I expect Putin to be with us at the opening in October: Vucic and patriarch visit St. Sava Temple

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Irinej, visited today the works on the interior of the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade, accompanied by the Secretary General of the President of the Republic Nikola Selakovic.

Address by President Vucic

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"I believe that our people will, with great joy, welcome the day when the doors of our temple open. You just don't know which side is more beautiful, the mosaic is fantastically done and I am grateful to our Russian friends for their help. Thank you for loving Serbia, we will never forget your work," said the president of Serbia.

He also revealed that it is expected that if everything goes well with the fight against coronavirus, Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in Serbia when the Temple is officially opened.

"People are different, presidents, some have no dreams, some are interested in leaving something behind. I am proud that we have invested 43 million euros in the previous three years, and I am proud of that. It was given by the people because the state was strong and efficient. On the other hand, we are taking care, starting in 1945 they wanted to forget about all the famous Serbs. We have no monument to Stefan Nemanja anywhere, we have forgotten the founder of the Serbian state. We did a great thing, Saint Sava is not only the founder of only the Serbian Church, he gave birth to a new spirituality, he was the greatest Serbian diplomat, and that is why it is important that we have a temple dedicated to Saint Sava and thus show our strength. We can show it with knowledge, construction skills. I am sure that this will be a place where people who want to see something magnificent will come," the president assessed and added that he was grateful to everyone who fought and invested money in the Temple of Saint Sava.

Photo: Printscreen/Youtube/Tanjug

"In a special way, the Temple of Saint Sava becomes the new Hagia Sophia, also with this Mother of God, which is a copy of the icon in Hagia Sophia. The state could do that, because it is incomparably more successful compared to 10, 20 and 30 years ago. Whenever we spoke, the money was paid into the account, but it would never have been finished if it were not for the commitment of the patriarch. He took care not only of religious buildings and religious issues, but also of the life and survival of our people - where they are endangered," the president of Serbia pointed out.

"We have been fighting to build the Temple for more than a hundred years and everyone thought it was a waste of money, but today I can tell people, wherever the Orthodox world lives, that the Temple will be completed before the end of October, in less than two months. It will become one of the largest places of assembly, both for our people and for all those who come to Belgrade and Serbia," Vucic underlined.

Vucic stressed that this is a great thing not only for the faithful people, but also for all people who respect their history and faith, and also all other nations.

"96 percent of the mosaics has been installed here, a few more are missing and that will be completed in a short time. Each of these tiles - no two are the same, there are no perfectly flat ones and they will overflow in the light in a special way, and I am especially grateful to my Russian friends for that. Huge help arrived, 10.5 million euros from Russia and Gazprom. They have made something that remains for our generations. This is the largest Orthodox temple in the world," he said.

The president of Serbia said that he did not even dream that it would be possible to see how magnificent our Temple would look even when looking through the scaffolding.

Address by Patriarch Irinej

"As much as Nemanja built the state, Sava built nothing less. Nemanja expanded the borders, but Sava raised the spirit of our people. This will be the pride of the whole Christian world. Once again, we thank the state headed by the president because we would be building the Temple for another hundred years. This was done in the best possible way. Thank you, first of all, God and all the donors who helped our shrine get completed. Belgrade will have a Temple to be proud of before the whole world," said the patriarch.

As he stressed, the construction of the Temple is also the reputation of the state, because Saint Sava was also building the Serbian medieval state.

Photo: Printscreen/Youtube/Tanjug

He also shared the story of a woman from Chicago who contributed 10,000 dollars, which she raised by knitting.

"Maybe with the financial means, if there were no troubles, the Temple would have been completed earlier. But even so, the works are coming to an end. Construction has been going on for a hundred and more years, something like this is built elsewhere in the world for 150 or 200 years. Thanks to our state, which understood, led by President Vucic, the meaning of the Temple for our state, we are bringing it to an end and we hope that it will be a magnificent Temple that will be the pride of all contributors. Because it will be that the sacrifices had been made for great things. On this occasion, I would like to thank all the contributors," said Patriarch Irinej.

Serbian Patriarch Irinej said that after a long time, the building of the Temple of Saint Sava, the ideal of our state, is slowly coming to an end.

"This will be the new Hagia Sophia"

It will look phenomenal - said Vucic during the tour of the works. He also asked which churches are bigger than the Temple, and pointed out that the Temple in Belgrade is one of the three largest.

"It was being built for a long time, more than 100 years, we have invested a lot of money in the last three years," said Vucic.

Patriarch Irinej added that everyone did what they could when it comes to building the Temple.

The President of Serbia pointed out that there will be no iconostasis in the Orthodox world that is more beautiful.

"Deeds, roads, railways must remain, but this is an important thing even for those who are not believers. This seems unreal. When all the scaffolding is removed, come here and see the mosaic, the largest in the whole world. The greatest masters in the world worked on it," he said.

"We have done everything to raise wages, pensions, to build hospitals, schools, but also churches. I saw that it bothers many, even when it comes to the monument to Stefan Nemanja - and to whom should we erect one? We must also take care of our past. People who dream big dreams have a chance, we have no one bigger than Stefan Nemanja and Rastko (St. Sava), to whom we have dedicated this Temple. Serbia can be proud about this in the whole, not only in the Orthodox world," the President of Serbia underlined.

Vucic said that even when the patriarch asked for money, he did it modestly.

"I told him we have more money than we offer. He said that he expected more from other sides as well, and in the end, the state took over most of it. And I am very proud of that," the president pointed out.

He said that the Temple will be the new Hagia Sophia and that the whole Orthodox world will be coming to the Temple of Saint Sava.

(Telegraf.rs)