03.06.2014
Pentecost concert at the Central Military Club
On the occasion of establishing religious rite ceremony in the Armed Forces of Serbia, and in the honor of the Armed Forces of Serbia, the Department for Human Resources of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces and Media Centre Odbrana organized tonight a Pentecost concert at the Gala Hall of the Central Military Club of Serbia with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information.The guests had the opportunity to hear speeches from Major General Sladjan Djordjevic, Head of the Department for Human Resources, His Holiness Remesiana bishop and the newly appointed Austrian Swiss bishop Andrej and the archbishop of the Catholic Church in Belgrade Monsignor Stanislav Hocevar. Perfomances were held by Choir Society Transfiguration, the Ecumenical Male Choir, soloist Milan Stancic – baritone and the pianist Cedomir Marjanovic. Conductor of the evening was Bratislav Prokic.
General Djordjevic greeted the audience and pointed out that the religious rite ceremony is conducted by a very small number of members who had brought new quality into the Serbian Armed Forces with their arrival.
- This quality is seen in strengthening most noble values – loyalty to your country, dedication to your 
profession, courage, discipline, solidarity, humanity and dignity. Members of the religious rite have shown through their work their decidedness in standing next to the members of their Army, creating conditions for founding respect for their rights and religious freedoms which can only be realized on principles of free will. Through religious rites, the Armed Forces of Serbia contribute to bringing their members, believers of all traditional religions and religious communities closer, and this concert is a great proof of that. Events of this sort will be organized in cooperation with representatives of other religions in the future – General Djordjevic said.Orthodox Bishop Andrej conveyed compliments of the Serbian archbishop Irinej, who was also an ecclesiastic patron of the evening.
- It is nice to see the Catholic and the Orthodox Church have a common Easter date, and, therefore, also celebrate Ascension Day on the same date, so this evening is dedicated to the idea that all we do, especially when it comes to the honorable Serbian Armed Forces, we do together – bishop stressed.The archbishop of Belgrade Catholic Church expressed his joy for tonight’s concert’s organization.
- This evening is a great call and a great challenge for us not to be slaves to ideology and tabloid history, but to be authentic servants to spirit, song, reconciliation, unity, togetherness and ecstasy – Monsignor Stanislav Hocevar said.
-
The concert’s repertoire consisted of compositions “To the Holy Spirit”, “Ave Maria”, “Holy Father”, “Gloria”, “Pentecost Throne”, “Ascension of Christ”, “Alleluia”, “Song of Victory” and the rest. Soloist Milan Stancic, accompanied on the piano, sang three compositions, two of which were compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
The Ecumenical Male Choir was founded in 1973, through the initiative of a group of young Slovenians. Today, with the support of the Catholic Episcopate of Belgrade, it continues working intensively on the development of dialogue, cooperation and ecumenism in culture with their motto “Unity in Diversity”. Choir Society Transfiguration was founded in 2005, and has had over 100 performances since. The Society regularly organizes charity concerts. The Grand Mixed Choir is conducted by Bratislav Pajic.
PHOTOGALLERY
