Serbian Patriarch: We should forgive, pray for peace with Albanians

 


Jan 4, 2024. Posted by  Balkan Periscope - Hellas

 

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Patriarch Porfirije, on Thursday visited the Velika Hoca settlement in Kosovo and said that Christmas is an occasion for each person’s new essential spiritual renewal, that “we should forgive, build peace among ourselves,” and pray to God for peace with the Albanians.

The Patriarch began Wednesday his visit to the SPC holy sites in Kosovo ahead of the Serbian Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7.

“We need one another, we are all people, the same blood flows in every human being,” the SPC quoted Patriarch Porfirije as saying.

He added that in God’s love there is a place for everyone, regardless of how they feel and who they belong to.

Life with others can be hell if we see the other as an opponent, but life with others can also be heaven if people support each other, live for each other, see the other as an icon of God, their brother and friend, said the Patriarch.

It is important to understand that peace is a spiritual category. We cannot have peace around us if there is unrest within us. If there is intolerance, hatred, aggression among us, within us and with others, then there is no inner peace, no joy, no tranquility, said Patriarch Porfirije.

 

(Serbian media)