A delegation of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage, headed by Executive Director Egor Skopenko, and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church paid a working visit to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from September 10 to 15, 2023.
On September 11, in Belgrade, representatives of the Foundation met with the abbot of the monastery in honor of the Blessed Matron of Moscow in the village of Ritesic near the town of Doboj (Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Abbot Isaiah, with whom they discussed the details of the sketch project for the manufacture of an iconostasis for the main temple of the monastery. The Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage has been beautifying the monastery since 2020.
On September 12, members of the joint delegation of the Church and the Foundation arrived in the city of Uglevik, where they took part in a solemn service in honor of the offering of the relics of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky, which was led by Bishop Photius of Zvornitsko-Tuzlansky and Bishop Konstantin of Zaraisk, Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated in a monastery dedicated to this saint. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, Bishop Konstantin donated to the monastery an icon of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky with a particle of his relics, and the delegation of the Foundation presented Bishop Photius and the abbot of the monastery with memorable gifts. After the service, a festive meal was held.
On the same day, the Foundation's delegation visited the monastery in honor of the Blessed Matron of Moscow in the village of Riteshich, and then went to the Osovitsa Monastery in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, where a dinner was held in a warm atmosphere with the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Theophilus.
On September 13, in Banja Luka, the Foundation delegation met with the Vicar of the Banja Luka Diocese, Bishop Savva of Marchansk, with whom they discussed the current state of construction of the Russian-Serbian church. At the end of the meeting, the Foundation's guests, together with Bishop Savva and the rector of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Banja Luka, Archpriest Dragan, visited the construction site of the church and the Spiritual and Cultural Center being erected.
Also on the same day, the guests of the Foundation visited the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in the city of Uglevik, where they discussed with the rector the issues of further improvement of the monastery in terms of the arrangement of the territory near the temple.
The next day, on September 14, Patriarch Porfiry of Serbia received the Executive Director of the Foundation, Egor Skopenko, at his residence in Belgrade. During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of current cooperation and further cooperation.
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The Monastery of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky was founded in 2020 by Bishop Photios of Zvornitsko-Tuzlansky at the church of the same name, built by Russian paratroopers from the peacekeeping contingent of the Stabilization Forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina stationed in the city of Uglevik.
The church was consecrated in 1997 by the chairman of the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Cooperation with the Armed Forces, Bishop Savva of Krasnogorsk and Bishop Vasily Zvornitsko-Tuzlansky (Serbian Orthodox Church), and after the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers in 1999, it was transferred to the Serbian Orthodox Church.