The Shepherd, June 2004
NEWS SECTION, 2
ŒCUMENICAL PATRIARCH VISITS SERBIA
HIS ALL-HOLINESS, the Œcumenical Patriarch, Bartholomeos I visited Belgrade for the Bicentenniary of the First Serbian Uprising Against the Ottoman Empire on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th May. On the Saturday, a Doxology was chanted at St Sava’s Cathedral in the city, and on the following day a procession, “the likes of which the capital of Belgrade had never seen before,” made its way from Republic Square to the Cathedral. Over 100,000 people and twenty-four choirs participated in the procession, in which the Œcumenical Patriarch and his host, Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, and many other hierarchs from the Churches of Alexandria, Jerusalem, Georgia, Cyprus, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, and the Czech Republic and members of the Serbian Royal Family took part. During the Liturgy which followed their arrival at the Cathedral, Bishop Grigorije of Zahumlje and Herzegovina read the St Sava Address. After the cutting of the Slava cake, Patriarch Pavle greeted his guests, and Patriarch Bartholomeos was the first to respond. Later the two Patriarchs laid the cornerstone of a new building for the Serbian Patriarchate.
SAINTS GLORIFIED IN PARIS
AT THE REQUEST of His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel, the Exarch for the Russian parishes in Western Europe under the Œcumenical Patriarchate (Paris Exarchate), at its session on 16th January, the HolySynod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople canonised the Nun Maria (Skobtsova), the priests Dimitri Klepinine and Alexei Medvedov, George Skobtsov and Elie Fondaminski, who were all martyred during the Second World War under the Nazis. Mother Maria’s life is extremely moving, and although her monasticism was anything but orthodox, her witness unto death in laying down her life for others was truly inspiring. She and her companions were arrested by the Gestapo for their heroic work in saving Jews from arrest and deportation to the camps. As a result they were themselves sent there and Mother Maria died at Ravensbruck but a matter of weeks before liberation by the Allies. The glorification service for the new martyrs was celebrated at the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris on the first weekend in May. Archbishop Gabriel served with His Grace, Bishop Basil of Sergievo (MP) and Bishop Silouan of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in Western Europe.
NEW MARTYRS' RELICS TO BE TAKEN TO RUSSIA
PORTIONS of the sacred relics of the Saints, the Venerable New Martyr the Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia and her companion, Barbara, which are venerated in the Monastery Church of St Mary Magdalen in the Garden of Gethsemane, are to be taken to Russia in the Summer. The relic portions will first be taken to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and then to the Convent of Sts Martha and Mary, which she founded before the Revolution. Thereafter they will be taken throughout the country for the veneration of the faithful, before being returned to the Holy Land in March, 2005. 
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