Association of Croatian Orthodox Believers
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Association of Croatian Orthodox Believers (Croatian: Udruga hrvatskih pravoslavnih vjernika), often called Croatian Orthodox Union (Croatian: Hrvatska pravoslavna zajednica) is civic association in Croatia founded on 10 September 2010.
The association publishes a journal called Hrvatski pravoslavac which features articles discussing religious, historical and political events in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
One of their main activities is the encouragement of Orthodox population in Croatia to officially declare themselves as Croats. The association marks anniversaries of death of Patriarch Germogen of Croatia and other Croatian Orthodox priests killed by the Yugoslav Partisans in 1945.
Croatian law stipulates that at least 500 members and 5 years of existence are required for a religious organization to be officially registered.
According to the 2001 census Croatia had around 200,000 Orthodox believers, the majority of whom are thought to be members of the Serbian Orthodox Church, e.g. ethnic Serbs.
The association's main goal is gathering Orthodox believers of Croat ethnicity so that forming a separate Croatian Orthodox Church would become possible.
There were 11,400 Croatian citizens who identified themselves as ethnic Croats of the Orthodox Christian persuasion in the 2001 census, but since they didn't identify themselves as members of the Croatian Orthodox Church the foundation of the new organisation is still not possible.
Those 11,400 Croats aren't members of any Orthodox Church currently in existence, so if they identified themselves as Croatian Orthodox in the 2011 census the Croatian Orthodox Church could be re-established.
MILUTIN MILANKOVIĆ
POVODOM GODIŠNJICE ROĐENJA NAJVEĆEG HRVATSKOG I SVJETSKOG GEOFIZIČARA I ASTRONOMA, 28. SVIBNJA 1879.
Milutin Milanković, po rođenju podanik hrvatske krune i pripadnik Hrvatske pravoslavne crkve (tad pod imenom Karlovačka arhiepiskopija), za koju Milanković piše da je njegova obiteljska povijest s njom čvrsto povezana. Po struci građevinar, astronom, fizičar i geofizičar, otac moderne klimatologije, rođen je u mjestu Dalj u Hrvatskom kraljevstvu 28. svibnja 1879., a preminuo 12. prosinca 1958. u Beogradu te je po vlastitoj želji sahranjen u Hrvatskoj, u rodnom Dalju. Bio je dopisni član JAZU od 1925. i redovni član SANU. Stvaralačke godine svog života proveo je u Kraljevini Jugoslaviji i SFR Jugoslaviji.
Po njemu su nazvani krateri na Mjesecu i Marsu (Milankovic) i planetoid (1605 Milankovitch), a jedna od budućih NASA-inih ekspedicija na Mars trebala bi nositi njegovo ime. NASA ga je uvrstila među 15 najvećih umova svih vremena koji su se bavili proučavanjem Zemlje.
Milutin Milanković je u svom bogatom stvaralačkom životu predložio i reformu gregorijanskog i julijanskog kalendara, koja je vodila do sad najpreciznijeg kalendara (Milankovićev kalendar) i koja je na Svepravoslavnom kongresu u Carigradu 1923. prihvaćena od većine pravoslavnih crkvi (ali ne i od SPC).
Otac mu je bio zemljoradnik, preminuo je kada je mali Milutin imao samo osam godina, a brigu o njemu, braći i sestrama, uz majku, preuzeli su baka i ujak. Bio je boležljiv pa nije išao u školu te su ga podučavali privatni učitelji.
Srednju školu završio je u Osječkoj realnoj gimnaziji, a zatim je pohađao Tehničko sveučilište u Beču gdje je diplomirao Građevinu 1902. i nakon toga stekao doktorat iz tehničkih znanosti 1904. Do 1909. radio je u Beču kao inženjer u građevinskom poduzeću, gradio je brane, mostove, vijadukte i druge građevine od armiranog betona. Tad već dobro uhodani srbijanski headhunting među mladim perspektivnim Hrvatima pravoslavcima (poznat je i primjer Dimitrija Davidoviča), i ovdje je došao do izražaja. Kao mamac Milutinovom egu poslužilo je mjesto izvanrednog profesora primjenjene matematike na tek osnovanom Beogradskom sveučilištu.
U jesen 1909. ponuđena mu je profesura na Katedri primijenjene matematike Sveučilišta u Beogradu te se 1910. seli u novonastalu Kraljevinu Srbiju, slijedeći svoju dječačku maštu o tomu kako će steći vlastelinstvo u primitivnoj zemlji s neobrazovanim narodom. Plaća mu je bila deset puta manja od one koju je imao u Beču zbog čega je morao dodatno honorarno raditi. Godine 1914. oženio se Kristinom Topuzović iz Šabca i otišao s njom na medeni mesec u rodni Dalj u Hrvatskom kraljevstvu.
