A Lecture Held on the Topic: “The Bible and the Church”

On Tuesday, 17 June 2025, at the Old Assembly Hall in Kragujevac, a lecture was held on the topic “The Bible and the Church,” organised by the Diocese of Šumadija and the City of Kragujevac, on the occasion of the feast day of the Old Church, as part of the Holy Trinity Spiritual Celebrations.

The lecturer was the Reverend Dr Aleksandar Milojkov, Coordinator of the Section for Dialogue in the Public Sphere of the Missionary Department of the Archdiocese of Belgrade and Karlovci, who  gave an inspired presentation on the inseparable link between the Holy Scripture and the living Tradition of the Church to a large gathering.

Father Aleksandar emphasised the importance of the liturgical reading and interpretation of the Bible, underscoring that it is the Church which is the very cause of the Bible’s existence. The Church preserved the Scriptures, canonised them, and transmitted them to the faithful as a living source of spiritual life. Highlighting the challenges posed by contemporary readings of the Bible outside the ecclesial context, the lecturer invited those present always to seek the interpretation of Scripture in the light of patristic theological thought and the experience of the Church.

The audience expressed great interest in the topic, as evidenced by numerous questions in the ensuing discussion with the speaker, thus contributing to a lively and dynamic atmosphere of this spiritual gathering.

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Protopresbyter-Staurophorus Vajo Jović

Protopresbyter-Staurophorus Vajo Jović was born in 1956 in Ugljevik, Srpska.

Priest in Zagreb and Secretary of the Diocesan Board of the Metropolis of Zagreb and Ljubljana since 1979.
From Zagreb, he served the missionary parish in Maribor.
Parish priest at the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Belgrade since 1991.
Since 2000, Elder of the same church and Director of the Orthodox Missionary School until his retirement in 2023.

Forty-two years of priestly service are characterized by intensive missionary work.

Recipient of the Order of St. Sava, third degree.

Protopresbyter-Staurophor Radivoj Panić

Protopresbyter-Staurophor Radivoj Panić is the coordinator of the Parish Mission Department of the Missionary Department of the Archbishopric of Belgrade-Karlovci. He was born on April 1, 1961 in Novi Sad. He completed the seminary in Sremski Karlovci in 1981.

From 1986 to 1991, he was engaged as a librarian at the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Belgrade.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1992. He began his pastoral ministry as a parish priest in Kosova Polje, where he served from 1992 to 2001. After that, from 2001 to 2009, he was the parish priest at the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, and since 2009 he has served as the parish priest at the Church of St. Sava. He completed his theological studies in 2008, at a time when he was already serving as a parish priest.

He is particularly involved in organizing pilgrimages to Kosovo and Metohija, as well as in humanitarian work. He collaborates with the organization “Our Serbs” from Chicago, through which he actively participates in providing assistance to the Serbian people in Serbia and Kosovo and Metohija, as well as in supporting domestic organizations operating in these areas.

Father Radivoj Panić is considered one of the most respected priests of the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovac.