AUTOCEPHALY SECURED FOR SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

BIJELJINA, SEPTEMBER 13 /SRNA/ – The Serbian Orthodox Church was granted autocephaly on September 14, 1219.

Saint Sava Nemanjić secured autocephaly from Byzantine Emperor Theodore I Laskaris and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Nicaea, Manuel I Charitopoulos.

Saint Sava became the first Serbian archbishop, with his seat at Žiča Monastery.

In 1346, Serbian ruler Stefan Dušan Nemanjić elevated the Serbian Church to the rank of a patriarchate.