SavaBeljovic wrote: ↑Fri 8 August 2025 8:51 pmMet. Nicholas (Iuhosh) of Cinnicinati told me the ROCOR in Australia would commune both the Free Serbs under Bishop (St.) Petar (Bankerovich) of Canberra, who was recently glorified by the FSOC and the Serbian Patriarchate people in Australia. In America the ROCOR Bishops had a rather low opinion of the FSOC (especially Abp. Alypy) as they had gotten their consecrations after the repose of Vladyka Dionisije from the UAOC under Met. Grigori (Ohychuk) and had close relations with the GOC after the ROCOR broke communion with them in 1978. Another post on this forum goes over this in much greater detail.
The Serbian Patriarchate in 1945 was in a... odd position. Patriarch Gavrilo V was forced by the Communist government to recognize the MP for political reasons (this was also done at the behest of Met. Josif of Skopje, who collaborated with the Communists in an attempt to resolve the "Macedonian schism"). Many people -- including in the ROCOR and GOC -- thought the Soviets did legitimately end the persecutions against the Orthodox and Pat. Alexey I in 1945 did condemn Ecumenism and offered some resistance to Communist ideologies.
This didn't last long as the MP and Soviet state returned to their "old ways", but the Tito-Stalin split made the union with the MP not politically viable for Tito's Communists. Pat. Gavrilo V and his successor Pat. Vichentije II both stayed in good terms with the ROCOR -- and the ROCOR never broke with the SP as they thought it would be impolite after what the Serbian Church had done for the ROCOR -- the only evidence that the SP broke communion with the ROCOR was Met. Josif's request to do so in 1945 which was rejected.
I would say it wasn't acceptable in any case the Serbian Church went into communion with the MP, but we know how that worked out in the long run as the SP would eventually completely capitulate to the Communist government (which even Bp. Artemije of Prizhen noted in the 1990s, though he subscribed to bizarre and non-Orthodox ecclesiology) and joined the WCC in 1965.
post scriptum: Met. Nicholas knew St. Petar of Canberra and his succesor, I believe that was Vladyka Vasilije(?) though he might've been the Bishop of Western Europe, both of whom visited the ROCOR parishes in Australia and were quite well received.
Do you know the name of the post so that I can read more? Do you know the history of how the Free Serbians came to an end or are they still around? Knowing the connection to UAOC makes a lot of sense why there is so little information on the FSOC, in my study I have found anytime the UAOC is involved the situation becomes instantly messy and complicated.
