[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18219]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF THE REVEREND VASILIJE BUDIMIR SOKOLOVIC AND THE LEGACY OF 
                  HIS FATHER, SAINT BUDIMIR SOKOLOVIC

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 26, 2005

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the Reverend 
Vasilije Budimir Sokolovic, pastor of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox 
Cathedral in Parma, Ohio, for his thirty-five year ministry with the 
church. I also rise today to honor the life and spiritual legacy of his 
father, Priest martyr Saint Budimir Sokolovic of Dobrun, recently 
canonized by the Serbian Orthodox Church, who was executed by communist 
oppressors for his religious beliefs.
  Tyranny and violence took the life of Saint Budimir Sokolovic, yet 
his legacy of strength, spirit, faith and ministry to others continues 
to live on in the life and works of his son, Reverend Vasilije 
Sokolovic. Reverend Sokolovic was just a young boy when his father was 
jailed and executed, shortly after the end of WWII. Saint Sokolovic's 
vocation directed him to the battlegrounds in Yugoslavia, where he 
provided spiritual guidance to Serbian freedom fighters battling the 
German occupation. He lived to see the Nazis expelled from his 
homeland, only to be felled under the violence of the ensuing communist 
regime.
  Oppression and poverty dominated Eastern Europe after the war, 
magnifying the fear and loss for Saint Budimir Sokolovic's wife and two 
young boys. Rather than shrinking from his father's great legacy, young 
Vasilije carried his father's life and memory within his heart, 
following the path of ministry and service cultivated by Saint Budimir 
Sokolovic. Equipped with the spiritual guidance of his father and his 
own unwavering faith, Reverend Sokolovic entered the seminary, becoming 
the 42nd generation of Sokolovics to dedicate their lives to the 
priesthood.
  Mr. Speaker and Colleagues, please join me in honor and tribute of 
Reverend Vasilije Budimir Sokolovic, whose ministry and leadership 
continues to provide faith and support to countless individuals and 
families of the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, and serves as an 
instrument of spiritual connection to the life and works of his father, 
Priest martyr Saint Budimir Sokolovic of Dobrun. With courage and 
steadfast conviction in his faith, Saint Budimir Sokolovic paid the 
ultimate sacrifice in his quest for religious freedom.
  Reverend Vasilije Sokolovic continues to carry the faithful torch of 
his father--a blazing legacy of freedom from tyranny, a burning 
reminder of the fragility of democracy, and a light of hope and 
inspiration for people around the world searching for the light of 
liberty.

                          ____________________