CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD - TRUE ROOT OF SERBIAN PRESENCE IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, AUGUST 19 /SRNA/ - Mayor of Istočno Sarajevo Ljubiša Ćosić said that the church in Pofalići is a true root of the centuries-old presence of the Serbian Orthodox people in the area.

At the celebration of the church's patron saint's day, Ćosić said that today's celebration and the church equally draw and bring together younger and older generations of Serbian families from the area. He stressed that the church is a true root of the presence of the Serbian Orthodox people in this area. "We should not forget the 15th century, when the Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi spoke of 100 Orthodox Christian souls living in this area and 80 of the Muslim faith. Therefore, even then there was evidence of the presence of Serbs in the Sarajevo Plain," Ćosić said. He noted that the church in Pofalići was built in 1940 and that more than 50,000 worshippers attended its consecration. "Serbs of the Sarajevo Plain have been present in this area for centuries and, regardless of all the events and suffering, the Serbs of Sarajevo have suffered the most," Ćosić said. He said that today's feast should remind Serbs of the importance of coming together and gathering not only around the church, but also around one another. The Church of the Holy Transfiguration of the Lord in Sarajevo's Pofalići neighbourhood celebrated its patron saint’s day today, with the Divine Liturgy officiated by His Eminence Hrizostom, Metropolitan of Dabar-Bosnia and Archbishop of Sarajevo and Srebrenica.