On October 7, 2021 the Exhibition “Serbia and Vatican 1878-1914” was opened in the State Archive of Serbia to mark one hundred years of establishing diplomatic relations and opening diplomatic missions between Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Holy See in 1920.

Most of the presented documents were not previously known to a wider public. They reveal a long pre-history of diplomatic relations between Serbia and Vatican starting with 1878, when Kingdom of Serbia was internationally recognized as an independent state at the Congress of Berlin, until the beginning of the World War I, when the two sides had adopted the Concordat text in June 1914. On August 8, 1914 the National Assembly of Serbia ratified the Concordat with the Holy See in the central Serbian city of Nis where the Assembly was displaced due to the war conditions.

The speakers at the opening ceremony were Dejan Savić, Councelour for culture of the President of the Republic of Serbia, Ambasador Vladimir Marić, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia representing Serbian Forfeign Minister Nikola Selaković, H.E. dr Sima Avramović, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the Holy See, Mons. Simon-Peter Lukyamuzi, the First Secretary of the Nunciature of the Holy See in Serbia, and dr Miroslav Perišić, Director of the State Archive of Serbia.

The opening ceremony of the Exhibition was attended by envoy of the Serbian Patriarch His Holiness Porfirije, the Bishop of Hvosno Justin, the Archbishop and Metropolitan of Belgrade H.E. Stanislav Hocevar, Belgrade Mufti Mustafa Jusufspahic, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey H.E. Hami Aksoy, representatives of the USA and German embassies in the Republic of Serbia, Dean of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law dr Zoran Mirković, directors of the most important institutions of culture in the Republic of Serbia and other guests.

Ambassador Avramović said that the Exhibition reveals care of the early Serbian modern state to enable religious freedom to all confessions, guaranteed already in its first Constitution of 1835. The documents show that the Serbian rulers Miloš Obrenović and Aleksandar Karađorđević were personally devoted to that task. He stressed that the most prestigious Serbian politicians and intellectuals were engaged in developing relationships with Vatican and mentioned some of them by name. He pointed that nowadays, after “the first and the second Yugoslavia”, when Serbia and Vatican are again on historical stage, it would be useful to take into account the experience and position of the great predecessors.

Mons. Simon-Peter Lukyamuzi, the First Secretary of the Nunciature of the Holy See in Serbia, has stated that Serbia and Vatican have to overcome historical obstacles and keep improving relationships which are historically rooted so deeply. He also pointed that opening of the Vatican Archive for Serbian historians is an important step in strengthening relationships between the Holy See and Serbia.

Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Nikola Selaković conveyed Minister ’s expectation that the next century of Serbian and Vatican relationships will be marked by further developing of confidence and cooperation. He believes that strong foundations of stable and brotherhood relations could be built among Orthodox and Catholic people at the Balkans. They should not be posted on narcissism of small differences but upon belonging to common Christian family and values. The Minister expressed his gratitude to Vatican for understanding the Serbian position towards Kosovo and Metohia. He reminded that Serbia is firm in preserving its territorial integrity, sovereignty and cultural heritage at Kosovo and Metohia, which is not only Serbian but a part of the whole Christian Europe.