An Interview of Bishop Xenophon with the American Serb newspaper Sloboda (Part 2)
Source: Слобода, no. 2274, August 10,
2026, p. 11.
Interview conducted by Dobrana
Komnenić and Jelena Tasić.
(Part 1: https://orthodoxmiscellany.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-more-deeply-it-is-buried-more.html)
In the following lines, we present the second part of the
interview given by His Grace Bishop Xenophon of Raška and Prizren in Exile to Sloboda,
the newspaper of American Serbs. The interview was published on August 10,
2026.
The Editorial Board
This June marked sixteen years since the establishment of the
Diocese of Raška and Prizren in Exile, which arose from a group of monastics
who left the Diocese of Raška and Prizren following the persecution of the late
Bishop Artemije (Radosavljević) and his expulsion from Kosovo and Metohija.
Today, the Diocese in Exile has more than forty catacomb communities,
approximately 150 monks and nuns, fifteen secular priests, and a large number
of faithful. Bishop Xenofont (Tomašević) of Raška and Prizren in Exile speaks
to Sloboda about the reasons for the establishment of the Diocese in
Exile, life in its catacomb monasteries, and the state of affairs within the
Serbian Orthodox Church, Orthodoxy, Serbia, and its southern province. We are
publishing the interview in two parts.
* * *
Bishop Artemije used to say
that the Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church did not want him in the
Diocese of Raška and Prizren, but that, in return, through his persecution he
gained a Diocese of Raška and Prizren throughout the whole world. How great a
challenge is it to govern a diocese that has catacomb monasteries and parish
churches on several continents?
It is, of course, a challenge.
But we view it in this way: we bear a great cross and an immense
responsibility.
A man acquires and leaves as an
inheritance a plot of land, a house, and a homestead, and therefore feels a
responsibility both toward his forebears and toward his descendants. How much
greater, then, is the responsibility resting upon all of us: upon me as the
presiding hierarch; upon my brother chorbishops, the priests, monks, and nuns;
and upon every faithful person who is an organic member of that wondrous
organism called the Church of God—the confessing Diocese of Raška and Prizren
in Exile. That which the Apostles and our holy forebears left us as an
inheritance must be preserved and handed down to our descendants unimpaired and
in its original purity.
The responsibility is great, but
we place our trust in Christ, the Author of our spiritual struggle, Who,
according to His promise, will preserve until the end of the age the Church
which He Himself founded, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
It is for us to remain and persevere in that Church until the end, through the
prayers of Saint Sava and of all the Serbian saints and the saints of universal
Orthodoxy.
The Diocese in Exile has only
one monastery in the United States—the Monastery of the Holy Serbian
Enlighteners in Michigan. Do you have the opportunity to expand your mission?
We have never imposed ourselves
upon anyone or forced our way in anywhere. Wherever the people invited us to
establish a community and pray to God together, there we went.
So it was also with the Serbian
community around Detroit, where, in the small town of Columbus, we founded the
Monastery of All the Serbian Enlighteners. For several years now, the Divine
Liturgy has been celebrated there daily, and the name of Christ is confessed.
Alongside Orthodox Serbs, there are also Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks, and
Americans of various ethnic backgrounds. Thanks be to God, that mission
continues and advances—above all, as I have said, through the daily celebration
of the Divine Liturgy, a distinction that no other Serbian monastery on the
American continent can claim.
The superior of the monastery, Protosyncellus
Job, who is Polish by birth, is a humble and obedient monk and a zealous
missionary. May the Lord establish and strengthen him, the brotherhood, and the
faithful on the American continent, that they may proclaim the truth of the
Church of God.
Does the Diocese in Exile
experience any problems with the state and “official” ecclesiastical
authorities in those dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church where catacomb
communities exist?
There are problems. They are
neither minor nor sporadic. We cannot enumerate them all. Of course, in this
age of rights and freedoms of every kind, we do not suffer open persecution and
killings—at least not yet—but we witness all manner of attempts to sabotage and
hinder our mission. These range from obstructing our presence at the Belgrade
Book Fair and preventing us from obtaining building permits to erect places of
worship where we may pray to God with the people, to the recent expulsion of Protosyncellus
Prokhor from the catacomb community in Dušanovo, Republika Srpska. We learned
from well-disposed sources within the police that Bishop Jefrem of Banja Luka
is insisting upon Father Prokhor’s expulsion and the compulsory closure of the
catacomb community in Republika Srpska.
To all those who hinder us in our
evangelical work, we address the words of the Holy Martyr Vukašin of Klepci,
who said to his executioner as he was torturing him: “Just you, my child, do
your work!” We too shall continue doing our work. And may the merciful God
weigh who has acted and judged rightly.
