DODIK: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA IS STATE OF THE SERBIAN PEOPLE OF FAITH

CHICAGO, NOVEMBER 14 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska is a state of the Serbian people of faith, President Milorad Dodik said in Libertyville, near Chicago, where he today served as the godfather at the consecration of the renovated guest quarters and Spiritual and Cultural Center at the Monastery of St. Sava.

He said that Republika Srpska had renovated or built more than 1,200 churches and over a dozen monasteries. "We were present wherever it was necessary to demonstrate our commitment to the Orthodox faith and the Serbian Orthodox Church. We are people who pray. Alongside our commitment to peace, stability and development, spirituality is also part of our agenda for preserving Republika Srpska," Dodik said in an address to those gathered. Dodik said that without spirituality and a willingness to do good, nothing could be accomplished. Dodik stressed that the Serb people would not preserve their identity without devotion to the faith, noting that in Republika Srpska and Serbia, people are increasingly rallying around the Serbian Orthodox Church, sharing fundamental values such as culture, language, script and patron saints' celebrations. He also stressed that Serbs are facing numerous pressures and that it is difficult to be a Serb anywhere today, as the Serbian people continue to face narratives imposed on them more than 30 years ago. According to him, they wanted to portray Serbs as something other than a people that had always been on the right side of history and had suffered so greatly in both the First and Second World Wars. Dodik stressed that Yugoslavia was a national and political delusion that had merely silenced the Serbs and denied them the opportunity to gather and affirm their identity.