‘Unlike any other profession you can choose in your life, only soldiers make a pledge to defend their country, first and foremost by their honour, but also with their lives. An unshakeable belief in the Lord gives such a pledge its full meaning and ultimate fulfilment when the final hour is upon you to do just that,’ says in his interview with Kurir Aleksandar Sekulić, Military Chaplain (Captain).
In early August 2013, religious service was reinstituted in the Serbian Armed Forces and this month sees a ceremony marking its 10th anniversary. Sekulić pointed out that such a decision is a gain that is deserving of a high praise.
“The importance of this event that we are marking lies in the creation of the character and dignity of all those who have offered their lives to the selfless service in the Serbian Armed Forces since time immemorial. Since its introduction in 1839, or rather, since its reinstitution in 2013, right until the present day, the religious service has only progressed. The clergy numbers are on the rise although interest in serving in the military conditions is actually a personal challenge and a test of the veracity of our intention to truly dedicate ourselves to serving our Lord and our people.”
Can you tell us a bit more about your engagement in the Serbian Armed Forces? Are you devoted to your love of faith, your homeland, and the Serbian Armed Forces?
“I speak as the youngest military chaplain, not in terms of age but in terms of my ‘track record’ as a priest. I hold the rank of captain in the Serbian Armed Forces precisely because of my previous years of service at the Serbian Patriarchate, at which I worked since 2009. Hand on heart, you could say that I am a beginner at paratrooping, or, as the truly experienced paratroopers would say, ‘a paratrooping noob’. I have a total of 11 jumps, of which one was a tandem jump, six were from the Cessna 182 plane, and four from an Antonov An-2. It was just the mention of this parachuting story that back in the day – more precisely, in late 2020 – led to the question that I could answer in only one correct way. The question was, ‘Do you want to become a military chaplain?’ For me personally, it was a question of honour. So, on 22 November 2021 I started my service in the Serbian Armed Forces. In addition, I am a member of the Brotherhood of the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, in which I have served since the 2009 Saint Vitus Day. The love for my faith, homeland, and its Armed Forces are for me the true and essential issues of meaning and content of life.”
‘Following in their footsteps’
Chaplains in habits and boots
The members of the Serbian Armed Forces are of different religious persuasions, but they are all equal. How much does your presence motivate them additionally?
“I know that each chaplain tries to contribute to the realization of the literal definition that we are there ‘to provide development, building, maintenance, and increase of operational ability of the Serbian Armed Forces’ in their own way and in accordance with the strength of the gift that the good Lord has given them. I personally know military chaplains who don’t hesitate to go through the strictest and most demanding training alongside the members of the Armed Forces, quite literally following in their footsteps, whether high or low, whether in the skies, on the water, or in the water… I think that, even though this country has changed its name many times, the question of our identity is a matter of a pledge. We have many reasons to be guarding the honour of Mother Serbia unwaveringly and to be proud of our holy service entrusted to us by God.”
To what extent are religious rights respected in the Serbian Armed Forces? How many Orthodox Christian religious sites are there, and how many Orthodox Christian chaplains are there within the Serbian Armed Forces’ units?
“A fellow traveller of ours, a military chaplain, likes to say that ‘he has no scales on which to measure the faith of a soldier’ and then show it to his immediate superiors. Regardless, I am sure that the religious rights are fully respected, and I honestly don’t know of a single case of violating the constitutional right of the freedom of religion of any member of the Serbian Armed Forces. It is perfectly possible for even the members of other religions to come and talk to us about any topic of interest. As for the number of religious sites available to Orthodox Christians, out of the 50 that are planned, 41 are operational for now. We have 20 military chaplains. All of them are professional soldiers, while at the same time being priests of the Serbian Orthodox Church, mostly hiereuses and protoiereuses, as well as Serbian Armed Forces officers with ranks ranging from second lieutenants to lieutenant colonels.
Kurir.rs/ Mina Branković
