In the Patriarchate of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church on cooperation regarding the founding of the “Saint Sava” Serbian Orthodox University. A people without education has no future, said President Aleksandar Vučić, who attended the signing of the Memorandum.
The Memorandum was signed by Serbian Patriarch Porfirije and the Prime Minister of the Government of Serbia, Đuro Macut. The signing was also attended by the Minister of Education, Dejan Vuk Stanković.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, stated that the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation on the founding of the Saint Sava University between the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church is a huge step forward in the method, model, and approach to the education of future generations.
At the Patriarchate in Belgrade, where the Memorandum was signed, Vučić emphasized that a people without education has no future and that our education has never been separated from faith.
He also stated that the state will provide every assistance and support to the Saint Sava University and pointed out that at this university, children will have the opportunity to acquire exceptional knowledge and to inherit patriotism and love for the fatherland.
“Your goals are great, your dreams are noble. As a state, we will help to make those dreams come true, and I know that by doing so we are doing the best for our children and for our future, because they will be able to acquire an exceptional education, because they will be able to inherit patriotism, the love for their fatherland, as one of the highest values,” said the president.
Speaking about Serbian education, Vučić stated that Serbia has passed through a true Golgotha over the last year and a half.
“They tried from the outside and the inside to destroy all our fundamental values, to shatter our faith, and our faith in the future, and our knowledge and our work, and everything upon which we inherited cooperation, but also the conviction that we can be better and more successful. That is why today’s signing of this Memorandum is of key importance,” Vučić pointed out.
“The Church cannot function without the support of the state”
He emphasized that, thanks to church schools, the Serbian people did not lose themselves in moments when they lost their state, and added that the church cannot function without the support of the state, and that the state is weak and never useful enough to its people without the support of the church.
“This university, Saint Sava, will be a place where the theological education of future priests will take place side by side with studies in medicine, law, natural sciences, technical sciences, and the arts. As stated in the Memorandum, every calling grounded in the lasting values of truth, virtue, knowledge, and mutual respect contributes to the building of a just and responsible society,” said Vučić.
Pointing out that a people without education has no future, the president stated that this is why every monastery founded a school.
“Hilandar, Studenica, Žiča—the academies of their time. Theology was taught in them, but also law, medicine, art, and diplomacy. The monastic cell and the classroom were the same space, because knowledge was considered the prayer of the mind. Education is not a privilege, but a duty,” Vučić emphasized.
Referring to a recent statement by Patriarch Porfirije that the education of the Serbian people bears the seal of Saint Sava and that knowledge without goodness is incomplete, and success without love is empty, Vučić pointed out that the Serbian people have known this secret through the centuries.
“Our education was never separated from faith, and if I tried to list everything in which Saint Sava was first, I could not do so without taking up too much time. Let us just say that autocephaly is his life’s work, so we have already said how great he is; if he had only left Hilandar behind, he left much, and where are Manasija, Žiča?” said the President of Serbia.
He also emphasized that Saint Sava was the first writer, the first legislator, the first teacher, and the first significant diplomat.
“On the foundations of his work, we are building this house of knowledge today, spiritually grounded, yet new and modern. Today we can say that every monk who copied manuscripts by a flickering candle, every teacher who taught children letters and faith in a modest school by the church, every generation that kept the spark of knowledge and spirituality as the greatest national sanctuary during dark times, is our great wealth,” said Vučić.
He also recalled that Despot Stefan Lazarević founded a scriptorium in Resava, a medieval university that gathered scholars, translators, poets, and writers.
“The Resava school translated from Greek, bringing European thought into the Serbian language. In times when we were losing our state, we did not lose ourselves, because we had the church and its school. The restoration of the Patriarchate of Peć in 1557 under Makarije Sokolović gave a new impulse to educational life, and the priest often held a chalkboard alongside the altar,” said President Vučić.
Patriarch Porfirije: The founding of the University is a continuation of the educational path of the SOC and the Serbian state
Serbian Patriarch Porfirije says that with the founding of the Saint Sava University, the deep and historically grounded educational path of the SOC, the Serbian people, and the Serbian state continues.
“Church universities and higher education institutions founded or supported by Christian churches are nothing new in the European and global educational space. On the contrary, they represent one of its oldest and most significant forms,” said Porfirije.
The Patriarch pointed out that many of the most prestigious universities in Europe were born precisely within the embrace of the church or with its direct support, and emphasized that numerous Roman Catholic higher education institutions continue to operate worldwide today as recognized centers of education, science, and culture.
“From the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and the Catholic University of Leuven to the University of Notre Dame in the United States, this model of education shows long historical continuity and full contemporary relevance,” said Porfirije.
According to him, the founding of the Saint Sava University therefore does not represent a precedent, but represents natural inclusion into an already existing and widely accepted European and global academic tradition. He stated that there are more than 600 Roman Catholic universities alone in the world and added that the beginnings of the great European universities are closely connected with monastic and cathedral schools.
The Patriarch added that from Bologna, where, as he said, the concept of a university originated in 1088, through Paris and all the way to Oxford, higher education in Europe developed in direct connection with church institutions and learned monastic orders.
Speaking about the development of Serbian education in the era of Saint Sava, the Patriarch stated that it developed within the framework of the general European model of that period.
“As an archimandrite, he founded a monastic school in Studenica, and as an archbishop, a cathedral school in Žiča. It should also be said that his Studenica and Žiča sermons represent unique programs of Saint Sava education with clearly set spiritual, educational, and instructional goals,” said Porfirije.
The Patriarch emphasized that the history of the SOC’s care for the enlightenment of the people is long, layered, and rich.
At the beginning of April, the Government of Serbia adopted the text of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church on cooperation regarding the founding of the Saint Sava University, bearing in mind the need for constant improvement of the educational system and raising its quality in accordance with the principles of knowledge, upbringing, and morality.
As stated by the Government at that time, this university is being founded with the intention that the cooperation between the state and the Church in the field of higher education be based on shared responsibility for the development of knowledge, the preservation of the fundamental values of the individual and society, and the nurturing of cultural and spiritual heritage.
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