Do you have any contacts with
the Patriarchate in Belgrade, and what conditions did the late Bishop Artemije
set for overcoming the division that arose after his expulsion from the Church?
We have absolutely no contact
with the Belgrade Patriarchate.
Our holy Elder often told us that
the condition for overcoming the division was that the Belgrade Patriarchate
condemn Ecumenism and withdraw from the World Council of Churches. In 1997,
Bishop Artemije succeeded in persuading the Assembly of Bishops to vote for the
Serbian Orthodox Church’s withdrawal from the World Council of Churches, but
the Holy Synod suppressed the decision, and to this day it has not been
implemented.
Moreover, there can be no
discussion until all the uncanonical decisions concerning Bishop Artemije, his
monastics, and the Diocese of Raška and Prizren are annulled. Simply put, our
relationship with the Belgrade Patriarchate is nonexistent. Yet despite all the
restrictions, acts of sabotage, and attacks, we live as those who know that
their true homeland is in heaven. The Spirit, nevertheless, breathes where He
wills!
What does this state of
affairs in the Church mean for the faithful, including those who belong to one
of the dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church in America?
The existence of the Diocese of
Raška and Prizren in Exile means and demonstrates to all the faithful—both
those in America and those in the homeland, who are increasingly falling into
despair and believe that, both as a people and as a Local Church, we find
ourselves in an apparently hopeless situation worse than ever before—that all
is not lost, and that we should and must gather together, struggle, and refuse
to surrender. The banner of Saint Sava has not been trampled and dishonored;
the trumpet sounding the alarm has not been silenced; the Truth has not been
put to shame. We preserve it, and we shall continue to preserve it. Whoever
wishes and is willing is welcome to join us, so that together we may work out
our salvation, struggle, and preserve that which is most sacred to us—the
Orthodox Faith.
How would you explain the
context in which you speak about the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Belgrade
Patriarchate in your homilies?
The Serbian Orthodox Church is a
holy Church—our Local Church, the Church of Saint Sava—which has been preserved
by our holy forebears and entrusted to us for safekeeping. Unfortunately, the
Belgrade Patriarchate has today become synonymous with every kind of betrayal
and capitulation: the betrayal of the ideals of the nation and the people, as
well as of the ideals and truth of the Faith. Father Justin (Popović) himself
used the term “Belgrade Patriarchate” in this critical sense, drawing that
clear distinction. Following Saint Justin, we do likewise, never saying or
believing that the most holy Serbian Church is in heresy—the Church of which we
too regard ourselves as an organic part and within which we remain.
Besides being accused in
synodal communiqués of creating a schism and weakening the Church, the Diocese
in Exile is also called a sect. In earlier statements, you said that the
Diocese in Exile strengthens the Serbian Orthodox Church—in what way? What is
better today in Serbia and in the Serbian Orthodox Church because of the
Diocese in Exile?
As I have already said,
paraphrasing the Apostle Paul: Whoever weakens and destroys the Church of God,
may God weaken and destroy him! We hope to preserve unimpaired the testimony of
the Truth and Righteousness of God and of His Orthodox Church, which does not
consist in decrees, directives, and seals, but in an unimpaired and Orthodox
confession of faith. The Belgrade Patriarchate confesses Ecumenism. We confess
faith in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
The Diocese in Exile
criticizes certain bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church as proponents of
Ecumenism. How would you define Ecumenism so that we may all understand it? To
what extent does Ecumenism constitute a departure from the Church’s teaching?
As the Venerable Justin of Ćelije
defined it best: Ecumenism is the pan-heresy. That is, it is the heresy above
all heresies, containing within itself all the heresies that have existed until
now. Or, as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew once formulated it: “Ecumenism is
a path from which there is no return!” The ecumenists dogmatized precisely this
faith at their godless Council of Crete. Let such a faith be anathema!
Why is Ecumenism harmful, and
in what way does it contradict Orthodox teaching?
Because, figuratively speaking,
it claims that if we mix the fetid pools of heresy with the fragrant wine of
the Orthodox Faith, we obtain an even better mixture from which we should all
drink. But we know that what we obtain is a foul-smelling liquid that spreads
stench and contagion and is fit for nothing but to be poured away.
How can the faithful recognize
these innovations, as well as those that have already been introduced into the
celebration of the Divine Liturgy?
These ecumenist innovations are
numerous, and it would be difficult to enumerate them in an interview such as
this. The faithful must educate themselves in the Faith and become acquainted
with at least the fundamental truths of Orthodoxy and of the Divine Liturgy.
