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About 50 Serbs protested against the removal of the priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church “Saint Sava” in New York, Zivojin Jakovljevic. Gathered carrying “Let’s not give our father Zivojin” banners, they held a protest march to the residence of the bishop of the Diocese of East America in New Rochelle, a small town in the state of New York.
“Father Zivojin is a man of the people, the personification of priests and honesty. He is a man whose focus is not only the church and spiritual work, but also humanitarian work. His dismissal committed a great injustice,” he told H1 Jelena Kozjak, designer from New York.
Those gathered also asked Bishop Irinej for transparency in work when it comes to finances.
“This is America, there is a law that protects us parishioners, we are the legal owners of the church,” said Goran Milutinovic, the organizer of the protest.
Those gathered claim that since the church in New York was destroyed in the fire, believers have no idea how rebuilding the church in Manhattan is progressing.
“Since 2016, the parish does not even have a board of directors, which is a constitutional category when it comes to the relationship between spiritual and secular authorities,” explained Vladan Ivković, author of blog srbist.com.
The believers formed a board of directors in September, but say the bishop does not want to bless it, which is a formal condition for the board’s work.
“Bishop Irinej appointed two commissions, which came into conflict with the bishop regarding the renewal of the church and the autocratic behavior of the bishop, and those commissions were dissolved,” explained Vladan Ivković.
Ivkovic said a commission was dissolved “because it refused to issue checks for the costs of the church’s construction works, because it did not receive data from the diocese.”
The secretary of the Diocese of East America stated in a written response that “the bishop of East America, Mr. Irinej, is not in New York at this time, because he is on canonical visitation to the parishes of his regional diocese. “.
The response says that Bishop Irinej expressed his desire to respond as soon as the opportunity arises, but it is not stated when it might be.
Priest Zivojin Jakovljevic did not reply until this text was published.
Incidentally, Bishop Irinej suspended the priest from the “Saint Sava” church in New York in May last year, but under pressure from believers, the bishop returned the priest.
The reason why priest Jakovljević was fired is unknown, believers say because the bishop “does not like it.”
Those gathered will organize the next protest on Sunday, and if the protests fail, they say they will seek justice in the courts.
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