Prvi svjetski rat ih je zatekao u Dalju, a on je tad kao državljanin Kraljevine Srbije, bio uhićen i prebačen u logor u Austriji. Supruga Kristina je odputovala u Beč i preko prijateljskih veza uspjela da nakon šest meseci provedenih u logoru, ostatak zarobljeništva provede u Budimpešti gdje mu je omogućeno nastaviti njegova istraživanja. Nakon rata vraća se u Beograd.
Početak Drugog svjetskog rata zatekao ga je u Beogradu Kad su njemačke okupacijske vlasti zatražile od profesora Sveučilišta u Beogradu da potpišu Apel srpskom narodu kojim je narod pozvan da podupre tadašnju srbijansku vlast i njezin nacistički režim, a koji su spremno potpisali tad najznačajniji episkopi SPC i mnogi srbijanski intelektualci, Milutin Milanković bio je jedan od nekolicine profesora koji su ga odbili potpisati.
Po završetku Drugog svjetskog rata i komunističke revolucije, Sud časti Beogradskog sveučilišta je 1. srpnja 1950., procjenjujući društveno-političku podobnost Milutina Milankovića, donio ocjenu u kojoj se priznaje da se Milanković istaknuo kao odličan stručnjak i znanstvenik koji se bavi astronomijom i nebeskom mehanikom, ali “..Marksizam-lenjinizam uopće ne poznaje niti pokazuje ikakav interes … Smatramo da je naš politički neprijatelj i da će kao takav umrijeti …“).
Milanković se u Jugoslavijama nije proslavio. Njegov rad nije ostavio dublji trag u znanstvenom stvaralaštvu. On nije stvorio neku svoju školu, koja bi čuvala i negovala njegove ideje.
Bio je okružen matematičarima, astronomima i stručnjacima iz racionalne mehanike, kojima su ledena doba bila strana, a među geolozima i geografima nije bilo glaciologa, pa je matematičko i astronomsko obrazloženje njegove teorije ledenog doba i njima bilo strano.
Milankovićevu knjigu u kojoj je prvi put u cijelosti iznesena teorija o ciklusima recenzirao je nitko drugi nego znameniti Andrija Mohorovičić, s kojim je usko surađivao.
Glavna Milankovićeva djela objavljena su na stranim jezicima: Matematička teorija termičkih pojava izazvanih Sunčevim zračenjem (Théorie mathématique des phénomènes thermiques produits par la radiation solaire, 1920.), Sekularna pomicanja polova (Säkulare Polverlagerungen, 1933.), Pravilo o obasjavanju Zemlje i njegova primjena na problem ledenih doba (Kanon der Erdbestrahlung und seine Anwendung auf das Eiszeitproblem, 1941.).
Milankovićeva teorija opisuje kolektivne klimatske učinke promjena u gibanju Zemlje. Radi se o matematičkoj teoriji koja povezuje klimatske promjene s promjenama u ekscentričnosti orbite, nagibom osi i precesijom. Otkrio je da su periodične promjene ekscentriciteta Zemljine putanje i nagiba Zemljine osi uzrok dugoročnih klimatskih promjena, tj. nastanka i prestanka ledenih doba, kasnije nazvano Milankovićevi ciklusi.
Ustanovio je osnovno razdoblje od približno 100 000 godina i sekundarna razdoblja od približno 400 000 i 125 000 godina, u kojima zbog promjene ekscentriciteta Zemljine putanje nastaju značajne promjene primljene količine Sunčevog zračenja.
Našao je i razdoblje promjene nagiba Zemljine osi od približno 41 000 godina, koji dovodi do smanjenja Sunčeva zračenja u višim zemljopisnim širinama. Svjetska promjena klime na Zemlji čini Milankovićevo djelo trajno aktualnim.
Why the Serbian Orthodox Church cannot survive without its monopoly
As the Protestant Reformation proved nearly 500 years ago, it’s the least liberal religions that are the first to crumble under the onslaught of democratic thought, especially when the drive to liberalism also strips them of their cultural monopolies.
As we are now witnessing with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), while most of the Orthodox world has eagerly embraced the move to democracy, says historian Marko Vekovic from the University of Belgrade: “The relationship between [Serbian] Orthodox Christianity and democracy is rather complex.”
Founded in 1219, the SPC reached the zenith of its development under the tutelage of the Ottoman Empire i.e., under the auspices of another, even less liberal religion, Islam, where for nearly 500 years, the SPC was guided by the suffocating and over-bearing presence of the Turkish Sultan. After Serbia broke free of its Ottoman yoke in 1878, it went straight into the arms of another autocratic regime in the form of the Hapsburg Empire.
In historical terms, democracy was never in the SPC’s DNA as was noted by Boris Begović, professor of economics at the School of Law, University of Belgrade, who wrote that “Orthodox Christianity was not a barrier to liberal democracy in Serbia: rather, it was the other way around. “In other words,” he says,” a robust and viable democracy was a barrier to Orthodoxy.”
Following the establishment of the first Yugoslavia in 1918, as was witnessed in Croatia in 1922, the SPC actually thrived by forcibly incorporating all those that were Orthodox, regardless of whether or not they were ethnic Serbs.
In effect, the SPC once again, like under the Ottomans centuries before, acted (and thrived) as the enforcer of a dictatorial and non-democratic regime.
By the time World War Two came to Yugoslavia, the SPC had no issue throwing its lot in with the Nazis – after all, Nazism and Serbian Orthodoxy shared much in terms of racialism and anti-democratic thought, so it was of no surprise that the head of the SPC during the German occupation Nikola Velimirović not only collaborated with the Nazis but also frequently invoked the image of Jews as ‘murderers of Christ and a satanic people who betrayed God’. Behind modernity and secular European values, wrote Velimirović, lay a “Satanic, Jewish conspiracy, the aim of which was to “place a Jewish Messiah on Christ’s throne”
Unlike the Roman Catholic Church or even Islam, the SPC much like it did under the Ottomans, expanded and thrived in the anti-democratic environment that was Tito’s post-1945 communist Yugoslavia. Much like fundamentalist Islam, the SPC’s attraction to totalitarianism was deep rooted. Miladin Zivotić, former philosophy professor at Belgrade University wrote in 1997: “The church’s ideology is common to that of all authoritarian ideologies. It was because of the Orthodox Church that this society was easily convinced that it had to become obedient followers of the Communist Party.”
After the communist dictators’ death in 1980, the SPC even promoted “desecularization” across Yugoslavia, write Radmila Radić and Milan Vukomanović in their book: Religion and Democracy in Serbia since 1989: The Case of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
After the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991, the SPC once again played a pivotal role in supporting a totalitarian regime – this time the autocratic rule of Slobodan Milosevic.
However with the propagation of democracy and liberalism in the Balkans, the SPC fears that it will wither, like a flower in a desert as was pointed out by Dragan Šljivić and Andrijana Maksimović in their 2018 study, Orthodox Christians and democracy in Serbia: “… the relationship of Orthodoxy and democracy is often posed as a discussion of two opposing concepts. We can call this 'the thesis of incompatibility', which contains the view that the Orthodox Church has formed dominant Orthodox societies, so that it now faces difficulties in democratization and democratic consolidation.”
The SPC’s ‘incompatibility’ with democracy was first obvious during Croatia’s democratic elections of 1990, where it was one of the loudest voices against the move away from communist autocracy and recently has manifested as late as 2020 in Montenegro, after the small Balkan state passed a law on religious freedom that registered as state property all religious buildings and sites formerly owned by the independent kingdom of Montenegro before it became part of the Serb-dominated Yugoslavia in 1918.
This triggered shrill accusations from the SPC that the Montenegrin government plans to ‘dispute its holdings’.
However, this is only part of Montenegro’s ‘Freedom of Religion Law’, whose other aims are to turn the country into a secular state as well as making the formerly supressed Montenegrin Orthodox Church (CPC) equal in status with all other religions, including, and particularly, the SPC.
The reaction from the SPC was swift. After mobilising tens of thousands of demonstrators to weekly prayer marches across a country of around 625,000 people, along with millions of dollars poured into anti-democratic and pro-Serb political parties, on August 30, three pro-SPC opposition blocs won 41 of the 81 seats in the Montenegrin election.
Then just before Christmas 2020, Montenegro’s new pro-SPC ruling coalition changed the hotly disputed Freedom of Religion Law by erasing all the elements previously opposed by the SPC. In effect, the SPC achieved a coup d'état in Montenegro.
The SPC remains well aware of what is at stake if it loses ground in Montenegro. Much like with the stellar growth of Protestantism, which mainly came from Protestant factions breaking off from one another like a cell splitting over and over again, the SPC fears that it itself could spawn other national churches, thereby weakening its own position.
