PATRIARCH PORFIRIJE of the Serbian Orthodox Church has appealed for national unity, as protests by students demanding fresh elections have intensified in Belgrade and other cities.
“We all know that we are sinners, that we can and should be better — that’s why we also become capable, through faith, of seeking forgiveness from one another,” the Patriarch said in a sermon last weekend.
“When we have a common Father, there can be no disagreement or discord among us. So let us not turn Christ’s call to love our neighbour into the opposite, by beginning to hate our neighbour and think we are doing God a service by doing so.”
Patriarch Porfirije preached as Amnesty International and other human-rights groups voiced alarm over the use of apparently arbitrary detentions and action by security forces against anti-government demonstrations.
He said that Serbs had always “shone before the whole world” when united, but had lost out when they succumbed to “external pressures” and became “divided and fragmented”.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Belgrade, Cardinal Ladislav Nemet, also urged President Aleksandar Vucic’s government to listen to “all social actors”, and said that his Church would support “every well-intentioned initiative serving peace and mutual understanding”.
“I appeal to decision-makers to strive for honest dialogue and fair cooperation,” he said in a statement last weekend. “The younger generation has the right to participate in decisions concerning their country’s future. . . Through joint efforts, responsibility towards each other and openness, I believe we can overcome the current difficulties.”
Anti-corruption protests erupted last November when a new canopy collapsed at a railways station in Novi Sad, leaving 16 dead and triggering the resignation of several government leaders.
Student groups have since blocked roads and occupied buildings, demanding wider reforms, while protesting against heavy-handed police reactions and attacks on university staff.
The European Union and the United Nations have expressed concerns about the growing violence.
The Council of Europe’s human-rights commissioner, Michael O’Flaherty, warned last week that “excessive force” was being used against “freedom of assembly and freedom of expression”.
Students at Belgrade University’s Theology Faculty, which trains Orthodox clergy and religious teachers, were told last week that they had a right to “show solidarity with colleagues”, but that they were also “subject to church rules” and should return to their classes.
Patriarch Porfirije has faced accusations of aligning with the Vucic government by urging students to end their protests.
Another Orthodox leader, Metropolitan David (Perovic) of Kruševac, provoked a bitter riposte earlier this year from six fellow-bishops for branding the demonstrators “Serbian Ustashas”, in a reference to Croatian wartime nationalists.