Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States

tenegro). The Holy Assembly of Bishops met at the historic Ostrog monastery
to stress the unity of Serbia and Montenegro. In the mid-seventies the
Serbian Orthodox Church marked three jubilees: the centenary of the Herzegovina
uprising of 1875–76 (celebrated in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia
in 1976); the eight hundredth anniversary of Saint Sava’s birth; and the
375th anniversary of the monastery Gomirje in Croatia—the westernmost
outpost of Orthodoxy in the Yugoslav lands. The Gomirje jubilee came after
the Tito crackdown on the Croatian nationalist movement, so that Croatian
authorities helped with the renovation of the Gomirje monastery and utilized
the jubilee to reassert their commitment to brotherhood and unity between
Serbs and Croats. 45
The main Serbian Orthodox church jubilee in the 1970s was the eight
hundredth anniversary of the birth of Saint Sava. The final celebration was
held in Belgrade and Z ˇ iča on 4–5 October 1975. In his Z ˇ iča address, the
patriarch stressed the Church’s role as a mediator among the Serbs and
guardian of national unity. The patriarch again extended his call for unity
to other Yugoslav nationalities:
This call for concord and unity does not apply to Orthodox Serbs alone,
but also to all who live side by side with us in this our common social
community—the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ...Letusalllive
in concord and peace which will provide tranquility and prosperity to our
Serbian Orthodox Church and our fatherland. This is my message of today
to all of you here and to all Serbs in the world. 46
Concurrently with rebuilding and commemorations, Germanus pursued
a dynamic foreign policy aimed at upgrading relations with other Orthodox
churches and states. Germanus had a rich experience in foreign affairs.
As a general secretary of the Holy synod and later bishop of Z ˇ iča,
Germanus traveled to America, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy,
and Switzerland. In 1955, he accompanied Patriarch Vikentije to Greece
and visited Mount Athos and Serbian monks at the Hilandar monastery.
Before his election in 1958, Germanus was a delegate of the Serbian
Church at a jubilee of the patriarchate of Moscow. After his enthronement
in 1960, Germanus visited Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Before Germanus,
the only patriarch who had visited Palestine was Arsenius III Crnojević,
who conducted the Great Migration of Serbs. Germanus also paid official
visits to the ancient patriarchates of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch
and the Ecumenical patriarchate at Phanar and, again, went to the Mount
Athos and visited Athens, where he had met with leaders of the Orthodox
Church of Greece. In 1968 Germanus traveled to Moscow to attend the
celebration of the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the Moscow patriarchate.
He also visited the archbishop of Canterbury and established cordial relations
with the Anglican Church and with the churches of Greece, Finland,
Poland, and Czechoslovakia. Germanus met twice with the Ecumenical
52balkan idols