PATRIARCH PORFIRIJE: UNITY TRANSCENDS ALL EARTHLY DIVISIONS

BELGRADE, MAY 18 /SRNA/ - His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije said that these are turbulent times, but that the unity of the Church transcends all earthly divisions, including the current upheavals.

"The current turmoil in the world, and our homeland, demands our unwavering unity. Now more than ever, we must bear witness that the Church is an Assembly," said the Serbian Patriarch at the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/, which was held from May 13 to 17. His Holiness pointed out that the Church gathers, not divides; it does not identify with any single fragment but is the wholeness of the faithful people - it bridges differences and brings reconciliation, according to a statement published today on the Serbian Orthodox Church's website. “In other words, we must bear witness that the unity of the Church transcends all earthly divisions. This unity is preserved not by increased engagement or identification with worldly issues and dilemmas, but through a prophetic distance from all earthly ‘soteriologies,’” emphasized Patriarch Porfirije. According to him, unity is preserved through fraternal counsel, respect for Church tradition and apostolic faith, and through prayer. Emphasizing the importance of joint decision-making, the Patriarch said, among other things, that when they gather in the Assembly, they do not represent individual dioceses as isolated administrative units of Church governance. “On the contrary, we gather as bearers of one and indivisible episcopate of Christ, bearing witness to the fullness of the Church which is manifested everywhere. Our sobornost is not a pragmatic mechanism of governance borrowed from secular organizational models, but an essential expression of the very God-human nature of the Church as a community of love in the Holy Spirit,” explained Patriarch Porfirije.