Pope Benedict XVI was invited to Serbia, but he will not be able to visit unless the invitation is approved by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC).Participants in the 22nd plenary meeting of the International Bishops' Conference decided to invite the leader of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia.
However, in order for him to visit Serbia, the invitation would have to be approved by the Holy Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The Vatican will soon receive the letter from the Catholic bishops in Serbia, who invited the Pope to visit his followers in the country. This is the third time that the bishops have tried to organize the visit, but the SPC has stood against it every time.
However, executive director of the Christian Cultural Center, Aleksandar Đakovac, said that the Pope’s visit does not depend on the will of individuals.
“Of course that some individuals—bishops, priests and the people—can have differing opinions and they probably will. But in the end, the Church, which gives its opinion through the Holy Synod, will make a final decision which will be the final stance of the Church,” Đakovac told B92.
The main reason for opposing the visit of the Pope is the supportive attitude the Vatican had toward the creation of the WW2 puppet Nazi Independent State of Croatia (NDH).
However, Vicar General of the Belgrade Catholic Archdiocese Leopold Rohmes said that the "all disagreements can be solved".
“It is time to at long last stop with these stories, and with the historical and non-historical myths and what not, related to the NDH, [Ustasha death camp] Jasenovac, etc. People with good will should sit down on both sides and credible historians, and then see where we are,” Rohmes told B92.
Religious theorist Mirko Đorđević, does not believe that the Pope will be coming to Serbia.
“Without the approval of the Church, he doesn’t want to come, so I don’t see the visit of the holy father to the Western Balkans, Serbia, any time soon,” Đorđević said.
Serbian government officials are not against the Pope’s visit, which is evident in the visits Serbian officials have made to the Vatican.
Two weeks ago, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić met with Vatican officials, and President Boris Tadić as well as Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) leader Vuk Drašković visited the Vatican in 2005.
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(Source: BE92)
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