Its biggest fear is losing the highly-lucrative SPC ‘franchise’ in Croatia, which in real terms is less than 100 years old, having only been set up in 1922, mainly by force from Belgrade, which is why the SPC fights tooth-and-nail to thwart any recognition of the tiny (and democratic) Croatian Orthodox Church (HPC), going to great lengths to ensure Croatian politicians of all persuasions ‘toe the line’ when it comes maintaining the SPC’s religious monopoly in EU-member Croatia.
After all, if Montenegro and Croatia were to get their own autocephalous orthodox churches, the next logical extension would be Bosnia doing the same, spelling the end of the 170-year old Greater Serbia project and nullifying the main reason behind the SPC’s continued existence.
As was pointed out by Radoslav Bigović in The Orthodox Church in the 21st Century: “The Church has a duty to “demystify” democracy, to deny it any form of misappropriation of absolute value and significance, which should be recognized only as conditional and relative.”
In other words, democracy is superfluous and it’s the SPC’s monopoly that solely matters.
Some 800 years after its founding, the fear within the ruling clique of the SPC is both visceral and real, as it realises that its monopoly via an outdated autocracy is now history and that democracy and freedom of choice are its real enemies.
Vijesti Rujan 2022
NOVO IZDANJE
If you would like to buy this book, send an email to croatianorthodox@gmail.com
A look at Clergy Abuse within the Serbian Orthodox Church from Bojan Jovanovic
Although many Orthodox Churches, including Russia, Greece, and Serbia, have denied the existence of systemic clergy abuse for years, pretending instead that there are just a few bad apples, the facts completely deny them.
For example, in the Russian Orthodox Church, the famous deacon Andrej Kuraev was respected and known throughout the Orthodox world. He publicly stood by the boys who had come forward as victims of pedophile priests, and as a result was expelled from the position of professor at the Spiritual Academy.
The reality is that pedophilia and sexual violence are present with the knowledge of both the Russian and Serbian patriarchs in the Courtyard of the Serbian Patriarchate in Moscow. This is testified by one of the SOC students who was in Moscow to study, tthe priest Petar Perić.
In another example, the Kotor priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Momcilo Krivokapic, wrote about the issue of clergy abuse back in 1978. In his work can be found the testimony of the priest Goran, who was born in 1967 and wrote about organized pedophilia during 1985 and 86, including the methods abusers used to locate victims and keep hidden. Because Goran told the public the truth about pedophilia in the Serbian Orthodox Church, he was also removed from office.
The situation in the Serbian Orthodox Church is very similar to the abuse crises in churches around the globe: a choice has been made to protect reputations and the church at the expense of children and victims. I believe that abusers within the church are not punished due to the closedness of the community and the connections that church leaders have with the political elite.
I am personally in contact with more than 70 victims. Most have permanent consequences and trauma, which can be seen from the medical documentation. Many are drug users. One girl who was raped by a priest at the age of 13 has a diagnosis of mental impairment to the point where she can no longer drive a motor vehicle.
Ultimately, the true number of victims will never be determined for several reasons, including the destruction of documentation, silencing of victims, pressure from church and political leaders to stay silent, and corruption that allow abusers to escape justice. Again, the situation in the Serbian church is one that clergy abuse victims from any denomination will understand.
Serbian Orthodox survivors need our help. Their plight is one that survivors can understand, and the fact that they are being silenced and ignored in their home country is something that many SNAP leaders and survivors experienced first hand.
By sharing their stories and facts, we can demonstrate that change is coming, and when they Serbian Orthodox survivors see that something is happening, there is hope that the future will be much better.
Bojan Jovanovic is a survivor advocate for those who were abused within the Serbian Orthodox Church. Learn more about what’s going on in the Serbian Orthodox Church and how you can help these survivors by contacting Bojan at jovanovicbojan711@gmail.com.
Hrvatska Apostolska Pravoslavna Crkva
The Croatian Orthodox Church (Croatian: Hrvatska pravoslavna crkva) was an autocephalous Orthodox Church established during World War II (1942-1945) in the Independent State of Croatia, as well as a name used to describe the Orthodox Church in the Triune Kingdom of Croatia and an Religious community and association created in 2010.
Organized religion in Croatia stated in the province of Dalmatia during ancient times. In the medieval period the Councils of Split in 925 were held, which were presided over by King Tomislav I. The Councils of Split were the turning point in which the Croatian Church was established.