What is fundamental and
exceedingly important is that we understand that, as faithful Orthodox
Christians, we cannot participate in prayer with those who are not Orthodox. In
particular, we cannot invite non-Orthodox clergy to participate in our Orthodox
divine services, because this is contrary to the Canons of the Orthodox Church
and is strictly punishable under them.
Moreover, by introducing chaos
and the law of the cudgel into the centuries-old order of the Divine Liturgy,
the innovators have created unprecedented disorder, often quarreling among
themselves over how the Liturgy should be celebrated and according to the
notions and practices of one innovator or another.
To what extent are the
concepts of the tradition of Saint Sava and the conciliarity of the Orthodox
Church treated today—by the media, in politics, and even at the highest levels
of the Serbian Orthodox Church—with, to put it mildly, imprecision and flippancy?
What is the true path in an age when even greetings for Church feasts are
addressed to “the Serbian Orthodox Church and its faithful,” while the
tradition of Saint Sava is spoken of as Serbian ethnophyletism?
Unfortunately, everything is
misused today. The Truth has been trampled underfoot and disfigured even at the
holy altars, while the masters of the new world order have succeeded in
achieving what they desired: that man should regard nothing as sacred or absolute.
Everything is relative; everything is subject to change.
Let us hold fast to Saint Sava,
the Serbian slava, and the badnjak, and we shall not go astray.
There is also Pilipenda’s “Serbian Christ,” presently mocked and humiliated
even within the Belgrade Patriarchate; but let us know that the victory is His.
Saint Sava bears witness to this before us as he stands before the throne of
God, ashamed of what we have become, yet never ceasing to intercede for us.
Does the opinion of those who
say that the “official” Serbian Orthodox Church—the Holy Synod and the Assembly
of Bishops—is occupied and in the grip of foreign influences, which enforce
their demands through Serbia’s state leadership and one highly influential
Serbian hierarch, support your position that the Diocese of Raška and Prizren
in Exile is the only free Serbian institution? Does this mean that, despite its
Constitution, Serbia is not a secular state and that the Serbian Orthodox
Church is not free? What is your opinion?
Absolutely! Your question
contains my answer in full!
Why do you think the faithful
today feel the need to receive political counsel and guidance from the Church,
and to what extent is the Church obliged to respond to that need?
The Church—the true,
unadulterated, genuine Church of God, Orthodox in both faith and deeds—does not
concern herself with day-to-day politics or political maneuvering. Yet because
all the wounds of her people cause her pain, she has spoken and continues to
speak out; she has defended and continues to defend everything that was sacred
and honorable among the Serbs and that, I hope, has remained so. The Church, as
the mother of her people, ought—and indeed is bound—to care for them in every
aspect of their being and existence.
As a monk of Dečani who spent
a brief period of his obedience at the Monastery of the Holy Archangels in
Kosovo and Metohija, you understand events there better than many. Besides
issuing your festal epistles, should the Diocese in Exile also speak out concerning
the political processes taking place in Kosovo and Metohija?
Let us not wage war through
communiqués alone. Kosovo and Metohija should occupy the thoughts of every
Serb—immediately after God, but before ourselves and our families. It should be
the thought with which we rise and with which we lie down: the thought,
teaching, and sacred charge that we received from our holy forebears and must
hand down to our children. But there must be not only thought, but deeds as
well. Let us consider those deeds, close ranks, repent, correct ourselves, and
pray that God may deem us worthy to erase this shame. Let us not be the
generation recorded in black letters in the history of the Serbian people as
having silently surrendered and sold that which is most sacred to us on earth:
Kosovo of the Covenant and all-sacred Metohija, filled with altars and
graveyards.
How do you understand the
persistent silence of the official Serbian Orthodox Church—the Holy Synod and
the Assembly of Bishops—concerning the surrender of Serbia’s southern province?
The deafening silence of the
Belgrade Patriarchate and its shameless cooperation with the regime in Serbia,
which has become alienated from its own people, say everything. There is no
need for me to explain that disgrace to anyone.
How do you see the future of
Serbian religious and national life in Kosovo and Metohija?
I place my trust in the living
God and in the prayers of Saint Sava that the day will come when, before
Gračanica Monastery and at Gazimestan, as once at the time of liberation, some
new Rakić—like Milan in 1912—will recite “At Gazimestan” with tears in his
eyes.
What does the implementation
of the disputed Kosovo laws concerning foreigners, vehicles, and citizenship
mean for the survival of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and, in practical
terms, for the life of the Church, including the Diocese in Exile?
