Patriots and Westerners will fight for the patriarchal throne of Serbia

After Serbia lost its spiritual leader, according to the Charter of the SOC, elections of the patriarch must take place no later than three months from the date of vacation of the throne.

There has been no unity at this Synod of the SOC for a long time, and the reasons for this are not religious, but political, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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Patriarch Irenaeus, who died on November 20 from complications after suffering a coronavirus infection, was highly respected not only by believers, but also in non-church circles. He defended the interests of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, defended shrines in Kosovo, tried to reconcile the people in the split between the opposition and the authorities... However, no one is eternal, and the flock cannot live without a mentor.

Until the election of the 46th head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the successor of Patriarch Irinej, his duties will be performed by the Synod, chaired by its oldest member. In this case, it could be Bishop Lawrence of Shabatsky, administrator of the Valevka diocese, who is the oldest bishop by ordination (ordination).

Also, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne can be Metropolitan Chrysostom (Jevich) of Dabro-Bosnia. According to some sources, the bishop left Sarajevo for the Belgrade Patriarchate the night before. And also Metropolitan Porfiry (Peric) of Zagreb-Ljubljana, who currently serves as the deputy head of this body, can apply for this mission.

How are the elections of the new Patriarch of Serbia going?

The statutes of the Serbian Orthodox Church state that the Serbian Patriarch can be anyone who has been a "diocesan bishop for at least five years", and the procedure requires that three candidates be first selected by secret ballot of the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops, they must receive more than half the votes, so usually There are at least two rounds of voting. In this case, the participation of at least two thirds of the members of the highest body of the SOC is required.

When the names of the three candidates who received more than half the votes are revealed, they proceed to the election by lot, that is, in the “apostolic manner,” which is the tradition of the New Testament election of the Apostle Matthew.

To do this, bishops from the Synod hall go to the patriarchal chapel of St. Simeon the Myrrh-Bearer - for a special service, where they call on the Holy Spirit to elect a new patriarch.

During this service, the three names are placed in separate envelopes and placed in the Gospel on the altar. At a certain part of the service, one of the monks chosen by the Council takes out a random envelope with the name of the new patriarch.

The next day, after the election of the saint at the solemn liturgy in the Cathedral Church of St. Michael the Archangel, the patriarch is enthroned, after which he assumes the rights and duties of the supreme leader and head of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Schism within the Synod

The current situation in the Serbian Church, which is essentially a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, is being compared by some to a state of war. Historically, the only, relatively speaking, similar situation was during the Second World War. At that time, the Church was left without several bishops and a patriarch. Now, almost in a row, the head of the SOC and, perhaps, the main contender for the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Amfilohiy of Montenegro-Primorsky, has left for a better world.

At the same time, there has been no unity in the Synod itself for a long time - and the reasons for this are not religious, but political. The fact is that this church body is divided into two camps. The first, led by the late Patriarch Irinej, adheres to the idea of ​​“all power from God”, and indirectly supports the country’s President Aleksandar Vucic.

And the second faction of bishops includes supporters and proteges of the godfather and closest friend of the unofficial leader of the Serbian opposition Dragan Djilas - Mladjan Djordjevich. This controversial figure is known for his influence not only in Serbian politics - he also has connections in Russia.

Under Djilas, he was deputy to the People's Office of the President and adviser on Kosovo and Metohija to pro-Western President Boris Tadic. And the scandalous head of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, called Djordjevic “a man tasked with helping the opposition.”

In one of his interviews, this “gray eminence” admitted that at least two current bishops were leaders of student protests against the then President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic.

Djordjevich himself at that time headed one of the student dormitories. He brought the future rulers - Gregory (Durich) of Frankfurt and Germany and Bishop Maxim of Western America - first into the political arena, and then into the highest church circles.

Another hierarch, besides those mentioned above, is the current head of the most important diocese for Serbia, the Kosovo diocese. According to Wikiliks, Theodosius, Bishop of Rasko-Prizren, received this place not only thanks to his work in preserving shrines in the region, but also with the help of godfather Djilas. There is evidence of this - two days before his appointment to this department, Feodosia Djordjevich sent a message to the US State Department about the change of the spiritual leader of the Kosovo Serbs, which talked about his preparation for this “operation”.

According to some experts, Bishop Irenaeus of Eastern America, the retired Bishop Athanasius, as well as the Montenegrin bishops are “playing” on the side of the “gray cardinal,” according to some experts.

With their help, Djordjevich will try for the second time to install Bishop Gregory on the patriarchal throne, with whom a scandal was also associated at one time, even when he headed the Zachum-Herzegovina diocese - because of the interesting financial activities that the diocese conducted under him. The investigation here was even carried out by the Bosnian state organization for economic crimes - SIPA. After which Bishop Gregory was urgently appointed to the department in Germany.

However, as they say, “man proposes, but God disposes” and no one knows how everything will actually turn out. We can only hope that the country’s new spiritual leader will not start “rocking the boat.”