Serbian church elder warns of divisions over Montenegrin parliament resolution

patrijarh porfirije
Andrej Isaković/AFP

The resolution on the Srebrenica genocide adopted by the Montenegrin parliament drew a reaction from the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church who warned of divisions and polarization.

Patriarch Porfirije did not mention the resolution explicitly in a sermon in Belgrade, referring instead to “what happened in Montenegro” and warning of polarization and divisions. „We have been faced with an event which seeks to polarize people, separate them through language, words. This is about what happened in Montenegro. The people who came to a place on the wings of (the late MOntenegr-Littoral Bishop) Amfilohije where they should build bridges, dull blades, bring people closers together regardless of what national they belong to and how they pray to God have betrayed the trust of the Bishop,” the Patriarch said, adding that the people who adopted the resolution are in the service of the forces who thrive on polarization.

The Patriarch said that defining a crime is wrong and added that he “never presumed to name what was committed by criminals against innocent victims because definitions do not show the essence of what happened in the horrible manifestation of evil and the great need of every man to repent, ask forgiveness and forgive”.