Eparchy of Srem

Eparchy of Srem

Епархија сремска
Eparchy of Srem; Епархија сремска
	The Patriarchate Court Palace
Location
Territory	Syrmia in Serbia ; plus three parishes in Croatia
Headquarters	Sremski Karlovci, Sremski Karlovci
Information
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox
Sui iuris church	Serbian Orthodox Church
Cathedral	St. Demetrius Cathedral, Sremski Karlovci
Language	Church Slavonic; Serbian
Current leadership
Bishop	Vasilije Vadić
Map

The Eparchy of Srem (Serbian: Сремска епархија or Sremska eparhija) is an eparchy (diocese) of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Syrmia (Srem) region, Serbia. Most of the eparchy is in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, and it also includes a small south-eastern part of Syrmia within the city limits of Belgrade, as well as some West Syrmian parishes in the border region of Croatia. The seat of the eparchy is at Sremski Karlovci. Since 1986, the diocesan bishop is Vasilije Vadić.^[1]

Eparchies and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Vojvodina.

Eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Serbia, showing the Eparchy of Srem.

History edit

The Eparchy of Srem is one of the oldest ecclesiastical institutions in this part of Southeastern Europe. The Bishopric of Sirmium was an important ecclesiastical center of the late Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries. The bishopric collapsed after 582 when ancient Sirmium was finally destroyed by Avars.

After the Christianization of the Slavs, the eparchy was revived, and from 1018 it belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid. During the late Middle Ages, the region of Srem came under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Metropolitans of Belgrade. The most notable of these was St Maksim Branković, metropolitan of Belgrade and Srem (died 1516) who built the Monastery of Krušedol.^[2] During the 16th and 17th centuries they styled themselves as Metropolitans of Belgrade and Srem. In 1708, when the autonomous Serbian Metropolitanate was created within the Habsburg monarchy, the Eparchy of Srem became the archdiocese of the Metropolitan, whose seat was in Sremski Karlovci. The Eparchy remained part of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci until the end of the First World War.

In 1920, when all the Serbian ecclesiastical provinces united into one Serbian Orthodox Church, the Eparchy of Srem, with its seat at Sremski Karlovci, came under the administration of Archbishop of Belgrade, who was also the Serbian Patriarch. Final unification of two eparchies was completed in 1931 when the Eparchy of Srem and the Archbishopric of Belgrade were united as the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci. During that period, the diocesan administration was delegated to titular bishops as archdiocesan vicars.^{[citation needed]}

In 1947, the region of Srem was excluded from the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci, and re-established as the separate Eparchy of Srem. Although the name of the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci still includes the name of the town of Sremski Karlovci, that town is today part of the Eparchy of Srem and not of the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci.

Seminary edit

The eparchy also possesses an Orthodox seminary at Sremski Karlovci. The seminary was founded in 1794. It is the second-oldest Orthodox seminary in the world (after the Spiritual Academy in Kyiv), and it operates to this day.

Monasteries belonging to the eparchy edit

Name	First historical record	Traditional founder	Traditional date of foundation
Beočin	1566/7		Unknown
Bešenovo	1545	Serbian king Dragutin	End of the 13th century
Velika Remeta	1562	King Dragutin
Vrdnik-Ravanica			The exact time of its founding is unknown. The records indicate that the church was built during the time of Metropolitan Serafim, in the second half of the 16th century.
Grgeteg	1545/6	Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk (despot Vuk Grgurević)	1471
Divša	Late 16th century	Despot Jovan Branković	Late 15th century
Jazak			1736
Krušedol		St Maksim Branković, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Srem, and his mother Saint Angelina of Serbia.	Between 1509 and 1516
Kuveždin	1566-9	Stefan Štiljanović
Mala Remeta	Mid 16th century	Serbian king Dragutin
Novo Hopovo	1641	The Despots of the Branković family.
Privina Glava	1566/7	A man named Priva	12th century
Petkovica	1566/7	The widow of Stefan Štiljanović, Despotess Jelena.
Rakovac	1545/6	According to a legend recorded in 1704, Rakovac is the heritage of a certain man, Raka, courtier of despot Jovan Branković.	1498
Staro Hopovo	1545/6	Metropolitan Maksim Branković.
Šišatovac	Mid 16th century	Refugee monks from the Serbian Monastery of Žiča.
Fenek	1563	Stefan and Angelina Branković	Second half of the 15th century