{"id":192797,"date":"2025-11-14T00:14:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=192797"},"modified":"2025-11-14T00:14:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:14:38","slug":"serbia-to-andalusia-father-dusan-spreads-orthodoxy-across-spain-planning-church-construction-and-a-st-sava-ball-with-his-parishioners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/serbia-to-andalusia-father-dusan-spreads-orthodoxy-across-spain-planning-church-construction-and-a-st-sava-ball-with-his-parishioners\/","title":{"rendered":"SERBIA TO ANDALUSIA! Father Du\u0161an spreads Orthodoxy across Spain, planning church construction and a St. Sava Ball with his parishioners!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cOrthodoxy comes from the south\u2026\u201d says the verse of a well-known song. In this story, Orthodoxy is spreading in the opposite direction. Father Du\u0161an Erdelj, together with his parishioners, is planning to build the first Orthodox church in the heart of Andalusia, in the Costa del Sol region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would also be the first sacred site of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Spanish territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Du\u0161an (43), originally from Be\u010dej, completed the Seminary in Kragujevac and the Theological Institute in Belgrade. After five years of service in the Eparchy of Brani\u010devo, God\u2019s plan took him to the Netherlands, where he served for a full 16 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI managed to establish many new communities there, and last year, with the blessing of Bishop Justin, I moved to Spain, where we founded two new communities \u2014 one in the town of Amsterdam on the Costa del Sol, and one in Valencia,\u201d he told Serbian Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He adds that he had been coming to Spain for years and thinking about establishing an Orthodox church there someday. And his wish has come true\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of one, we have two parishes in places where our church has never existed. Although few Serbs live here, they showed incredible energy and willingness to help, so it was a pleasure to lead them on this path. It all began two years ago, and today we have a space where we pray and serve\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his parish there are those who live permanently in Spain, as well as Serbs from all over the world who own houses and residences here, where they spend parts of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our parish, whose center is in the town of Fuengirola, many athletes also live, and one of the most prominent families is the Gudelj family, which regularly participates in parish life. It is the family of our national team footballer Neboj\u0161a Gudelj, who has since been joined by his wife Anastasija, daughter of the famous singer Svetlana Ceca Ra\u017enatovi\u0107.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About 200 Serbs live in the Costa del Sol area, and as Father Du\u0161an emphasizes, alongside regular liturgical life, they organize additional activities to help the parish survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is not easy to maintain ourselves here, but we are trying to welcome everyone and make sure that our church feels like home to all. We also plan to establish a small Serbian language school and folklore classes for the youngest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the greatest plan ahead of the priest and his faithful is without doubt the construction of a church dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCosta del Sol is a very popular tourist region, and it would be wonderful to build a church that will represent a part of our homeland in this beautiful region of Andalusia. To achieve this goal and raise the necessary funds, on February 8, 2026, we plan to organize our first humanitarian St. Sava Ball, attended by the royal family Kara\u0111or\u0111evi\u0107, as well as many prominent Serbs from Europe and around the world. Of course, everyone who wishes to be part of this celebration is welcome,\u201d Father Du\u0161an says from Spanish Andalusia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we wish him, together with his parishioners, to fulfill his dreams and build a beautiful church so that Orthodoxy may shine in all its glory in the south of Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He officiated the wedding of Prince Aleksandar Kara\u0111or\u0111evi\u0107<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Du\u0161an officiated the wedding of Prince Aleksandar Kara\u0111or\u0111evi\u0107 and Princess Vesna in September this year, with the church ceremony held in the town of Villamanrique de la Condesa near Seville in Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

PRINCELY WEDDING: All Kara\u0111or\u0111evi\u0107 family members gathered<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had the honor, with the blessing of Bishop Justin and together with Bishop Petar of Toplica, to marry the newlyweds. The wedding was held in a Catholic church but with full respect for all Orthodox customs and canons. All members of the royal family attended, and it was truly an event I will remember for the rest of my life,\u201d says Father Du\u0161an.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA MAN WHO TOUCHED HUMAN HEARTS\u201d: \u0110okovi\u0107 revealed what he would like to be written on his monument!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BOJOVI\u0106 RELEASED ON BAIL: The policeman arrested in Chicago is awaiting a decision on deportation!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DIJANA HRKA\u2019S CONDITION IS GETTING WORSE: Ambulance came twice, citizens are applauding her and calling her name!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SO FAR 150 NAMES FOUND: Zoran has been preserving the memory of unknown heroes from the Thessaloniki front on Kajmak\u010dalan for decades!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE GUARDIAN ON PROTESTS DUE TO THE GENERAL STAFF: \u201cBy adopting this law, Vu\u010di\u0107 wants to please Trump and gain favor\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source<\/strong><\/strong>: Antonije Kova\u010devi\u0107 Foto: <\/strong>Privatna arhiva
<\/a>
<\/a>
<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOrthodoxy comes from the south\u2026\u201d says the verse of a well-known song. In this story, Orthodoxy is spreading in the opposite direction. Father Du\u0161an Erdelj, together with his parishioners, is planning to build the first Orthodox church in the heart of Andalusia, in the Costa del Sol region. This would also be the first sacred […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":192812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[9554,6671,9555,9556,9557,9558],"class_list":["post-192797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diaspora","tag-andaluzija","tag-karadordevici","tag-otac-dusan-erdelj","tag-srbi-u-spaniji-2","tag-srpska-crkva-u-spaniji","tag-vencanje-princa-aleksandra","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192797"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192835,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192797\/revisions\/192835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}