Posted on 05/30/2010 12:41:43 PM PDT by kronos77
Belgrade - Serbian Patriarch Irinej has invited Pope Benedict XVI to Serbia, for the pontiff's first-ever visit,Belgrade daily Novosti reported on Sunday.
The pope, if he accepts, will travel to Serbia in 2013 for a celebration of the anniversary of the Edict of Milan.
"Representatives of all churches will be invited to the celebration of 1,700 years of the Edict of Milan in Nis in 2013 and there is no reason to pass the Church of Rome," Irinej said.
In 313 Roman Emperor Constantine and Emperor Licinius, who ruled the eastern parts of the empire, signed the Edict of Milan which proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman empire. Constantine was born in Naissus - the modern day southern Serbian city of Nis.
"I hope that (the celebration) will be a chance for a new relationship between theWestern and the Eastern churches," Irinej said.
The relations between the Serbian Orthodox Church, with roots in the Byzantine part of the Roman Empire, and the Vatican have been strained since World War II, when the Hitler-backed regime in Croatia, a Catholic country, killed tens of thousands of Serbs in concentration camps.
Ping
Excellent gesture by Serbian Patriarch Irinej.
I am sure Pope Benedict will attend and be exceedingly congenial.
Good news!
The Pope of Rome also backed Croatia (and Slovenia) in the early 1990s, helping to precipitate the breakup of Yugoslavia and the ethnic cleansing and killing of thousands of Serbs!!!!
If this Pope really wants to mend the rift with the Serbian Orthodox Church—and with the Orthodox Church in general—what’s he going to do about that one, which is a lot more recent than WWII and affect many lives today?
Serbia ping!
I hope so.
I sure do.
Vatican is one of the strongest opponent to succession of Kosovo.
I wonder if this invitation has stirred massive protests in Serbia due to past offenses like Pavelec’s WW2-time genocide of Serbs and so on.
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