After the Sunday Divine Liturgy celebrated outside of the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova officiated a memorial service for the late Patriarch Irinej of Serbia.
“We pray, in the spirit of the fraternal ties that exist between all the Orthodox Churches, for the rest of his soul, for the forgiveness of sins, remembering him among the great hierarchs who served the Orthodox Church in these times. May God rest him with the righteous,” the assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest said.
Bishop Timotei presented a short biography of the late Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
“Patriarch Irinej of Serbia was known throughout the Orthodox world. A monk from his youth and gifted by God with longevity, he entered monasticism in 1959 and became a bishop in 1974. For a short time, he was a patriarchal auxiliary bishop, bearing the title of Moravica, and from 1975 he became bishop in Nis, the birthplace of Saint Constantine the Great”.
© Basilica.ro / Mircea Florescu
“He was elected Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church in January 2010 after Patriarch Pavle of blessed memory, and he reposed in the Lord at an old age.”
Bishop Timotei referred to the good relations between the two Churches, recalling the meetings between Patriarchs Daniel and Irinej.
“The Patriarch of Serbia had several meetings with the Primate of our Church, first at the pre-conciliar meetings that took place in Constantinople and Chambesy in preparation for the Holy and Great Council, but also at the actual works of the Council that took place on the island of Crete.”
The assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest recalled the meeting between Elder Cleopas Ilie and Patriarch Irinej.
“Forty-three years ago, Patriarch Irinej met the greatest spiritual father that the Romanians had in that period, Archimandrite Cleopas Ilie, who paid a visit to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Father Cleopas also met with their great missionary glorified in the meantime by the Church of Serbia, Archimandrite Justin Popovic.”
Patriarch Irinej of Serbia was also remembered during the Divine Liturgy.
Source: basilica.ro
