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Metropolitan PHILIP's Letter Remembering Patriarch PAVLE

November 16, 2009

The Most Reverend Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER
Serbian Orthodox Church in North & South America
The Venerable Hierarchs and the Clergy and Laity
of the Holy Serbian Orthodox Church

 

We are deeply saddened by the news of the falling asleep in Christ of His Beatitude, +PAVLE, Patriarch of the Holy Orthodox Church of Serbia.  We were blessed to receive his blessings during one of his visits to the United States of America.  His Beatitude, PAVLE has lived a holy, long and fruitful life.  His contribution to education and the monastic life will never be forgotten. 

We will never forget his courageous voice against the unfortunate wars between Orthodox Serbs, the Catholic Croats, and Bosnian Muslims.  He was a catalyst for peace and understanding amongst all these groups.  “Blessed are the peacemakers.”  His departure from this temporal life is a great loss, not only to the God-loving people of Serbia, but to Orthodox Christians all over the world. 

On behalf of myself, our venerable hierarchs, the clergy and laity of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, we convey to you, your venerable hierarchs, clergy and laity and the Holy Synod of our sister Patriarchate of Serbia, our deepest sympathy.  May our gracious Lord receive His Beatitude, PAVLE in His holy mansions where the faces of the saints shine like the stars of heaven.  May his soul rest in peace.  Surely his memory will be eternal. 

 

+ Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America