Bishops' Council of Serbian Orthodox Church expresses support for UOC

Bishops' Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Photo: SOC

The Bishops' Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which took place in Belgrade from May 14 to 18, 2024, adopted a final statement on the results of the sessions, expressing support for the UOC, according to the official website of the SOC.

The hierarchs adopted a statement related to the support and protection of the rights of the Serbian population and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija. The Serbian hierarchs also emphasized the need for peacemaking efforts in Ukraine and Palestine.

"The Council drew attention to the spiritual and geopolitical consequences of military conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine. On this occasion, the Council once again raised its voice in defense of innocent victims – those deprived of rights, hungry, and expelled – urging relevant international institutions to move from words about justice to specific actions of justice, mercy, and peacekeeping," the document says.

The Bishops' Council established four new dioceses of the SOC in Europe: Scandinavian, British-Irish, Austrian, and Swiss.

As a result of the division of the British-Scandinavian diocese, the Scandinavian diocese was created with its headquarters in Stockholm – it will be led by Bishop Dosifej (Motika), and the British-Irish diocese with its headquarters in London – will be headed by Bishop Nektarije (Samardžić).

Instead of the former Austrian-Swiss diocese, the Austrian diocese was established with its headquarters in Vienna – it will be managed by Bishop Irinej (Bulović) until further notice, and the Swiss diocese with its headquarters in Zurich – its bishop will be Bishop Andrej (Čilerdžić).

In addition, the Council made changes to the composition of the Holy Synod of the SOC, analyzed the state and problems of church education, and resolved a number of other important issues.

The participants of the sessions prayerfully commemorated the anniversaries associated with the name of the Venerable Justin, Archimandrite of Chelije (Popović) – 130 years since his birth, 45 years since his repose, and 15 years since his name was included in the diptychs of the saints of the Orthodox Church.

As reported by the UOJ, Bishop Gerasim (Popović) of Gornji Karlovac published a statement in support of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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