Months Later: Dragoslav Still Won't Leave, Or Return What Belongs to the Parish

It has been months since Bishop Irinej canonically transferred Dragoslav Kosić away from Saint Sava Cathedral in Parma, Ohio. Fr. Dragan Vuković has been appointed. The decision is final. And yet, nothing has moved.

Kosić remains in the parish rectory. More concerning, the official books and records of the parish, baptismal registers, marriage registers, the household register, the parish chronicle, and other canonical documents, have not been returned to their rightful custodian.

A departing priest is obligated to hand over all registers, ecclesiastical books, archives, and church property to his successor. These records belong to the parish. They were never his to keep.

And this is not merely an administrative matter. These are real documents that real parishioners need. A family seeking a baptismal certificate for school enrollment or to baptize someone trying to join the Orthodox faith. A widow needing a marriage record for legal proceedings. An elderly parishioner requesting documentation of a loved one's burial. These are not abstract inconveniences. These are people, members of this community, who cannot access records of their own sacramental lives because those records have not been returned. Every day this continues is a day that ordinary faithful parishioners bear the cost of one man's inaction.

Meanwhile, the parish has continued carrying the financial weight of this standoff, compensating both priests simultaneously.

The timeline speaks for itself. Transfer order issued October 29, 2025. Months later, Kosić remains in the rectory with parish records still unaccounted for.

One question worth asking: Kosić has no shortage of vocal supporters who have rallied publicly on his behalf for months, organizing protests, circulating petitions, and declaring their loyalty at every opportunity. If that support is genuine, helping him relocate should be well within reach. And given that public records indicate he holds rental property interests, the parish rectory is hardly his only option.

True support means encouraging someone toward what is right, not enabling what is harmful. If those closest to Kosić genuinely care for him, the most loving thing they can do is urge him toward compliance, not continued defiance.

Why continue burdening a parish community, financially and pastorally, when the means to move forward appear readily available?