Athanasius (Yevtich)

Born on January 8, 1938 in the village of Brdaritsi in the Shaback Region in the west of Serbia .

After graduating from an elementary school in Draga and a gymnasium in аabac, he entered the Belgrade Theological Seminary , which he graduated in June 1958.

In September of the same year he entered the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade , but was soon drafted into the army.

On December 3, 1960, Archimandrite Justin (Popovich) performed monastic vows over Athanasius in the Desert Monastery near Valev

As a resident of the Tronos monastery near Loznitsa , he continued his studies at the Theological Faculty.

At the Epiphany of 1961, he was ordained hierodeacon . In June 1963 he defended his diploma.

In the same year, on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he was ordained a hieromonk .

After graduating from the Theological Faculty, he applied to the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church for permission to continue his education in Greece and in February 1964 he was sent by Patriarch German to the Theological Academy on the island of Halki ( Turkey ).

Hieromonk Athanasius stayed at the Halkin Academy until June 1964 , after which he moved to Greece .

June 2, 1967 at the theological faculty of the University of Athens he defended his doctoral dissertation on the theme “The ecclesiology of the Apostle Paul according to St. John Chrysostom. " After defending his dissertation, he spent another year in Greece, serving in a Russian church and engaging in theological activities.

In the fall of 1968 he went to Paris to continue his scientific work and study the French language at the St. Sergius Theological Institute . After a year of stay in France, he was appointed teacher of the course “Introduction to Theology and Pathology with Asceticism”. He held this position for three years. In the last year of his stay in Paris, he also taught the History of the Church of the Byzantine period.

In the summer of 1972 he returned to Yugoslavia . In the autumn of the same year, he was appointed manager of the student house at the Theological Faculty. In 1973, he was selected as an assistant professor at the Department of Patrology (Church literature and the thought of the Holy Fathers of East and West). He taught church history. He was elected dean of the Theological Faculty in the 1980-1981 and 1990-1991 academic years.

While working at the faculty, he published about a hundred scientific papers. Then his work "Pathology" began to be published.

His fame was published in the press, especially in the press organ of the Serbian Church "Orthodoxy", where he was one of the main authors. In his work, he paid special attention to the situation of the Serbian Church and the people in Kosovo and Metohija and other areas of the SFRY. He took an active part in the collection and preparation of historical documents on the Serbian new martyrs.

July 7, 1991 was elevated to the episcopal rank of bishop of Banat .

In May 1992, he was appointed to the Zaholm-Herzegovina Department ( Bosnia and Herzegovina ).

Due to the beginning of active hostilities in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a visit to Mostar , where the department was located, became impossible and took place in Trebin in Vidovdan in 1992, the department was moved to Trebin , where it is still located.

During the war, Bishop Athanasius did not leave his flock. Repeatedly criticized the policies of the West, the USA and the Islamic world in the conflict in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. He addressed with open letters to world political leaders.

In 1994, at the initiative of Bishop Athanasius, the Theological Academy of St. Basil of Ostrog was opened in Srbin (Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina). He became her first rector.

On December 3, 1996, he received a severe injury to the cervical vertebrae, after which he submitted a letter of resignation, which was approved by the Holy Synod of Bishops in September 1999. Bishop Gregory (Durich) was appointed in his place. At the same time, Bishop Athanasius himself remained at rest in the monastery of Tvrdosh near Trebinj.

On February 13, 2010 he was appointed manager of the Rashko-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohij diocese with all the rights and duties of the ruling bishop, but on May 20 of the same year he was released from managing the diocese on the basis of his own request for health reasons.

• Athanasius (Yevtich), Bishop of Zakhumsk-Herzegovina. Orthodox Ecumenism / Transl.: Timothy (Podobedov) , Hierom. // Church and time . M., 1998. No. 4 (07) (TsiVr). p. 63-74.
• Repentance, confession and fasting: their significance for the Orthodox Christian / ep. Athanasius (Yevtich). // Tips for going to confession: [collection of articles]. - Minsk: St. Elisabeth Monastery, 2011. - 61, [2] with

• Bishop Athanasius (Yevtich) on the site " Orthodoxy.ru "
• Athanasius (Yevtich), bishop at rest on the site Bogoslov.ru.ru
• Bishop Athanasius (Eutich) on predanie.ru
• THE PEACE OF THE BISHOP OF ZAHUMSKO + HERZEGOVACHI AND THE PRIMORSK ATANASIЈE (ВEVTI) ON THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE ZAHUM-HERZEGOVACH Diocese