The Edict of Milan – the Birth of Religious Freedom

Jan. 17, 2013 - PRLog -- 2013 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan which granted Christians the freedom of worship throughout the Roman Empire, ending centuries of persecution, and restoring their confiscated property. The Edict was proclaimed by the two emperors, Licinius in the East and Constantine the Great in the West - Constantine was one of 17 Roman Emperors who were born in what is today Serbia, and he and his army had converted to Christianity just a few months earlier. It was supposed to end the era of martyrdom, but although subsequent emperors attempted to refuse religious tolerance, by the end of the century, Christianity would become the empire’s sole official religion.

This is what it said;

"Our purpose is to grant both to the Christians and to all others full authority to follow whatever worship each person has desired….. Therefore we thought it salutary and most proper to establish our purpose that no person whatever should be refused complete toleration, who has given up his mind either to the cult of the Christians or to the religion which he personally feels best suited to himself. It is our pleasure to abolish all conditions whatever which were embodied in former orders directed to your office about the Christians, that every one of those who have a common wish to follow the religion of the Christians may from this moment freely and unconditionally proceed to observe the same without any annoyance or disquiet.”

Celebrations of this jubilee begin with a concert of spiritual music on January 17th in Constantine’s hometown of Nis in southern Serbia and will run through until October 6th when the main ceremony will take place with Orthodox Patriarchs and the Pope, presidents, prime ministers and ambassadors. The government of Serbia has earmarked a sizeable sum for the erection of a monument to Constantine, and for archaeological work on the remains of a prosperous Roman suburb Mediana in the town of Naissus, present-day Nis that lies on the road between Belgrade and Constantinople, present-day Istanbul.

In this jubilee year ReadyClickAndGo is arranging an intriguing and carefully-crafted 7-day small-group tour to celebrate Orthodox Easter in Serbia, exploring her rich and turbulent past whilst savouring landscapes, villages and vineyards. For details please see our blog post or email info@ReadyClickAndGo.com