Olenik: Decoration Awarded to Bishop Kacavenda Is a Slap in the Face for All Citizens of Serbia, Bosnia

Aleksandar Olenik (BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC)

Aleksandar Olenik, a member of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina leadership, said on June 19 that the order the Serbian Orthodox Church had awarded retired bishop Vasilije Kacavenda was "a slap in the face" for all citizens of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and called on Patriarch Porfirije to annul that decision.

"The disgrace is all the greater since Kacavenda has been decorated with an accolade established in memory of the school students killed by a firing squad in Sumarice during World War II," Olenik said in a statement.

He further said the decoration had been "handed down by Metropolitan of Sumadija Jovan," even though, he stressed, "Kacavenda is known to the general public for having been accused of pedophilia and sexual violence."

In his words, it is unbelievable that such things are happening in Serbia in the 21st century and that "true believers, but also all citizens are disgusted by that gesture and expect a reaction from Patriarch Porfirije."

Olenik also urged the judicial bodies of both Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to start doing their job in the case of the severe accusations against Kacavenda.