Dean of the Serbian metochion in Moscow the bishop of Moravica Anthony reposes in the Lord.

DECR Communication service, 11.03.2024. 

On 11th March 2024, after a serious and prolonged illness, the bishop of Moravica Anthony, auxiliary bishop of the Patriarch of Serbia, representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and dean of the Serbian metochion in Moscow, reposed in the Lord.

Bishop Anthony was born on 23rd July 1970 in the city of Valevo in Serbia.

In 1990 he graduated with distinction fr om the Three Hierarchs Theological Seminary at the monastery of Krk. In 1988, while still a student at the seminary, he professed monastic vows at Žiča monastery. In 1989 he was ordained as hierodeacon and in 1991 as hieromonk.

In 1995 he graduated with distinction from the Moscow Theological Academy, having defended his candidate’s thesis on the contemporary state of the Serbian Church from 1945 to 1995. In 1996 he was elevated to the rank of syncellus (episcopal advisor) and from 1996 to 2000 he served as economos and vicar abbot of the monastery of Studenica. 

In 2000 by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church he was appointed lecturer at the seminary of Saint Peter of Dabar-Bosnia in the city of Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the same year he became a docent and head of the department of liturgics and church and Serbian musical history at the Music Academy under Sarayevo State University.

In 2001 he was elevated to the rank of protosyncellus.

In 2002 by the decision of the Episcopal Council and Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church he was elected as dean of the representation church (metochion) of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Moscow and elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

In 2002 he was appointed official representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and dean of the Patriarchal Metochion of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul by the Yauza Gates, later the metochion of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Moscow. He remained in this position up until his untimely demise.

By the decision of the Episcopal Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2006 he was elected auxiliary bishop to the Patriarch of Serbia with the title of bishop of Moravica. His episcopal consecration took place on 23rd July 2006 in the Cathedral of Saint Michael in Belgrade.

From 2003 to 2018 he was professor of liturgics and canon law and head of the liturgics department at the Russian Orthodox University of Saint John the Theologian, wh ere he defended his master’s thesis on the liturgical traditions of the Serbian Orthodox Church. From 2018 to 2022 he was dean of the department of philosophy and theology at the Russian Orthodox University of Saint John the Theologian.

In 2019 at the faculty of Orthodox theology at Prešov University in Slovakia he defended his doctoral dissertation on relations between the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Churches from 1944 to 1950, using archival material in Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church.

The late archpastor was the author of a number of scholarly books on ecclesiastical and historical topics, as well as guides to Orthodox holy sites, collections of sermons, translations into Serbian of works by Russian authors and scientific publications in Serbian periodicals. In 2023 bishop Anthony was awarded the highest prize of the XIV Golden Knight International Slavonic Literary Forum in the nomination for history of the Slavic peoples for his monograph on relations between the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Churches from 1944 to 1950, using archival material in Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church.

The late bishop’s works on church history brought him numerous ecclesiastical, state and public awards. These included: the Order of Saint Rastislav 3rd Degree, awarded in 2004 by the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia; the Order of Saint Sergius of Radonezh 3rd Degree, awarded in 2005 by the Russian Orthodox Church; the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky 2nd Degree for his outstanding contribution in the cause of strengthening fraternal and spiritual ties between the peoples of Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, awarded in 2006 ; the Order of Katerina Cantacuzina Brankovic 1st Degree, awarded in 2007 by the metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana of the Serbian Orthodox Church; the Golden Medal with Ribbon for Services to Art 1st Degree, awarded in 2013 by the Russian Academy of Arts; the Order of Saint Vladimir 2nd Degree, awarded in 2013 by the Russian Orthodox Church; the Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius 1st Degree, awarded in 2016 by the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia; the Order of Saint Gorazd 2nd Degree, awarded in 2017 by the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia; the Order of Saint Rastislav 2nd Degree, awarded in 2018 by the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia; the Order of the 100th Anniversary of the Repose of Saint Raphael of Brooklyn 2nd Degree, awarded in 2019 by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; the Order of Saint Alexius of Moscow 3rd Degree, awarded in 2020 by the Russian Orthodox Church; the Order of Saint Herman of Alaska, awarded in 2020 by the Orthodox Church in America; the Order of Saint Vladimir 1st Degree, awarded in 2020 by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; the Order of Friendship, awarded by the Russian Federation in 2020; and the Medal of Saint Mark of Ephesus 1st Degree, awarded in 2020 by the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Eternal memory to the newly-departed archpastor! May the Lord God repose his soul in the mansions of his saints.