The Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) has tried to keep a lid on tensions among its bishops, but newspapers were full of embarrassing details on Monday about fist-fighting monks, accusations of backstabbing and hints of financial abuse.
The scandal erupted when the hardline Kosovo Bishop Artemije decided to sack and ostracize his moderate deputy, Bishop Teodosije and Sava Janjic, an outspoken monk in the Visoki Decani monastery in Kosovo.
But instead of humbly receiving the decision, Teodosije’s and Sava’s monks turned physical and tossed Artemije’s secretary, Simeon, out of the monastery, injuring his foot in the process.
Stunned and outraged, Artemije accused Teodosije and Sava Janjic of “open, blatant mutiny,” but the synod, the church government, refused to back him and called the feuding bishops to attend when it convened yesterday in Belgrade.
The synod, comprising all bishops running an eparchy, an administrative unit within the SPC, actually said Artemije’s sacking of Teodosije was “hasty.”
Chances are slim for the two feuding priests to make up despite warnings from officials that they are harming the church itself. In addition, their fight is a reflection of much bigger strife in the SPC leadership.
The simmering rift first burst into public view in May, with the clumsy decision by the Holy Bishop Synod to declare the hospitalized head of the SPC, Patriarch Pavle, incapacitated.
The move — which sidelined Pavle, who remains in hospital in fair health despite his 93 years of age — opened the door to a fierce power struggle among the bishops.
Following Pavle’s refusal to step down, Artemije’s rival — Bishop Amfilohije — was appointed acting representative of the patriarch and stands the best chance of taking over when Pavle dies.
Artemije took a verbal jab at Amfilohije over the weekend, accusing him in statements to reporters of “meddling for a long time” in the Kosovo eparchy.
Newspapers highlight Artemije’s extremely hard stance regarding not only international missions in Kosovo, which is the heartland of the Serbian church, but also the political sides in Belgrade.
Artemije wanted Serbs to cut cooperation with foreign and local officials in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in February. Angered by Western support for Kosovo, he also branded pro-European Serbian President Boris Tadic a traitor.
In contrast, Teodosije said the SPC is not strong enough to decide the status of Kosovo, where the dominant Albanian population is hostile to anything Serbian. He said the church should work with any authorities to secure the protection of Serbs and their shrines.
In the conservative Serbian Church, the clash of Artemije and Teodosije exposed the tip of the iceberg of the struggle between hardliners and the more moderate and pragmatic wing.
Bringing the story even further away from the divine are reports, spurred on by sources from within the church itself, that by trying to sideline not only Teodosije but the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina, Artemije is struggling to retain control over the business of the reconstruction of Serb shrines in Kosovo.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia