Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a congratulatory letter to the newly-elected Patriarch of Serbia, Porfirije.
Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb-Ljubljana was elected today as the new Serbian Patriarch in the Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade on 18 February 2021.
The letter states that the Ecumenical Patriarchate was informed about the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Patriarchate and about the election of Porfirije as the successor to the Throne of the late Patriarch Irinej of Serbia.
In the letter, the Ecumenical Patriarch states that “the votes came before God and through the election, He whispered affectionately to the ears of the holy clergy and the people of the Serbian Orthodox Church.” AHe stressed that “a brother was added to the successors of our Father Saint Sava, Archbishop of Serbia, who had been ordained and granted the Autocephaly by our Predecessor, Patriarch Manuel of Constantinople in Nicaea.”
“Today you are welcomed with joy, responsibility, toil, agony, and struggle by Christ for the sake of every soul of Orthodox Christians within the local Church,” he added.
“We wish You, our brother, your patriarchal ministry to be long, auspicious and renewed by the Holy Spirit and by the Lord. An important prerequisite and solid foundation of your patriarchal ministry is your devotion to the Divine and Holy Canons and to the Church, which continues to exist by our Scriptures and our works. If you follow this path, you will surely have succeeded in God’s work,” he said in the letter.
“The Mother Church of Constantinople, from which your local Church was born, congratulates and rejoices in your election. We express to you our undivided love and respect, our dear brother in Christ,” the Ecumenical Patriarch concluded in the letter.
