of the recently died person. A bread is made and served with some alcohol, then everyone who attended to ceremony goes to lunch, of course, many bums lives the way that all they do is attend funerals and eat for free but yes, it is an old tradition - i am not sure how i feel about it, it is usually very sad and tense atmosphere.

[Anthropos]

No one needs to say it friend, it's enough to look at circumstances he was burried in - while he was alive no one listened to him in the last few years, when he was the only voice of sense around - he was just a crazy old man no one gave a shit about but NOW everyone are so sad and so devastated that they need to fuck the entire system up to show their 'concerned' asses around and promote their name in the public. Even communists.

Okay, I see now.

I know what you're talking about, it is the feast for the dead, or in the honour of the recently died person. A bread is made and served with some alcohol, then everyone who attended to ceremony goes to lunch, of course, many bums lives the way that all they do is attend funerals and eat for free but yes, it is an old tradition - i am not sure how i feel about it, it is usually very sad and tense atmosphere.

Yes, but it is also an act of faith, hope and love that never ends.

[W. R.]

Sad news. He was a great man. His modesty was legendary.

Mrs Jana Todorovic told me a story that concerned her sister. She was at a reception at the Patriarch’s for some reason. Discussing business, she happened to look at the Patriarch’s feet and was shocked at the sight of his shoes: they were old, had been torn and then repaired. The woman thought: “How shameful for us Serbs, that our Patriarch has to go around in broken shoes; couldn’t somehow give him some new shoes?” The Patriarch said joyfully: “Look at what good shoes I have! I found them near the garbage cans when I went to the patriarchate. Someone had thrown them away, but they are real leather. I darned them a little bit and, look, they can still serve a long time.”

WORTH READING MORE

[Anthropos]

Whiterutenian, that was a very good piece. †

Often when I read something from the Orthodox church, I think about all the people in formerly Christian lands who say that Christianity is not for them, and I think: 'This is definitely for You!' And I used to be one of them myself. It was God, through Orthodox Christianity, that changed my mind.

[Svarog]

Yes, he was incredibly modest, once when they asked him what does he think about all the priests driving bmws and mercedes around, he said, with the cars they drive, soon they'll have spaceships - even tho he never said it publicly, he was pretty sad cause of all the 'going ons' in the church, some say taht is what influenced his sickness a lot

[Radojica]

Serbian Patriarch Pavle was laid to rest yesterday at 13.50 CET at the monastery in Rakovica in the presence of only church officials, monastery sisterhood, state officials and small number of citizens. His grave is behind the grave of Patriarch Dimitrije.

Commemoration service was served by Vartolomey, Patriarch of Constantinople and Metropolitan Amfilohije.
Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk Philaret, emissary of the Russian Church spoke at the funeral in the name of the Russian Patriarch Cyril.

Patriarch of Constantinople leads procession

Several hours earlier at 07.30 CET church bells marked beginning of the liturgy at the Cathedral Church. Streets surrounding the church were crowded with thousands of people.
The procession started moving slowly towards St. Sava Temple at 09.50 CET headed by the Patriarch of Constantinople Vartolomey and Metropolitan Amfilohije. Soon hundreds of thousands of people were joining the procession walking step by step in complete silence.

Guard of honor

Hundred thousands of people from the whole of Serbia and the neighboring countries filled every inch of the King Milan Street. According to estimation by the Home Ministry between 600,000 and 700,000 people yesterday took part in the procession.
At 10.50 CET the casket with the body of Patriarch Pavle was carried through a line of the Guard of Honor of the Serbian Army and was placed on a pedestal in front of St. Sava Temple.
The funeral service began at 10.00 CET and was held by Patriarch Vartolomey and Metropolitan Amfilohije with co-servicing of other patriarchs and bishops. It was served in five languages. Each of the patriarchs served in his own language. Only Bishop of the Russian Church in Belgrade Marko spoke in Serbian.
The Patriarch of Constantinople Vartolomey saw in Patriarch Pavle a real successor of St. Sava.
‘His ethos was firm as a diamond. He was a man of broad knowledge, merciful, tolerant, with wide horizons and aware of the contemporary times’, Vartolomey said.
Metropolitan Amfilohije called Patriarch Pavle ‘a holly old man’ who evoked goodness, humanity and love for God in people.
‘It is not perchance that this modest and calm man turned into light shining above. All of you who gathered around his casket are the witnesses to that’, Amfilohije said.