Vucic meets with Patriarch Porfirije: Relationship between state and Church is very important

The meeting was held in the building of the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic in Belgrade

President Aleksandar Vucic met today with His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije.

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This is the first official meeting between the president and the new Serbian patriarch, with whom Vucic previously spoke at the Patriarchate, after his enthronement last week.

After the meeting, the president and the patriarch spoke about the details of the meeting and took questions from journalists.

About the movie, "Dara of Jasenovac"

Patriarch Porfirije also commented on the film "Dara of Jasenovac" and said that it was important that Serbian cinematography spoke about something that has been covered with a fog of oblivion, as he said, purposefully, for decades.

"It's very important for that to somehow come out of the oblivion, without being a reason for resentment, but for the sake of everyone looking into their heart and, as much as possible, cryout to God that something like that  never happens again anywhere," said the patriarch .

About European Parliament's report

When asked how he sees the report of the European Parliament regarding Serbia, Vucic said that he did not look at the details and that he will he be able to comment on this once he has done that.

"I don't know what the content of the conversation was, but certainly everything that lies ahead of us is not simple or easy. If you know the US stance, it's enough to read Biden's congratulations to us and to Pristina and understand our position. This situation is extremely difficult for us. The biggest European powers share the position of the US administration," said Vucic.

After the meeting, the interlocutors addressed the media regarding the details of the conversation.

Patriarch Porfirije's address

Patriarch Porfirije said that he heard, in short, the elementary basics of geopolitics in a narrower sense, and stressed that he was not a politician and sees the Church as an organism of assembly, that has this goal, builds bridges and blunts blades, and overcomes polarization.

"Above all, the Church preaches the meaning of the existence of every human being, regardless of the nation and the circumstances. We often do not choose the circumstances, but they are often a form of God's providence and that is why we have no right to complain, but to experience everything that seems like a problem as a task that we must solve," he said.

The patriarch said that he would do everything in his power to, as a shepherd, make sure the Serb people do as well as possible, while not to the detriment of other people.

"We will achieve that through dialogue, and then through overcoming the challenges. What's left is for all of us together, each from their own position, to do everything for the benefit of our people, but not at the expense of others, instead as much as possible for the benefit of everyone," said the patriarch.

He thanked the president for attending his enthronement and for his words afterwards in the Patriarchate.

President Vucic's address

Vucic said that he informed the patriarch about the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as the political facts and negotiations that are upcoming, about the upcoming visit of EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak, the position of Serbia, but also about the fact that today so-called Kosovo failed to gain a seat at the Conference of European Constitutional Courts.

"We spoke about how to keep the peace and help the suffering people in Kosovo and Metohija, and I think that there is great understanding and agreement on that issue. I am grateful to His Holiness for his willingness to listen. We also talked about pressures that are ahead for our country, and which should never surprise anyone," said Vucic and added that many will try to prove their strength and power against someone who is smaller.

Vucic said that the relationship between the state and the Church is very important and that he can say that when the state and the Church strive towards the same goal and when they set a common goal before themselves, Serbia will be number one in Europe on many issues, and when that is not the case, Serbia is torn apart and weak.

(Telegraf.rs)