I am proud to be here among you, because you are a proud part of our people, said SNSD President Milorad Dodik, visiting the Saint Sava Cathedral and the school named after Saint Sava in Milwaukee, and added it was important to preserve Serbian culture and Orthodox faith. He was greeted by the president of the church and school municipality, Miroslav Jović, consul of Serbia Marko Nikolić, and of BiH Tatjana Telić, as well as Metropolitan Longin of New Gračanica and Midwestern America. Earlier in the day, he visited the church property housing the Saint Sava Elementary School, which has been visited by several American presidents.

Dodik said that his impressions were truly beautiful. – I think that all of us coming from Serbia, Republic of Srpska, should visit our communities here, especially this one in Milwaukee. I am delighted with the way people live for this community, how they come together. We support and I am here ready to support, on behalf of the Republic of Srpska, that is, with the people currently working in institutions, the activities of rehabilitating the Saint Sava school in Milwaukee – said Dodik.

Far from their homeland, Serbs in Milwaukee preserve their Orthodox faith, culture and tradition. They did not forget where their roots are, as was demonstrated by the youngest who organized a reception for guests from the Republic of Srpska. Thanks to our Church, new generations learn who they are, what they are and where they come from, because a people who know this has a future, said Dodik in his address to the numerous Serbs who had welcomed him in the hall of the Milwaukee’s Saint Sava Cathedral.

‘I am proud to be here among you, because you are a proud part of our people,’ Dodik told the gathering. The Republic of Srpska is always with its people, no matter where they are, said Dodik, adding that he was taking only beautiful impressions with him.

One of the main places where Serbs gather is the Nova Gračanica Monastery, north of Chicago, which Dodik also visited. – King Peter II and our great poet Jovan Dučić were buried here.. I end my visit sincerely satisfied, because I saw how organized and united Serbs in America are around their Church, how much they invest in preserving the language, script, culture and way of life that defines us. Special gratitude to Metropolitan Longin for everything he does for the Serbian community in the United States of America – said Dodik.

Source: RTRS

Photo: Courtesy photo