The welcome address of His Grace Bishop Dositej

Your Holiness, dear brother bishops, esteemed prelates of the Church of England, welcome to our Church!

It is my great pleasure and honour to greet you on behalf of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the British Islands and extend my warm welcome to you for coming to the United Kingdom, the diocese of Great Britain and Scandinavia and our lovely church of St. Sava here in London.

Your Holiness, you come to us here, in this God-preserved country, as the First Hierarch of our local Orthodox church - exactly one century after St. Nikolay of Serbia visited London in 1916. Your presence here among us is very important. You come, our spiritual father, primate and heir to St. Sava's throne, to minister to us - Orthodox Serbs who came from both sides of the Drina river to settle in this country, to help strengthen our faith and support us in our endeavour to keep orthodox faith and traditions alive.

Your Holiness, as well as your pastoral visit to the Serbian people, you arrive here at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, so we can celebrate together and commemorate the centenary of the memorable Vidovdan speech made by St Nikolay in St. Paul's Cathedral. We hope and pray that this visit of Your Holiness will be fruitful and successful, because you carry on the great tradition of your predecessors on the St. Sava's throne, the Patriarchs German and Pavle of Blessed Memory, who themselves had good relations with the primates of the Anglican Church, both individually and as the spiritual leaders of Orthodox Serbs - both of them welcome guests in London and England.

The year of 1916 was crucial for the survival of all things Serbian, the people as well as the Church, as reflected in the first words of St. Nikolay's sermon, "I come from Serbia, from European midnight. Not a shred of light is to be seen there. All the light has fled the earth and has gone to the sky and it is from there that the light shines only. But, as weak as we are in all things, nevertheless, we stand strong in our hope and faith, waiting for the break of day".

Similarly, the year 2016 is significant as conflict persists across the world - but in this era not confined to battlefields. In such times we look for strength to our single nation's Christian faith. Our hope is in God, for He alone is the guarantor of our salvation, and that is why we believe in the future of our people, both in our beloved homeland and here and elsewhere in the diaspora. Serbia is no longer in the centre of a European midnight like 100 years ago, but with many wounds on her body even now, she still needs passionate and devout guidance, warm prayer as well as brotherly help and understanding.

 Allow me, Your Holiness, to finish this welcome address with a sincere wish that your visit here will be invaluable to all our faithful as well as renew and strengthen relations between the Serbian Church and the Church of England. Once again, warm welcome and blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord!