Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, sent a message of condolence to the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church over the repose in the Lord of Patriarch Irinej of Serbia.
“With earthly sorrow but full of the hope in Resurrection,” said His Beatitude John X, “we received the news of the repose of our brother and companion in this ministry, His Beatitude Irinej, the Thrice Blessed Patriarch of Serbia.
As we write down these words, we beseech God to stop this pandemic and have mercy on his world. We remember Patriarch Irinej, and have had the opportunity to visit him in the fall of 2018, then we had the honor to receive his visit to our Antiochian See in the spring of 2019. As we write, the image of that great clergyman comes to our mind: a successor of Saint Saba, whom history held a custodian of the legacy of the Serbs, this loyal people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We knew him as a witness to our wound, which is the kidnapped Archbishops of Aleppo John Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi as well as many others kidnapped and burdened children. We knew him standing in solidarity in word and deed with our Antiochian Church, which suffers just like the Serbian Church. We always remember that historic moment when he invited us to ascend the historical throne of Saint Saba in the Serbian Patriarchate in Kosovo. It is as he were referring to the bitterness of history that the two churches faced, which is always sweetened by the hope and faith of the “saints” in Serbia and Antioch.
In my name and on behalf of the fathers of the Holy Synod of Antioch and all our children of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, I extend my heartfelt condolences to you and the whole Serbian Church, asking the Almighty Lord to grant him the rank of the righteous and saints.
Memory Eternal.”
Source: Patriarchate of Antioch
