Serbia: Catholic Bishops send their best wishes to Porfirije, the new Patriarch. “We are most willing to give our fullest support for the progress of our Churches”

The Bishops of the Bishops’ Conference of St Cyril and Methodius

“A great day for the Orthodox church in Serbia and for all the population of our country”. With these words, the International Bishops’ Conference of St Cyril and Methodius made its wishes to the new Serbian Patriarch, Porfirije, appointed on 18th February. In the message signed by the president of the Bishops of the former Yugoslavian countries (Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo), mgr. Ladislav Nemet points out that “the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church plays an irreplaceable role in guiding not just the Church and the devotees, but the whole of Serbian society along the path of the true evangelical values that do not change, inspired by truth, by Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory for his appointment”. The Serbian Catholic Bishops, “in this time full of challenges and difficulties”, offer the new Patriarch their “support, wishing that, each one in their own role, as granted by the Spirit of God, may contribute to the progress of both our Churches and of all people of good will in the Republic of Serbia”. The message ends with the usual greeting, according to Orthodox tradition: “To His Most Holy and Eminent Mr Porfirije, by the grace of God archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovac, and Patriarch of Serbia: Ad multos annos!”.
Valentina Bombelli