Washington, D.C., February 1, 2022
Photo: sputniknews.com
On January 27, President Biden sent a letter greeting and congratulating the Serbian Bishop of Eastern America on St. Sava’s Day.
While such presidential letters are common for the Greek community, the same cannot be said for the Serbian community. The last Serbian hierarch to receive a presidential letter was St. Mardarije, who served in America for roughly two decades until his repose in 1935.
In his letter to Bishop Irinej of Eastern America, the President writes:
As Serbian Orthodox Christians in the United States join their brothers and sisters in Serbia and throughout the world to celebrate Saint Sava Day today, Jill and I send you, your clergy, lay leaders, and the faithful our warmest greetings for a feast day filled with peace, joy and hope.
For eight centuries, the life and works of Saint Sava have inspired the Serbian people to preserve the most noble elements of their national identity while building peace and understanding between cultures and peoples. Saint Sava holds a special place of reverence among Serbs who immigrated to the United States. His dedication to promoting education and charity inspired a community of people who brought with them their hopes and dreams for future opportunities for themselves and their children while maintaining not only their faith but also their language and cultural traditions. It is, perhaps, for this reason that so many Serbian Orthodox churches and organizations across the United States are dedicated to Saint Sava.
Please accept our warmest wishes and prayers for peace and unity this Saint Sava Day.
Bp. Irinej also received a letter from President Donald Trump in April 2019, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the autocephaly of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
And following a number of attacks on Orthodox holy sites in Kosovo and the inclusion of Visoki Dečani Monastery in a list of the most endangered European cultural heritage sites, Bp. Irinej appealed to both Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, calling on them to do everything in their power “to stop ethnic violence against Serbs and the persecution of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its clergy and monastics, and to respect the basic human and religious rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.”
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