Andrija (Zoran) Vujisić

Fr. Andrija (Zoran) Vujisić (Andrew Vujisic or Dr. Zoran Vujisic) (born 30 January 1957) is a current Archimandrite of the Metropolis of Mexico, Central America and the Islands of the Caribbean.

Vujisic is fluent in Serbian, English, and Spanish. He is also fluent in other Slavic languages and has a working knowledge of Romanian, Hungarian, and German. He is a professor of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Turabo and a counselor/therapist at the University's Resource Center for Counseling and Professional Orientation. He was recently appointed Director of the University's Center for Language. He is also the editor of Puerto Rico's only ambilingual lingistic journal, "Glossa", which is distributed globally.

Biography

Andrija (Zoran) Vujisić was born on 30 January 1957, the first child of Vojislav Vujisić and Sofija Vujisić (née Jovović). He is a Montenegrin of the Morača clan and lived in Yugoslavia until he was 12 years old. In 1969, his family moved to West Germany, where he lived for one year before migrating to Australia. After finishing high school in Australia, Vujisić pursued his undergraduate and seminary training in the USA. He returned to Sydney, Australia in 1981, and from 1982 through 1995, served as director of St. Mary's Orthodox Community Welfare Center and coordinator of the Parish's Community Refugee Sponsorship Program. He was also the administrator of the Archdiocesan Community Housing Program, which provided low cost housing for underprivileged families. He served as Archdiocesan Religious Education Coordinator for Public Schools from 1991 through 1995.

Receiving the monastic tonsure, Fr. Andrija was ordained to the Diaconate on January 16/29th 1988 and to the Holy Priesthood on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in 1989. After Ordination, he served as Assistant Pastor of St. Mary's Orthodox Parish, where he was instrumental in bringing many converts to Orthodoxy. Several now serve as clergymen. He also served as interim pastor of Holy Annunciation Romanian Orthodox Parish and St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Parish (OCA), both in the Sydney metropolitan area.

In 1996, Fr. Andrija arrived in the Caribbean where he established St. Spyridon's Orthodox Church, the first Orthodox Parish in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He also established St. Peter of Cetinje Orthodox Missionary Brotherhood and has translated many services from the 'Practical Handbook for the Administration of Parish Needs' to Spanish from Church Slavonic. He has also prepared several pamphlets for missionary use.

Fr. Andrija completed his undergraduate studies at Thomas Edison State College and earned his Licentiate of Orthodox Sacred Theology at St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary. He also completed a M.A. Ed. degree, with Honors, at the University of Phoenix and a D. Min. in Marriage and Family Therapy (Summa Cum Laude) at Southern Christian University, (now Amridge University). He was elected to 'Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges' in recognition of his academic accomplishments and scholarship. Fr. Andrija earned his Ph. D. in English and Applied Linguistics at Rhodes University for research related to factors affecting Interlanguage fossilization in second language acquisition. This research accentuated the important role of achievement motivation in the SLA process and broke new ground by demonstrating that interlanguage fossilization is not necessarily permanent.

On 13 December 1999, the Feast of the Holy Apostle St. Andrew the First-called, Fr. Andrija (Zoran) Vujisić, a spiritual son of Athonite Elder Chrysostomos (of the Skete of St. Anne and later, Esphigmenou Monastery), was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite by Metropolitan Athenagoras of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Holy Metropolis of Mexico, Central America, and the Islands of the Caribbean.

Visit to Montenegro

From 26 May through 10 June 2005, Archimandrite Andrija, (heading a delegation from the Holy Metropolis of Mexico, Central America, and the Islands of the Caribbean), was received by his kinsman, Vladika Amfilohije, of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, at the Monastery of St. Peter of Cetinje.

Metropolitan Amfilohije and Archimandrite Andrija engaged in a lengthy brotherly dialogue centered on the life of the Orthodox Church in the Americas and its spiritual significance, as well as the continuing historical and pastoral leadership role of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral in the Orthodox world.

During his visit, Archimandrite Andrija served the Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Amfilohije, at the ruins of the Prečista Krajinska Monastery on the Feast of St. Jovan Vladimir. He traveled to St. Basil of Ostrog Monastery, visited the place where his great-great-grandfather, Vuksan Vujisić died defending the Monastery against the Turks, and met with Bishop Jovan of Duklja. Archpriest Gojko Perović, Rector of St. Peter of Cetinje Seminary, accompanied Archimandrite Andrew and the Delegation on a tour of the Seminary, Monastery, Svetigora Press and Radio Station, and old Royal Capital. The Diocesan Secretary, Archpriest Sava Tutuš, provided hospitality for the Delegation. Archimandrite Andrija was also a pilgrim and guest at numerous Monasteries including the Reževići, Ždrebaonik, Ćelija Piperska, Dajbabe, Miholjska Prevlaka, and Morača Monasteries. He also visited St. George Church and the new Saborni Hram in Podgorica, St. Nicholas Church and St. Luke Church in Kotor, and St. Michael Church in Herceg Novi. He traveled to the ancestral homeland of the Donja Morača clan and visited the Monastery of St. Michael the Archangel in Prekobrđe (built by Milan Vujisić), where he prayed before the remains of the progenitor of the Moračani clan, Bogić Moračanin.

References

*Taken (with permission) from an article by Helen Andujar at [http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch13813 St. Peter of Cetinje Orthodox Missionary Brotherhood]
* [http://bibliotecavirtualut.suagm.edu/Glossa2/index.html Glossa]