Serbian Army Lieutenant Presbyter Goran Sandic in Fort Jackson
Church of Serbia – 14/6/19
There has been military clergy in the Serbian Army since it gained statehood.
Knjaz Milosh Obrenovich in the constitution of the newly liberated state, in 1839, defines that they shall have priests in the army. After the Second World War, it was not allowed to pray to God in Serbian military barracks. This service was re-established in 2013.
In the first group of priests who then took office, was Presbyter Goran Sandic, a cleric of the Metropolitanate of Belgrade-Karlovac and a Lieutenant in the Special Brigade of the Serbian Armed Forces. Fr. Goran is, by order of Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, in training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, from 29 May to 29 August 2019.
At the request of His Holiness, Serbian Patriarch, Kyr Irinej, and with the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Irinej of Eastern America, Fr. Goran, is currently serving in the Diocese of East American.
The first Sunday in Fort Jackson was celebrated liturgically. The host was Presbyter Peter Aleira, a Major, one of seven Orthodox priests in the active service of the US Army. He invited Fr. Goran to join in celebrating the Holy Liturgy together in the military chapel in Fort Jackson. This is the last Liturgy that Father Peter Aleira served before he and his wife and three children move to Germany, where his new place of service will be located.
Present at the service were members of the American Army, faithful of the Orthodox Church, who, receiving Holy Communion, took part in the Eucharist.
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