Sunday, May 11, 2008

Passing the time

Caught these two young Serbian Orthodox priests the other day not far from Belgrade's large park, Kalemegdan, and the capital's busy walking street, Knez Mihailova. The one closest to us was passing the time in a traditional fashion, deeply absorbed in a book, while the other was text-messaging, possibly even to his wife, for except for bishops who are required to remain celibate, the Orthodox Church has always allowed priests and deacons to be married, provided the marriage takes place before ordination. In general it is preferable for parish priests to be married as they often act as council to married couples and thus can draw on their own experience. NOTE!! Thanks to Abe of http://brookvilledailyphoto.blogspot.com, who noticed that BOTH priests are using cell phones. I guess the reader is either intentionally hiding his phone to appear more "serious," or else he's just answering or texting like anyone else!

PANORAMA FROM THE PARK

  Weather permitting, I take my dog for a looong walk along the Danube in New Belgrade toward Old Belgrade. In this photo you can see, from ...