Bishop Artemije's Associates Investigated for Taking Money Donated to Kosovo Soup Kitchens

Bishop Artemije's closest associates and advisors are being investigated, according to Belgrade daily Blic.

The Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) forwarded all documentation to the police on February 14, 2010. Bishop Artemije was head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo until last Sunday, when he was temporarily dismissed by the Holy Synod.

Police believe that money -- sent to the Eparchy for soup kitchens in Kosovo -- was going straight to private riches and luxurious lifestyles for several of Artemije's closest colleagues, including Monk Simeon Vilovski, his brother Vladimir Vilovski, his godson Predrag Suboticki, and Gordana Markovic, who was the director of the State Bureau for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in 2007.

At first Eparch money funded the office, but once it ran dry, Vilovski started using money that was donated to the soup kitchens in Kosovo, the Blic writes, adding that the money was meant to help feed 1,200 hungry Serbs in four soup kitchens in the province.