Royal family ushers in new regime in Serbia

By Jan Dean

For the more than 10.000 Serbs who attended the four-day consecration of the All Serbian Saints Serbian Orthodox Church on Dixie Road last weekend, the attendance of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Aleksandar ii and his wife, Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia, was an integration of church, state, government and royalty that has not been possible for over 50 years. According to church board member Alex Brkich of Mississauga, the event was “a phenomenal rebirth of community, culture, charity and consecration for us”.

The Crown Prince was born in England in 1945 in a Claridge’s Hotel room designated Yugoslavian soil so that Aleksandar could one day assume the throne of Yugoslavia. Because of Yugoslavia’s Communist government, the Prince lived abroad until his 56th birthday – July 17, 2001 – when he and his family returned to live in the Royal Palace in Belgrade.

“My family is deeply rooted to the country”, said the Prince. “I worked with the democratic opposition to the Communists since 1989, and now those people make up the democratic government”.

The Royal family resides in the Palace at their own expense while working to rebuild the country. And, while they have no official position within the government, the Prince’s experience as a successful businessman is proving a boon to the country as it looks for investment and moves to a total market economy.

“The fighting has stopped in Yugoslavia and we are a stable democracy now, waiting for the world to realize the opportunities in our country”, said the Prince. “We are the crossroads of south-eastern Europe, and after years of communist economy, we need investment and jobs to ensure a stable future”.

Crown Princess Katarina said her husband “has been a refugee for 55 years and now he is home. But, until we moved there last year, we never realized the shape our country was in”. Emerging from decades of communist control, followed by years of conflict, Yugoslavia is now home to five per cent of the world’s refugees, some 700,00 people.

Princess Katarina has made hospital improvement and aiding those most at risk her special concern. “Our doctors are heroic, but children are dying in our country because they lack basic antibiotics”, she said. “Hospitals don’t have ambulances or basic equipment, and labs are almost non/existent. Our people deserve to live like other Europeans, but they are proud and don’t ask for help. So, I ask the international community for help on their behalf”.

Much of that help is being recruited by Lifeline Humanitarian Organization that the Princess set up in 1993. Information about it can be found at:

www.royalfamily.org, the royal family’s website.

Meanwhile, Prince Aleksandar said he and his wife were happy to be invited to the consecration of All Serbian Saints Serbian Orthodox Church in Mississauga. The city is home to 15,000 of the GTA’s 50,000 Serbs. The church was founded in 1993, but building stopped so that Canadian Serbs could help family members caught in the conflicts in Yugoslavia. Construction began again in 1999.

The consecration ceremony was conducted by more than 30 Bishops and clergy of the church.

Mississauga News, June 19, 2002

Informativna sluzba
Srpske pravoslavne crkve
20. jun 2002. godine

OSVECENJE NAJVECEG PRAVOSLAVNOG HRAMA NA TLU SEVERNE AMERIKE POSVECENOG SABORU SRPSKIH SVETITELJA U MISISAGI TORONTO, KANADA

Petnaestog juna ove godine osvanuo je najradosniji dan za pravoslavne Srbe koji zive u Kanadi, kada je dolaskom u Misisagu Visokopreosvecene i Preosvecene gospode arhijereja Srpske pravoslavne crkve, Njihovih Kraljevskih Visocanstava Prestolanaslednika Aleksandra i Princeze Katarine Karadjordjevic, mnogobrojnih svestenika, predstavnika Savezne Vlade Jugoslavije i diplomatskih predstavnika SR Jugoslavije u Kanadi, zatim gradonacelnika Misisage, gospodje Hejzel Mek Kalion, kao i drugih predstavnika kanadskih vlasti, u prisustvu veliko broja vernog naroda, zapocelo osvecenje najveceg pravoslavnog hrama u Kanadi, posvecenog Saboru srpskih svetitelja.

Odmah u pocetku, izabran je kum crkve, jer - prema recima Njegovog Visokopreosvestenstva Mitropolita zagrebacko-ljubljanskog G. Jovana Osvecenje crkve je kao krstenje deteta, a u svakom krstenju ucestvuje kum. Za kuma ovog velelepnog hrama izabran je g. Jovo Vujasinovic.

Posle ovoga pristupilo se osvecenju hrama i sluzenju Svete arhijerejske Liturgije, koju je sluzio Njegovo Visokopreosvestenstvo Mitropolit zagrebacko – ljubljanski G. Jovan, uz sasluzenje
vise arhijereja Srpske pravoslavne crkve, kao i predstavnika pravoslavnih, sestrinskih Crkava na tlu Kanade, i staresnina svih hramova koji pripadaju Eparhiji kanadskoj.

I pored sve svoje velicine, novi hram je bio mali da primi ogroman broj vernog naroda koji je ovim radosnim povodom, uz blagodarnost Bogu, sa radoscu ucestvovao u Svetoj Liturgiji.

U besedi odrzanoj ovim izuzetnim povodom, Njegovo Visokopreosvestenstvo Mitropolit G. Jovan je, izmedju ostalog, rekao: “Danas je braco i sestre osvanuo veliki dan za sve nas
– dan osvecenja najveceg pravoslavnog hrama u Kanadi, Sabora srpskih svetitelja. Ovaj Bozji hram je opasan belim platnom, kao sto dete uvijamo u belo platno kada ga krstimo. Tako smo i danas ovaj hram osvestali i otvorili ga vama za bogosluzenje. Svi vasi napori da sagradite ovako velelepnu crkvu, su urodili plodom ali -
kroz vas, okupljene na Liturgiji, ona treba da zivi. Prenosim Vam najlepse zelje i molitvene pozdrave Njegove Svetosti naseg voljenog Patrijarha Pavla. Prenosim vam, isto tako, i pozdrave svih ucesnika ovogodisnjeg, redovnog zasedanja Svetog arhijerejskog sabora”
Na svecanom rucku Njegovo Preosvestenstvo Episkop kanadski g. Georgije je svojoj braci u Hristu, Arhijerejima - kao znak zahvalnosti i zelje da ovaj veliki dan, za sve Srbe koji zive u Kanadi, daleko od Otadzbine, ostane u njihovim srcima - poklonio je panagije sa likom Majke Bozje.

Okupljenom narodu obratili su se uvazeni gosti,
medju kojima su bili gradonacelnik Misisage g. Hejzel Mek Kalion, ministar Karl de Feria, njegova Ekselencija ambasador Jugoslavije u Kanadi g. Perisic, Savezni
sekretar vera dr Bogoljub Sijakovic, Mitropolit crnogorsko – primorski G. Amfilohije i Negovo Kraljevsko Visocanstvo Prestolonaslednik Aleksandar.

U popodnevnim casovima Njegovo Preosvestenstvo Episkop branicevski G. Ignjatije je odrzao prigodno predavanje.

Zorica Salijevic novinar lista “Istocnik “
Autor i voditelj emisije “Pravoslavlje’’