GOD SEES IT ALL — AND SOMEHOW, SO DID WE
- Special Correspodent
- Jun 28
- 2 min read
Sunday, June 28, 2026 — St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, Parma, Ohio — Week 36
On Thursday, June 26, 2026, Alex Machaskee formally dispatched a notification to the Holy Synod of Bishops in Belgrade via DHL Express — a document supported by years of financial evidence, documented corporate manipulation, and the vicious removal of Fr. Dragoslav Košić.
Three days later, Bishop Irinej appeared at St. Sava Cathedral.
He did not call ahead. He did not invite the congregation. He did not step outside to speak to the more than 70 faithful who have stood in front of this church every single Sunday for 36 consecutive weeks. He simply arrived — quietly, without announcement, without a word to his own community — served the Divine Liturgy for a handful of people, and left.
We do have one small question, however: Your Grace, was the front door not available? We ask only because it appears you entered through the basement. Perhaps the 70+ people standing at the front entrance made that entrance inconvenient?
The photographs tell the story better than any words can.
Outside: More than 70 parishioners stood in peaceful dignity on a warm Sunday morning. American and Serbian flags. Signs reading "Bishop Irinej is UNWORTHY." "Abuse of Power." "Chetniks Built This Church." "Faith over Fear." Families. Elderly. Children. The same people who built this church. The same people who paid for every chair inside it.
Inside: Row upon row of empty chairs. The breathtaking frescoes. The magnificent chandelier. And a scattered few — enough, perhaps, to photograph. Enough, perhaps, to send to Belgrade with the message: "See? Everything is normal. The people are here. All is well."
We have one more question: If everything is truly well — why the secrecy? Why the basement entrance? Why not step outside and speak to your flock? Why not open the doors and invite the community that has stood in front of this church every Sunday since October 28, 2025?
A bishop who must enter his own church through the basement rather than through the front doors — past the community that built it — is not demonstrating confidence. He is demonstrating that he knows exactly what awaits him if he faces his faithful directly. Let us remember March 15th of this year, when there were 8 police cars escorting the bishop.
We did not know he was coming. But God sees all — and somehow, so did we. Had no one noticed, Bishop Irinej would have succeeded in sending Belgrade a carefully staged picture of a thriving, peaceful community. Providence had other plans.
We have a message for Bishop Irinej.
Since he has chosen to move in secret rather than face the community that built everything he stands in — we have made a decision of our own.
Wherever Bishop Irinej goes, we will be there.
From Hermitage, Pennsylvania to Columbus, Ohio. From parish to parish, from community to community. Not with anger. Not with hatred. With the same peaceful dignity and the same legitimate questions we have carried for 36 Sundays.
We never went to other parishes before. We respected boundaries. We waited. We prayed. We were patient.
That changes now.
And we will not be moved.
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