LAST UPDATE: 12:45
By Mladen Aleksic*
The passing of Bishop Atanasije Jevtic brought sorrow to the Orthodox world on Thursday evening.
The bishop’s health condition had deteriorated in recent days while he was in the hospital in a critical condition.
Despite the care he received from the medical team of the PHI Trebinje hospital, the Bishop passed away.
The funeral service for the late Bishop will take place on Saturday, March 6, 2021.
Specifically, the Matins service with requiem for the late Bishop will be held in the Cathedral Church in Trebinje at 8.30 and then a Holy Liturgy will take place at 10.00.
The funeral procession will start at 12.00 from the Cathedral Church to Tvrdos Monastery.
The burial will take place in the Chapel of the Resurrection of the Lord at the cemetery of the Tvrdos Monastery at 13.30.
Until the day of the funeral, the body of the late Bishop will lay in repose at the Trebinje Cathedral Church, where, on Friday, March 5, 2021, from 9:00, the Holy Liturgy will be served with the adoration of the faithful.
The Diocese of Zahumlye-Herzegovina and the Littoral asked everyone who will attend the services and funeral of Bishop Atanasije to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 protective measures.
He became involved in the cultural movements of the country, with his open speeches, excellent knowledge of theological and philosophical thought and his erudition and versatility, he gained great sympathy and support – especially from youth.
During the civil war, he helped the people, the army, orphans, refugees, the wounded and other needy people and the suffering in many ways, restoring the Orthodox faith in Herzegovina through mass baptism and communion.
He was a participant in many domestic and international scientific gatherings in the field of church history, theology, philosophy and Christian culture. At the same time, he collaborated in many church and secular publications at home and abroad.
Bishop Atanasije has published many translations from Ancient Greek, Ancient Slavonic, Hebrew, French, Russian and other languages. His theological, anthropological, patrological, church-historical works go into all periods of the Church’s history and cover almost all the important issues of Orthodox biblical theology.
After the fall of communism in Yugoslavia, he actively worked to strengthen the Orthodox faith among people.
Because he never agreed to compromises, Bishop Atanasije was often in conflict with the authorities, both secular and church. He was not a politician in a cassock, but a fiery orator. His spoken words are feared by everyone, even by himself, as one journalist said in 1999.
He was one of St. Justin Popovic’s spiritual children. The others are Metropolitan Amfilohije (died of COVID-19 in October 2020), Bishop Artemije (who was defrocked in 2010 and excommunicated in 2015, died of COVID-19 in November 2020), Bishop Irinej of Backa (tested positive for COVID-19 in February 2021).
Atanasije Jevtić (secular name: Zoran) was born on January 8, 1938, near Sabac. He graduated from the Orthodox seminary in Belgrade, along with Bishops Amfilohije and Lavrentije.
While studying at the Orthodox Theological Faculty, he served a two-year military service.
Then, he was ordained a monk with the blessing of the Bishop of Sabac-Valjevo Jovan Velimirovic (St. Nikolaj Velimirovic’s niece), by St. Archimandrite Justin Popovic in Pustinja Monastery near Valjevo, in 1960. He graduated from the Orthodox Theological Faculty in 1963. He then went to Constantinople (Halki) to study theology and attended courses in the Theological Faculty (Athens).
Under the mentorship of Professor of Dogmatics, Dr. Jovan Karmiris, he defended a PhD thesis in Greek on the topic: “Ecclesiology of Paul the Apostle after St. Chrysostom” (1967).
In autumn 1968, with the blessing of the Serbian Orthodox Church, he went to Paris to study at St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute. After one year, he became professor at the Institute.
While in Paris, he occasionally attended lectures on Patrology at the Roman Catholic Theological Faculty (Institut Catholique de Paris) and some lectures on Byzantine literature at the Sorbonne (Hautes Études). As a professor at the St. Sergius Institute, he participated in the First Theological Conference of Orthodox Theologians in America, in September 1970 in Boston (Holy Cross).
In 1972, he came back to Serbia at the Orthodox Theological Faculty, to teach History of the Christian church, History of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Patrology. He has published about a hundred scientific papers.
He served as Bishop of Banat from 1991 to 1992 and as Bishop Zahumlje and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1999. Due to a serious injury, he retired from archpastoral duties in 1999.
*Mladen Aleksic is a theologian and journalist, he is also a correspondent for OrthodoxTimes in Serbia
