The Patriarchate of Serbia decided to send aid to the Church of Metropolitan Onufriy in Ukraine.
As he announced in a post on the official website of the Patriarchate of Serbia, Patriarch Porfirije stated: “we have decided to send material aid to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and to Metropolitan of Onufriy.
Our humble contribution is an expression of love for our brothers and sisters in need.”
This announcement by the Patriarch of Serbia is not surprising, although the selective help can be considered not in line with the Orthodox spirit as in Ukraine the whole country is affected by the Russian invasion, and not only the Church of Metropolitan Onoufriy, which in fact belongs to the Patriarchate of the country conducting the attack.
The Church of Serbia had already stated its position in regards to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in an earlier statement.
Following the announcement by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić two days ago that his country would not impose sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the Serbian Patriarchate issued a statement refraining from naming the invasion.
In particular, the website of the Serbian Patriarchate issued a statement announcing the meeting that Patriarch Porfirije had with the President of the country, Aleksandar Vučić.
At the meeting, the President informed the Patriarch about the decisions that will be taken by the Serbian state leadership regarding “the situation in Ukraine. The interlocutors expressed great concern and hope that the conflicts would end soon”, as the announcement underlined.
“Every war is a tragedy, and for us, it is a painful fact that two fraternal states and two fraternal peoples of the same faith, whose history and culture are inextricably intertwined, clashed.
Hence, every sacrifice is a loss for everyone. The Serbian Orthodox Church urges God, the creator of peace, to stop using weapons as soon as possible and start a dialogue on overcoming the crisis.”