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Bishop Irinej Bulović criticizes the mother of the late Bishop Jeronimo for asking about the property of her only son, who hired lawyers and took over the family apartment in the court succession process, writes NIN.
His Eminence Vicar Bishop Jegar Jeronim (Siniša Močević), one of the youngest bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, passed away suddenly in 2016 at the age of 47, and his mother Danica Močević has not received his personal belongings until the day of today, although he has asked for them several times. The diocese of Bačka did not even provide him with a list of his son’s personal belongings that he left in the Kovilj monastery where he served and stayed, nor was he allowed to see them, writes NIN.
She personally and through a lawyer asked for personal documents, manuscripts, a doctorate, books that were many and some very valuable, as well as gifts that her only son received from a friend when he was elected bishop. He wanted to make a bequest with his son’s belongings and his personal library. Instead of the things, which he kindly requested on several occasions, an unusual letter came from the bishops of Novi Sad and Bačka, Sombor and Szeged, Dr. Irinej (Mirko Bulović), of which NIN had an idea.
The letter contains messages that are difficult to understand otherwise they are threatening and very sharp. Among other things, Bishop Irinej criticizes a mother who suddenly lost her only son for asking questions, for hiring lawyers and taking over the family’s apartment in probate proceedings.
Bishop Irinej refers to ecclesiastical laws, without specifying which ones, and ignores state laws on inheritance, which certainly take precedence. He threateningly warns Danica Močević that the way she has acted so far “is not acceptable to the Church” and that it is better to “accept the views of the Church”. A friend of the late bishop (name known to the NIN editorial office) told this weekly that he was even verbally threatened that he will not be allowed to go to his son’s grave in the Kovilj monastery if he insists on getting his things.
Attorney Zora Dobricanin Nikodinovic, who sent letters on behalf of the deceased bishop’s mother, confirmed the authenticity of Bishop Irinej’s controversial letter. She told NIN: “I am shocked by the form and tone of the letter, which I said in response. The least I expected was at least reciprocal respect for my client.”
NIN also questioned the letter’s author, Bishop Irinej Bulović, on November 13. They were sent to the official email addresses of the Diocese of Bačka, but received no response.
Bishop Jeronim passed away on November 24, 2016 at the Novi Sad Clinical Center. The death certificate and discharge list say he was admitted on November 22 for diarrhea. Cardiac arrest is cited as the cause of death, and it is claimed that prior to that, the work of the heart and lungs failed and weakness occurred. The death certificate indicates that he had an enlarged liver, spleen and enlarged lymph nodes, but that he did not have a temperature or high blood pressure and that he was breathing normally. The doctor who issued the death certificate requested an autopsy. However, according to NIN, it was not done, which is unusual.
Almost a year after the death of Bishop Jerónimo and after several requests for the delivery of his personal effects to his mother, Bishop Irinej Bulović’s response did not arrive until November 15, 2017. At the beginning of the letter, he immediately stated: “According to the positive regulations of the Serbian Orthodox Church, all property who died without leaving a will, that is, without expressing his last will in writing, is the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church, that is, of the diocese in which served. “Then it is added that they wanted Bishop Jerónimo’s mother to give them things” of a personal nature. ” Everything else that is, as they say, “ecclesiastical and liturgical character”, they would preserve.
The mother asked for her son’s doctoral thesis, which she knew and which is mentioned in the announcement of the Diocese of Bačka, in charge of Bishop Irinej. The statement on the occasion of the death of Bishop Jerónimo, which is still on the SOC website, says: “Before his death, I was preparing a doctoral thesis in the field of liturgical theology.” However, in his letter, Bishop Irinej even denies the existence of Bishop Jerome’s doctoral thesis, stating: “We have never seen or are aware of it existing.” He then adds: “After all, even if Bishop Jeronim wrote his doctoral thesis, it could be printed exclusively as an edition of the Diocese of Bačka, and not as a private edition.” Bishop Irinej further states in the letter that “the same case” is with the late Bishop Jerónimo’s personal library.
Monsignor Jerónimo dedicated himself to theological science, but also to the learning of foreign languages, of which he was fluent in English, Greek, French, Italian, Russian, German, Spanish … and that is why he had a large personal library that mostly it contained the books he received. Of a friend. Bishop Irinej told the late Jerome’s mother, who wanted to establish a legacy in memory of her son: “The legacy can – and should – exist within the library of the Diocese of Bačka.” Then Bishop Irinej wrote a strong warning to the late bishop’s mother:
“On this occasion, I remind you of the fact that the Diocese of Bačka and the Kovilj Monastery, which supported Bishop Jerome for decades, educated him both at home and abroad, organized and paid all the costs of his ordination in Novi Sad (journalist comment: Ordination was performed by Patriarch Irinej 2014, at the Cathedral of the Holy Great Martyr George in Novi Sad after Jerome was elected bishop) and burial at Kovilj monastery, including construction and erection of a tombstone, and that they did not raise the issue of real estate in his name until the death of Bishop Jerome. and consequently, after his death, it should have become the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church, that is, the Diocese of Bačka “.
Bishop Irinej then reproaches his mother that the diocese of Bačka was never invited to participate in the succession procedure of the apartment in Belgrade, which was in fact bought by the parents of the late Bishop Jerome when they fled Sarajevo with him.
“Unbeknownst to the Church, her client initiated a probate process and registered as the owner of an apartment in Belgrade. Of course, we would never question the fact that she lives in the apartment in question, nor God forbid to endanger her. Not at all. The question of the ownership of the apartment itself, but we believe that the way it has acted so far is not appropriate in this matter, nor is it acceptable to the Church, “Bishop Irinej stated in the letter.
Then he declares that they want to hand over “certain personal belongings” without specifying which ones. He warns that if the mother is not satisfied with the proposal, they will be forced to abide by the “established norms” of the Church, and in the letter he did not indicate the exact provisions of the ecclesiastical law. What is called. After that, Bishop Irinej addressed harsher words and objections to the late Bishop Jerome’s mother.
“In any case, we believe that it was not necessary to hire any of them, much less two lawyers (and another for the succession processes) and that it would be best if Mrs. Danica Mocevic accepted what the Church offers her,” the bishop warned Irinej in a letter.
It was only at the end of the letter that Bishop Irinej referred to Bishop Jerónimo’s valuable personal belongings, stating: “He did not possess precious personal belongings, as his client constantly tries to present in various ways, and private property.”
Then he says bluntly, “Therefore, it is useless to look again for a way to obtain something other than certain personal belongings of the late Bishop Jerome,” again without saying what things are in question.
Lawyer Zora Dobricanin Nikodinovic responded to Bishop Irinej’s letter: “As a citizen of Serbia, as a lawyer for more than a quarter of a century and as an Orthodox Christian, I am very unpleasantly surprised, I can freely say it, surprised by the form and tone in which he addresses me as a representative, the mother of the late Bishop Jerónimo, and indirectly to her. I respect the Church and I expect reciprocal respect; God is my witness. “
To this day, the problem of Bishop Jerome’s personal belongings has not been resolved. The sharp and inappropriate attitude, which one of the most influential bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Irinej Bulović, blames on the mother of the late Bishop Jerome, is noted in his letter. In addition to Bishop Irinej’s inappropriate attitude towards the mother who lost her only son, it can be seen from the letter that she does not refer to state laws that apply to everyone, even bishops.
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