SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH RECEIVED PART OF THE HOLY LAND IN JORDAN: New Dečani are rising at the place where Saint John baptized Jesus Christ!

As part of his visit to Jordan, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, at the personal invitation of Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, chief advisor to King Abdullah II, visited the holy site of Al-Maghtas where, according to beliefs, Jesus Christ was baptized.

On that occasion, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad conveyed to Patriarch Porfirije the King’s wish to gift a plot of land in Jordan to the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The key lies in the Prince’s love for Orthodoxy. And our Dečani, says Dr. Vedran Golijanin, professor at the Faculty of Theology in Foča, who participated in the “Aqaba Process” International Conference in Jordan as part of the delegation led by Serbian Patriarch Porfirije.

– Prince Ghazi came to Dečani several years ago and attended the evening service. None of those present knew who he was. Only after the service did he introduce himself to the monks. For some reason, unknown to me for now, he truly loves Dečani very much. He expressed a wish that the future Serbian monastery in Jordan be built precisely modeled after that holy site.

Professor Golijanin attended the “Aqaba Process” conference accompanied by Metropolitan Hrizostom of Dabar-Bosnia.

Flourishing of Orthodoxy in Jordan

This refers to a series of international meetings launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan, in which he invites political and religious leaders worldwide to improve cooperation aimed at fighting extremist ideologies, radicalization, and terrorism.

In addition to King Abdullah, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, the conference was attended by Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, John of Antioch, Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, and several Christian, Jewish, and Islamic religious leaders from the Middle East and the Balkans.

Professor Golijanin believes that the Jordanians are worthy organizers because they have shown examples of reconciliation in practice. They saw them with their own eyes. And felt them.

– Jordan is a majority Islamic country, but precisely thanks to the benevolence of King Abdullah and Prince Ghazi, we saw how Orthodox Christianity has experienced a truly great flourishing in that state.

The complete archaeological complex in Al-Maghtas, the site of our Lord’s baptism, where numerous Orthodox churches have been built, was directly designated for Christians by the King.

Giving the opening speech at the Conference, the Prince told the story of how the archaeological complex at the site of Christ’s baptism was formed.

The site of Christ’s baptism discovered

After the Jordanian-Israeli war, he learned from a monk that pilgrims had flocked throughout Christian history to that spot, which had been completely overgrown, and that, according to tradition, Saint John preached and baptized the Lord Jesus Christ there.

The complete archaeological complex in Al-Maghtas, the site of our Lord’s baptism, where numerous Orthodox churches have been built, was directly designated for Christians by the King.

Giving the opening speech at the Conference, the Prince told the story of how the archaeological complex at the site of Christ’s baptism was formed.