It means a further tightening of
the noose around the neck of the already despairing people of Kosovo and
Metohija. The situation is dreadful, and the people are moving away. The curse
incurred by the persecution of Bishop Artemije rests upon those who unlawfully
and shamelessly seated themselves upon his throne and lay in his bed, having
seized from him—as Arsacius once did from Chrysostom—the Bride, the Church that
he governed. And while everything burns and matters grow ever worse, the regime
combs its hair and tells us tales about supposed victories and successes of
ours.
How realistic is the prospect
of the eventual creation of a “Kosovo Orthodox Church,” and does the decision
of the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church to grant autocephaly
to the Macedonian Orthodox Church facilitate such a process?
It is both difficult and dreadful
even to comment upon the shameless decision to surrender our holy sites to the
communist creation called the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
The Venerable Justin of Ćelije
once wrote most aptly about the creation of the so-called Macedonian Orthodox
Church: “In its creation lies also its dissolution!” What can those who so
shamefully granted them a Tomos of Autocephaly—and also gave them, “as a
dowry,” all our holy sites in Old Serbia—say, add, or correct in those words?
Unfortunately, the dismemberment
of the Serbian Orthodox Church has only just begun. Either we shall come to our
senses, or we shall disappear!
For the past two years, the
titles held within the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church have
been tied to the bishops’ length of service; and to justify so many
metropolitan and archiepiscopal titles, dioceses have also been elevated to the
rank of metropolitanates. Does this return the Serbian Orthodox Church to the
situation that existed before the Tomos of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
by which it was restored in 1920 with jurisdiction over the entire territory of
the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia and, subsequently, the Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia? To what extent does this facilitate its possible future
fragmentation?
Those who are splitting and
dismembering the Serbian Orthodox Church are merely continuing the work they
have been carrying out for decades. This is no secret; only ostriches with
their heads buried in the sand fail to see it and refuse to acknowledge it. May
God help us when faced with such tyrants beneath episcopal mitres—men who once
boasted that they would break Artemije’s spine and that, although born as
Serbs, they would die as Greeks.
Let such men do as they please,
but we shall not surrender the Church of Saint Sava quite so easily, so long as
we retain this heart, this spirit, and this reason.
How realistic is the prospect
of the eventual creation of a “Kosovo Orthodox Church,” and does the decision
of the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church to grant autocephaly
to the Macedonian Orthodox Church facilitate such a process?
It is both difficult and dreadful
even to comment upon the shameless decision to surrender our holy sites to the
communist creation called the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
The Venerable Justin of Ćelije
once wrote most aptly about the creation of the so-called Macedonian Orthodox
Church: “In its creation lies also its dissolution!” What can those who so
shamefully granted them a Tomos of Autocephaly—and also gave them, “as a
dowry,” all our holy sites in Old Serbia—say, add, or correct in those words?
Unfortunately, the dismemberment
of the Serbian Orthodox Church has only just begun. Either we shall come to our
senses, or we shall disappear!
How do you envision the
Diocese of Raška and Prizren in Exile some twenty years from now?
God willing, in the communion of
the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant, in a repentant, united, deified,
multiplied, and sanctified Serbia, from which the fragrance of incense rises
toward heaven, together with a united voice raised throughout holy and
sanctified Serbdom: Alleluia!
Why has the Diocese in Exile
not directly supported the current student and civic protests in Serbia,
although many of the faithful expected it to do so?
I do not know whether many people
expected that, or what precisely they expected. We have not concerned ourselves
with day-to-day politics or with issuing communiqués, as is so common in
today’s climate of communication through high-flown, inflammatory phrases.
Let us remember our blessed
Elder, who during the wars of the 1990s made no inflammatory statements of any
kind, as his now-departed brethren did, yet defended every Serbian interest
with all his soul and heart.
Those, however, who made
inflammatory statements and uttered inflammatory phrases in a surge of national
fervor soon changed their rhetoric under the slightest pressure from one side
or another. Thus, fervent “Greater Serbs” often became members of European
expert groups. I am speaking of both clergymen and secular figures who, during
the 1990s, called for the severing of “Balija” and Ustaša hands, but who now
force us—with boot and rifle butt—into the European Union and other forms of
integration. Let us beware of failing to keep watch over ourselves and of
losing our sobriety.
Notwithstanding all that has been
said, our Diocese, as a true and caring mother, under the leadership of myself
and my brother hierarchs, has never missed an opportunity—including at the
recent Assembly in Loznica—to warn against the regime that is alienated from
its own people, anti-national, anti-Serbian, and occupationist, and which is
driving Serbia and our people into the abyss of destruction!
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