Between Monday, 31st March 2025, and Thursday, 3rd April 2025, Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia made a pilgrimage visit to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The Patriarch of Serbia arrived at Ben Gurion Airport at 2:30 am on Monday, 31st March 2025, where he was received by Metropolitan Hesychios of Capitolias, along with Archimandrite Christodoulos, Hegumen of the Holy Monastery of the Holy Cross.
On the same afternoon, Patriarch Porfirije was received at the Patriarchate by Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, who addressed him with the following speech:
“Your Beatitude, Brother in Christ,
With joy, we welcome You and Your esteemed delegation to this place, “where His feet stood” (Psalm 131:7), the feet of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and where the light of truth “has dawned upon those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death” (Matthew 4:16).
This place, blessed through the Precious Body and redemptive Blood of the Saviour Christ, who, through His Cross, bore witness to the mystery of godliness, that is, the mystery of the Incarnate Providence, righteousness, and the boundless divine love, teaches us hope, repentance, and eternal life, so that we are no longer “strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).
Here, “the precious Blood of our Saviour, poured out for us in His death, is placed upon the incarnation of the Lord” (St. Basil the Great), and our participation in the mystical blessing of His Body and Blood makes us sharers and united as one, as St. Ignatius the God-bearer says, and provides a tangible testimony of our unity in Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit.
Your pilgrimage, indeed, Your visit “into the courts of the Lord” (Psalm 84:3), is not only a witness of faith but also a sign of cooperation for the restoration of unity and peace among our Orthodox Christian brotherhoods, especially those churches suffering in divisions. As the Apostle Paul says: “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10), “speaking the truth in love” and “forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3-4). Furthermore, it is a blessing not only due to Your venerable Beatitude and Your esteemed delegation, but also for the devout flock of the Orthodox Church of Serbia, under Your care.
During this holy period, that is, during the stage of the Great Lenten Fast, which prepares us for the remembrance of the Sacred Passion and the Glorious Resurrection of our Saviour Christ, “we run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Your Beatitude,
We live in a time when the world, in general, and the Holy Land, in particular, are being tested by judgments, wars, and various moral and spiritual disturbances. Yet we are not discouraged, for “holding forth the word of life” (Philippians 2:16), “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” (Ephesians 3:12), we proclaim the Lamb of God, “the Word of truth” (Ephesians 1:13).
“How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15).
Your Beatitude, holy brother, we pray that God, “who made peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20), may direct our steps in every good work. And hearing the divine Paul, “All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18), we pray that this brotherly fellowship with You, in the place of reconciliation for all, may be for the glory of God and the strengthening of the reconciliation of the Orthodox brethren in Christ.”
During this visit, customary gifts, including sets of Patriarchal pectoral crosses, were exchanged from the Patriarch of Jerusalem to the Patriarch of Serbia and vice versa. The Patriarch of Serbia expressed his emotion and gratitude for this visit and thanked God and the Patriarch of Jerusalem for the honor of visiting the Holy and Life-Giving Tomb on a pilgrimage and Jerusalem, the Holy Mother of Churches.
Later that afternoon, Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem hosted a meal in honor of Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia.
Following the itinerary of his visit, on Tuesday, 1st April 2025, the Patriarch of Serbia visited the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Lavra of St. Sabbas the Sanctified.
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
