Serbian Church's Holy Assembly of Bishops to meet: This is when new patriarch will be elected

Photo: Tanjug/Strahinja Acimovic

The session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), which will elect a new patriarch, has been scheduled for February 18, 2021, Novosti writes.

Recommended

This decision was made by the Holy Synod of Bishops, which is authorized to schedule sessions of the highest Church body.

This session will be chaired by the bishop of Sabac, Lavrentije, who is the oldest member of the Assembly. He also presided over the meeting of the Assembly that in 2010 elected then Bishop Irinej of Nis as the new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

With the chosen date, the "Church government," despite the pandemic and the emergency situation in the world, complied with the SPC Constitution which says that the procedure for completing the election of a new patriarch must be done by February 19, 2021 at the latest.

Members of the Assembly, which will have an electoral character, will elect the new church leader from a total of 34 metropolitans and bishops, which is how many qualify as candidates.

Memorial service for Patriarch Irinej

Liturgy and a 40-day memorial service for the late Patriarch Irinej will be served on Tuesday, December 29.

As the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church announced, liturgy will be served in the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade starting at 9 am. The memorial service will be served after the liturgy, starting at around 11 am.

Patriarch Irinej, the 45th head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, passed away on November 20 at the military medical clinic Karaburma in Belgrade from the consequences caused by coronavirus.

(Telegraf.rs)