Conference of the European Federation of Centres for Research and Information on Cults (FECRIS)

On June 19, the Conference of the European Federation for Monitoring and Documenting Cult-like Organizations and Individuals commenced in Brussels. The theme of this year’s conference is: “Help for Victims of Undue Influence.”

The conference brings together over 40 experts from Europe and North America, all specializing in the prevention of and protection from sectarian and manipulative practices.

The programme includes the presentation of 14 academic and professional papers addressing the various forms and methods of assisting victims of undue influence—one of the key mechanisms of deceptive and manipulative behavior employed by leaders of sects and cults toward their followers.

In addition, discussions are scheduled to highlight experiences gained from working directly with victims of sectarian and manipulative influence.

Serbia is again represented at the Conference  by the Centre for Anthropological Studies, whose members also serve as permanent expert associates of the Apologetics Section within the Missionary Department of the Archdiocese.

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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.