Serbia celebrates 1700 years since Edict of Milan
(Vatican Radio) It was 17 hundred years ago, in February of AD 313, that the Roman emperor, Constantine issued instructions ending persecution of Christians, restoring their confiscated property and guaranteeing Christians freedom of worship – along with those of other religions – “for the sake of the peace of our times”.
The nation of Serbia – Emperor Constantine’s birthplace – is celebrating the 1700th anniversary all throughout 2013, with several different historical and cultural events. Serbia’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Mirko Jelić, told us that the Edict of Milan, as the instructions came to be known, was a watershed moment in history.
“The celebration of the 1700th anniversary of the Milan Edict is very important for Serbia,” he explained, “not simply because Emperor Constantine was born in Nìs [in present-day Serbia], but also because it is dedicated to somebody who proclaimed that nobody should be deprived of the possibility of free confession: we realize that today, and we realize that nobody before him – no emperor - and very few after him realized the importance of the freedom of religion.” Listen to Ambassador Mirko V. Jelić of Serbia’s extended conversation with Vatican Radio’s Stefano Leszczynski:
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