 |
|
| |
|
||||
 The Serb Orthodox Church (Српска православна црква; SPC, SOC) is a body of some 11 million Orthodox Christians united under the Serb Patriarch who includes Archbishop of Peć and Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci in his title. The Serb Orthodox Church includes eparchies of Orthodox believers in Serbia and Montenegro, Republika Srpska (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Hungary. The SOC also includes vicariates in Romania and Albania in accordance with the Romanian and Albanian churches. The SOC also has jurisdiction over the Serb diaspora in the Americas, Western Europe and Australia. The issue over the Orthodox jurisdiction in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a subject of debate between the SOC and the Macedonian Orthodox Church which has yet to gain recognition of autonomy from the SOC although it does operate on the territory of the former Yugoslav republic.
HistoryEarly historyThe Serbs migrated to the Balkans during the reign of Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641). Unknown to them at the time, the Serbs had settled on both sides of the line of Roman emperor Theodosius I. The region they had settled had for centuries been alternatively under the religious jurisdictions of Rome and Constantinople. The Serbs were converted in several waves of, the last major one taking place between 867 and 874 AD. Finally, most of the Serbs fell under the authority of the Church of Constantinople and had by 1219 acquired a Church of autocephalous status. Following the arrival of the Ottomans and mass migrations of Serbs to lands under the Catholic Hapsburgs of Austria, a portion of the Eastern Orthodox Serbs were uniatized under pressure, that is converted to Roman Catholicism while maintaining the Eastern Rite. The descendants of some these Serbs, living mostly in Žumberak are under a separate jurisdiction, the Eparchy of Krizevci. In the 20th century, the Church was favored by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia nationalized a large amount of its belongings. Recent historyThe Yugoslav wars gravely impacted several branches of the Serb Orthodox Church. Many churches in Croatia were damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war in that country in 1991. The bishops and priests and most faithful of the eparchies of Zagreb, of Karlovac, of Slavonia and of Dalmatia became refugees. The latter three were almost completely abandoned after the exodus of the Serbs from Croatia in 1995. The eparchy of Dalmatia also had its see temporarily moved to Knin after Republic of Serbian Krajina was established. The eparchy of Slavonia had its see moved from Pakrac to Daruvar. The eparchies of Bihać-Petrovac and of Dabar-Bosnia were also dislocated due to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latter eparchy's see was temporarily moved to Sokolac. Many monasteries and churches in the Zahumlje eparchy were destroyed. Many faithful from these eparchies also became refugees. By 1998, the situation stabilized in both countries. Most of the property of the Serb Orthodox Church was again put in normal use, the bishops and priests returned, and that which was destroyed, damaged or vandalized was restored. The return of the SOC faithful also started, but they are not nearly close to their pre-war numbers, as of 2004. StructureSerbian Orthodox Church is divided into 40 dioceses each headed by its own bishop: In the Balkans:
Abroad:
Dioceses are further divided into Episcopal Deaneries, each consisting of several Church Congregations and Parishes. Church Congregations consist of one or more Parishes. Parish is the smallest Church unit - a communion of Orthodox faithful congregating at the Holy Eucharist with the parish priest at their head. External links
de:Serbisch-Orthodoxe Kirche sr:Српска православна црква
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy
::
Terms of Use
:: Contact Us
:: About Us This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Serb Orthodox Church". |