We wish to congratulate our friend and member Protosyncellos Jovan Ćulibrk, Board member of the Jasenovac Committee of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the election of becoming the VICAR BISHOP OF THE PATRIARCH and BISHOP OF KOSOVO. We ask the Lord's blessing upon him and all the works of his Bishopric which has a long history.
Kosovo is part of the Orthodox diocese of Raska and Prizren, traditionally known as a cradle of Eastern Orthodox Christian spirituality since antiquity. It is one of the oldest Orthodox dioceses in the Serbian Orthodox Church. Its origins can be traced to the Apostolic times when the Holy Apostles Andrew and Paul visited these areas and brought the light of Christianity. The area of present Kosovo and Metohija is well known for many Christian martyrs who suffered from the Roman authorities. Among the most famous are Ss. Florus and Laurus who were martyred in Ulpiana (near Pristina) in the 2nd century A.D. After the Edict of Milan (313) this region came under the jurisdiction of the Thessalonian vicariate; it is clearly indicated in a letter of Pope Innocent I to the Thessalonian Vicar Rufus in 412 that the vicariate included the area of Dardania (present Kosovo).
As the Fraternity, together with Bishop Jovan, we will celebrate this occasion on Friday, 3 June, during the Retreat in Kiryat Yearim.