From 1708 until 1848 the Croatian Metropolitanate of Karlovci were established and their leader was given among others the title of Croatian Patriarch, which can be seen in the coat of arms of Patriarch Arsenije IV. After 1848 the Metropolitanate of Karlovci was raised onto the Patriarchate of Karlovci and a more Serb national title was added as well, during that whole time it was under the protection and jurisdiction of the Habsburgs. The Patriarchate of Karlovci was illegally abolished with the creation of the Serbian Orthodox Church by decree of regent Alexander of Yugoslavia.
After the fall of Yugoslavia in 1941, the idea of a national Church was becoming reality. In order to to unite all Orthodox communities (Croats, Serbs, Vlachs ect.) in the newly formed Independent State of Croatia, the Croatian Orthodox Church was created. It was an state-based autocephalous Orthodox Church which was in full communion with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
In 1945 communist persecuted Croatian Orthodox clergy and executed even lay members of the Orthodox Church. In 1990 with the reestablishment and independence of Croatia the idea to resurrect the Croatian Orthodox Church was once again mentioned, since 2010 an organization of the same name operates as a religious community.
FROM OUR PATRIARCH
The patriarch of the Croatian Orthodox Church is Archbishop Alexander + ( see above).
The European Orthodox Church based in Paris (Eglise orthodoxe d'Europe) established a branch in Croatia on 2 October 2013 and called it the Croatian Orthodox Church, since it was established to serve Croat Orthodox Christians. The Statute (constitution) of the Croatian Orthodox Church was adopted and came into force. It is valid only on the territory of the Republic of Croatia. Alexander (Ivanov) was ordained as Bishop of Croatia. The European Orthodox Church in Croatia - Croatian Orthodox Church was entered in the European Union's Register of Transparency.
Patriarch Nicolas I, knowing that the Republic of Croatia, on the basis of its Constitution, was independent, and that it meets the conditions for joining the European Union - a group of democratic nations that respect human rights, decided on 1 December 2013 to sign the Tomos for granting autocephaly to the restored Croatian Orthodox Church, to thus meet the requirements of the Apostolic Canon no.34 .: "The bishops of each national group should recognize the one who has first place among them, and consider him as head."
In this way, the Croatian people have received a renewed Croatian Orthodox Church, which has always existed and was part of Christianity in Croatia.
WHY ORTHODOXY MATTERS TO CROATIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE
The Croatian Orthodox Church (Croatian: Hrvatska pravoslavna crkva) was an autocephalous Orthodox Church established during World War II (1942-1945) in the Independent State of Croatia, as well as a name used to describe the Orthodox Church in the Triune Kingdom of Croatia and an Religious community and association created in 2010.
Organized religion in Croatia stated in the province of Dalmatia during ancient times. In the medieval period the Councils of Split in 925 were held, which were presided over by King Tomislav I. The Councils of Split were the turning point in which the Croatian Church was established. From 1708 until 1848 the Croatian Metropolitanate of Karlovci were established and their leader was given among others the title of Croatian Patriarch[1] which can be seen in the coat of arms of Patriarch Arsenije IV. After 1848 the Metropolitanate of Karlovci was raised onto the Patriarchate of Karlovci and a more Serb national title was added as well, during that whole time it was under the protection and jurisdiction of the Habsburgs. The Patriarchate of Karlovci was illegally abolished with the creation of the Serbian Orthodox Church by decree of regent Alexander of Yugoslavia. After the fall of Yugoslavia in 1941, the idea of a national Church was becoming reality. In order to unite all Orthodox communities (Croats, Serbs, Vlachs ect.) in the newly formed Independent State of Croatia, the Croatian Orthodox Church was created. It was an state-based autocephalous Orthodox Church which was in full communion with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate[2] In 1945 communist persecuted Croatian Orthodox clergy and executed even lay members of the Orthodox Church. In 1990 with the reestablishment and independence of Croatia the idea to resurrect the Croatian Orthodox Church was once again mentioned, since 2010 an organization of the same name operates as a religious community.
OUR FLAG & EMBLEM
There were 16, 647 Croatian citizens who identified themselves as ethnic Croats of the Orthodox Christian persuasion in the 2011 census, but since they didn't identify themselves as members of the Croatian Orthodox Church the foundation of the new organisation is still not possible. Those 16.647 Croats aren't members of any Orthodox Church currently in existence, so if they identified themselves as Croatian Orthodox in the 2011 census the Croatian Orthodox Church could be re-established.
