With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Porfiry of Serbia, a scientific delegation of the Serbian Patriarchate, consisting of Protopresbyter Zoran Rankovic, Dean of the Orthodox Theological Faculty of Belgrade State University, and Zoran Nedeljkovic, Director of the Library of the Serbian Patriarchate, visited St. Petersburg from April 2 to 5.
During their stay in St. Petersburg, the guests visited the main sights, worshiped the St. Petersburg shrines and visited the scientific libraries of the city.
On April 4, the delegation visited the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where they got acquainted with the history and modern life of the educational institution, and also met with the rector, Bishop Siluan of Peterhof. The guests were accompanied by the assistant of the protocol Department of the St. Petersburg Diocese, Priest Evgeny Timofeev.
During the conversation, the parties discussed the issue of student and teacher exchange, as well as whether Serbian students can continue their studies at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Belgrade after graduating from St. Petersburg State University.
The guests spoke about their close relationship with secular universities: students of the Faculty of theology, together with students of other faculties (including medical), provide social and psychological assistance to those in need and thus are spiritually shaped.
The issue of popularization of Serbian manuscripts kept in Russia was discussed. The delegation members are interested in the description, digitalization and open access to these documents so that Serbian science can work with national sources.
At the end of the conversation, Bishop Siluan thanked the guests for the visit and expressed hope for the development of relations between the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and the Faculty of Theology of the University of Belgrade and the Patriarchal Library of the Serbian Patriarchate.