New Martyr 20th century

New Martyr Slobodan of Donja Kamenica

c. 1980 – 1992

Also known as Слободан Стојановић · Slobodan Stojanović

A Serbian boy of Donja Kamenica killed during the Bosnian War in 1992.

Feast Day
July 14
Draft
Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.
Commemorated as

The Holy New Martyr Slobodan of Donja Kamenica

Life

Slobodan Stojanovic was a Serbian boy from the village of Donja Kamenica, near Zvornik in present-day Republika Srpska, who was killed in 1992 during the Bosnian War. Born around 1980, he was a child of about eleven or twelve years when he died. He is venerated in the Serbian Orthodox Church as a New Martyr, and his principal commemoration in the Cloud of Witnesses database is recorded on July 14.

According to the account preserved in his region, the boy and his family were fleeing their village amid the fighting when Slobodan went back to retrieve his dog and was captured and killed. His remains were later recovered from a pit in the hamlet of Bajrici, in Novo Selo near Zvornik, and identified through DNA analysis. Forensic examination documented severe injuries, including a wound cut into the shape of a cross.

The Serbian Orthodox Church resolved to glorify him as the Holy New Martyr Slobodan, and his canonization was first celebrated publicly in 2022 in the village of Drinjaca, in the region where his family had lived. He is counted among the New Martyrs of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and his memory has been received as a symbol of the suffering of children during that conflict. As with all recently glorified figures, details of his life rest on local witness and clergy review.

Contributions & Legacy

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Martyrdom and Recovery of the Relics

The synaxarial account relates that Slobodan died in July 1992, in the area of Kamenica and Liplje near Zvornik. His body was not recovered until years later, when his remains were found in a pit in the hamlet of Bajrici and identified by forensic analysis. The pathologist's findings recorded that the boy had suffered grave wounds, among them a cut made in the form of a cross. The person responsible, identified in court proceedings as a member of a wartime sabotage unit, was tried and sentenced, with the sentence increased on appeal in 2019.

Slobodan was buried at the cemetery of the Church of Saint Deacon Habakkuk in Drinjaca, where an annual divine liturgy commemorates him.

Glorification

The Bishops' Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church resolved at its session in 2022 to number Slobodan among the saints as a New Martyr. His glorification was celebrated for the first time that July in Drinjaca, near where his family had lived. By tradition of the region he is commemorated together with two local New Martyrs, the archpriests Milan Petkovic and Timotej Popovic.

Notes

Born 1980; reposed 1992. Locally venerated; formal glorification status should be confirmed before publication (clergy/source review, §9).

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_saints_of_the_Serbian_Orthodox_Church