Monday is the first of three days of mourning in Serbia after Sunday’s passing of Serbian Orthodox Church head His Holiness Patriarch Pavle. Citizens waited for hours to be able to pay tribute to Patriarch Pavle at Belgrade's Cathedral Church of St. Michael the Archangel. The lines people formed in front of the church were long all night and did not wane until the early morning hours of Monday. Worshippers also lit candles at the church for the soul of His Holiness. Prayers were also ready in the evening. At a meeting of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Holy Synod on Sunday it was decided that Patriarch Pavle would be buried on Thursday at the Rakovica monastery, which is where he had said earlier both verbally and in his will he would like to be laid to rest. Metropolitan of Montenegro and Littoral Amfilohije will take over the Patriarch’s duties, according to the Synod. He was already serving as Pavle’s deputy and performed his duties when the Church head had fallen ill. All details regarding Patriarch Pavle’s funeral will be known today after a meeting of the funeral committee formed by the Synod, which is made up of both priests and government officials.
It is with profound regret that we learned today of the repose in the Lord of our brother Patriarch Pavle of Serbia. After holding a memorial service at the conclusion of this evening's Vespers on the occasion of the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we entreated the Lord with all our heart and soul to grant rest to his blessed soul in the land of the living. Therefore, we convey our sincere condolences to the venerable Hierarchy, the pious clergy and faithful people of our sister Church in Serbia, where everyone is mourning the loss of their beloved Primate. Only Patriarch Pavle is today rejoicing for his heavenly journey. We repeat the timely words of the Serb poet M. Betskovic about the late Patriarch: "None in this noisy era spoke so softly and yet was heard so widely as he. None spoke less and yet said more. None in our delusional age confronted truth with such calmness as he." May his memory be eternal! May the Lord and Founder of the Church reveal a worthy successor to lead the most holy Church of Serbia and father to the glorious Serb People in order to continue his exemplary ministry and preserve the traditions and ideals of his people. At the Phanar, November 15, 2009
+BARTHOLOMEW Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch
Many political and religious officials, including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, gave their condolences for the death of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle. Medvedev said in his message today, addressed to his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadić, that the feat of the late leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) "was an example of great and self-sacrificing service to the Church and homeland, and care for the needs and interests of his people. The period that Patriarch Pavle spent on the Peć throne [the Patriarchate of Peć] coincided with the most difficult temptations that his people had faced. They found and continue to find moral support from the Serbian Orthodox Church, taking spiritual strength, which is so necessary for the creative development of the society and the strengthening of statehood,” Medvedev said in his letter of condolences. He also sent a telegram to SPC Metropolitan Amfilohije, "the guardian of the patriarchy throne", stating that the “long and difficult life path of the Serbian Orthodox Church head was tied closely to the fate of his congregation.”
The United Nations' nuclear watchdog is concerned that Iran's belated revelation of a new uranium enrichment site may mean it is hiding other nuclear facilities, an agency report obtained by Reuters said on Monday. The report said Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it had begun building the bunkered site near Qom in 2007, but the IAEA had evidence the project had begun in 2002. Iran reported its existence to the IAEA in September. IAEA inspectors who were admitted last month to the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Site found construction well advanced. Iran told the agency it would be started up in 2011. "The agency has indicated (to Iran) that its declaration of the new facility reduces the level of confidence in the absence of other nuclear facilities under construction and gives rise to questions about whether there were any other nuclear facilities not declared to the agency," the report said. Iran says the site, like the rest of its nuclear programme, is meant only to yield fuel for civilian power plants. Diplomats say the site's small size makes it unsuitable for any purpose but to enrich lower quantities of uranium suitable for a bomb, and the IAEA said Iran still had a number of questions to answer about the site's chronology and purpose. U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday time was running out for diplomacy, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said after meeting him that Moscow was not completely happy about the pace of dialogue on the issue. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday restated Iran's position that its nuclear rights are not negotiable.
At over six feet tall, the US president was photographed bending to nearly a 90 degree angle when he greeted the relatively diminutive Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace on Saturday. Right-wing websites criticised the US president for showing deference to the Japanese emperor, with the Drudge Report running a banner headline reading: “Obama bows before Japan’s emperor”. Critics claimed the sign of deference went against state department protocol, which decrees that presidents bow to no one. In a blog post titled “How low will he go?” , the LA Times’ Andrew Malcolm compared Mr Obama’s bow unfavourably to the upright greetings extended to the emperor by Dick Cheney, the former US vice-president, and Douglas MacArthur, the latter observed during the US occupation of Japan following the Second World War. Mr Malcolm suggested that Mr Obama’s “wow bow” was undignified and showed a lack of understanding of the history between the two countries. Right-wing commentators unleashed similar criticism in April, when Mr Obama bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia during the G20 summit. The Washington Times called the alleged bow a "shocking display of fealty to a foreign potentate", which ran contrary to American tradition of not deferring to royalty. "By bending over to show greater respect to Islam, the US president belittled the power and independence of the United States," the paper said in an editorial. "Such an act is a traditional obeisance befitting a king's subjects, not his peer." But a senior administration official dismissed the criticism , telling Politico that the US president had simply been observing protocol by bowing to Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
Unilateral actions to declare a Palestinian state could cause Israel to take unilateral action of its own, Benjamin Netanyahu said. "The way to achieve peace is through negotiations, cooperation and the agreement of both sides," the Israeli prime minister told the prestigious Saban Forum in Jerusalem Sunday evening. "This is true with regard to security and economic issues, and also with regard to a genuine political process. "There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and any unilateral attempt outside that framework will unravel the existing agreements between us and could entail unilateral steps by Israel." Those unilateral steps, some Netanyahu administration officials said Monday, could include annexing West Bank settlements or halting the transfer of tax money collected for the Palestinian Authority. The prime minister's comments came on the same weekend as Palestinian Authority officials said they would ask the United Nations Security Council to recognize an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as its capital. Addressing the main obstacles to Israel's security, Netanyahu said that Iran must be prevented from developing a nuclear military capability and a solution was against the threat of missile and rocket attacks on Israel from surrounding countries. A new Palestinian state, for example, must be demilitarized and a mechanism installed in which missiles cannot be smuggled in, he explained. Finally, the Israeli leader said, his country's right to self-defense must be acknowledged.
VII. Announcement regarding the anniversary of the illegal declaration of the pseudo-state in Cyprus
Sunday marks 26 years since the declaration of the pseudo-state in the territory of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces. November 15, 1983, remains a dark day for all who respect international legality. The Cyprus problem remains an issue of the invasion and occupation of an independent state that is a member of the UN and the European Union. This unacceptable state of affairs must come to an end. Greece supports the efforts of President Christofias to achieve an agreed solution; a Cypriot solution, without guardians, that will lead to the end of the Turkish occupation and the reunification of the island, enabling Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to live together in an environment of security, freedom and prosperity, as ensured by Cyprus’s membership in the European Union.