Georgia, Serbia, January 24, 2022
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Two hierarchs of the Orthodox Church reposed in the Lord yesterday, Sunday, January 23.
His Grace Bishop Dimitri of Khornabuji and Hereti of the Georgian Orthodox Church reposed yesterday due to complications from the coronavirus. He had been treated in the hospital for several days, reports the Georgian Patriarchal press service.
His Grace was just 46 years old.
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His Grace Bishop Lavrentije of Šabac of the Serbian Orthodox Church also reposed in the Lord yesterday, around 5 PM, reports the Serbian Orthodox Church.
At 87 years old, Bp. Lavrentije was the oldest hierarch of the Serbian Church, having served the Church in the episcopal rank for 55 years.
A statement on the Istagram page of His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije remembers His Grace as a man who “brought together the most beautiful qualities that adorned the constellation of Serbian hierarchs who, during the time of Patriarch German of Serbia of blessed memory, full of difficult temptations, guarded and preserved the vineyard of the Lord planted among the Serbian people.”
“Bishop Lavrentije was adorned with complete and unconditional devotion to the Church, its structure, order, and unity,” the statement reads.
May their memories be eternal!
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Bp. Dimitri was born on June 19, 1975, in a village of the Kharagauli District.
He was tonsured in monasticism on December 16, 1995, ordained to the diaconate on March 10, 1996, and to the priesthood on January 12, 1997. He was later elevated to the rank of Igumen and archimandrite.
He was consecrated Bishop of Margveti and Ubisa on October 27, 2013. In 2015, he was transferred to the Diocese of Khornabuji and Hereti.
Bp. Lavrentije was born in 1935 in the village of Bogoštica in northwestern Serbia. He graduated from the Theological Seminary and Theological Faculty in Belgrade, and then served in the military in Skopje.
He took his monastic vows on August 12, 1958, at Krušedol Monastery, and a week later he was ordained a hierodeacon. He was ordained a hieromonk on the feast of the Dormition in 1961, and was appointed to work at the seminary in Belgrade. In 1964, he was appointed to teach at the newly opened seminary at Krka Monastery, and served in two parishes, while working to renovate churches.
On June 16, 1967, he was consecrated Bishop of Moravica. He worked tirelessly to promote Serbian religious and folk culture and organized the charitable fund of the Diocese of Belgrade.
In March 1969, he was elected Bishop of Western Europe and Australia and New Zealand. He traveled tirelessly throughout the huge diocese and organized Church life for the Serbian diaspora. In 1971, he acquired the Ostrog printing house, which went on to publish the collected works of St. Nikolai (Velimirović).
In 1984, His Grace traveled to America for talks towards overcoming the Serbian Church schism that existed there, and made a great contribution to the final reconciliation.
He was a long-term member of the European and Middle Eastern Bible Society and the president of the Bible Society of Serbia.
In his 22 years as the hierarch of Western Europe, he established a church and organized the Orthodox religious life in most major European cities. He was then elected bishop of Šabac and Valjevo in June 1989, while continuing to administer the Western European Diocese. From 1989 to 2012, churches were renovated and built, and 13 new monasteries came to life.
In 1992, he organized the transfer of the relics of St. Nikolai from America to his native Lelić.
Bp. Lavrentije leaves behind a rich legacy of tireless evangelical work, which helped bring thousands to faith in Christ in the Orthodox Church.
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