Communique of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church

May 22, 2025 - 10:02 Updated: May 22, 2025 - 10:04

Communique of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church from its regular meeting held at the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade, from 13 to 17 May 2025:

This year’s regular meeting of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church began with a holy, conciliar, Hierarchical Liturgy and the invocation of the Holy Spirit at the Memorial Church of Saint Sava on Vračar, on Tuesday, 13 May 2025. The Liturgy was presided over by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije, with the concelebration of the attending Hierarchs from the homeland and the diaspora.

The following day, 14 May, in the crypt of the Church of Saint Sava on Vračar, the Holy Assembly of Bishops commenced the working part of its meeting under the presidency of His Holiness and with the participation of all the Most Reverend and Right Reverend Diocesan Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church. At the start of the first working session, according to established practice, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije addressed the bishops with a greeting, in which, analyzing the role of the Assembly in the life of the Church and emphasizing the importance of conciliar decision-making, he said among other things:

“...When we gather in the Assembly, we 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 conciliar Pleroma of the Church manifested in every place. Our conciliarity is not a pragmatic management mechanism borrowed from secular organizational models, but rather an essential expression of the God-human nature of the Church as a community of love in the Holy Spirit. This sacred gathering of bishops stands as a living icon of our shared conciliar experience and our unity – each of us deeply feels that we are not isolated jurisdictional authority over our entrusted dioceses, but organic members of the same Body of Christ, branches of the same heavenly Vine, humble servants in the same House of God. Therefore, we do not gather merely to discuss administrative issues of church life but primarily for joint spiritual discernment regarding the life of Christ’s Church in our historical time and place… We are living in turbulent times. The current upheaval in the world, as well as in our homeland, requires our unwavering unity. Now more than ever, we must bear witness that the Church is an Assembly. She gathers, she does not divide, she does not identify with any fragment; she is the entirety of the faithful people, she bridges differences and reconciles. In other words, we must testify that the unity of the Church transcends all terrestrial divisions. This unity is preserved – not by intensifying involvement with or identification with worldly questions and dilemmas, but by a prophetic distance from all earthly ‘soteriologies’. Unity is preserved through fraternal counsel, reverence for our ecclesiastical Tradition and apostolic faith, and through the prayers that constitute us as the Church of Christ.”

This year’s meeting of the Holy Assembly of Bishops was held in the atmosphere of marking the commemoration of two great jubilees – 1700 years since the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea and 850 years since the birth of Saint Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop and Enlightener. Both jubilees, of exceptional importance to our local Church and to global Orthodoxy, will be celebrated throughout this year with liturgical gatherings, academic symposia, commemorative ceremonies, conferences, roundtables, and exhibitions in Belgrade and in dioceses of our Holy Church.

Having reviewed reports from bishops on the holy and virtuous lives of certain Orthodox Christians among our people, confirmed by their confessional struggles or martyrdom, the Commission of the Holy Assembly of Bishops for the preparation of proposals for canonization recommended the inclusion of several holy hierarchs, priests, monastics, and faithful sons and daughters of the Church of Saint Sava in the Diptychs of Saints. After consideration, the Assembly joyfully accepted this recommendation and announces the names of these saints to its spiritual children for emulation in virtue and steadfastness of faith. The following have been added to the ranks of the saints:

Nikodim (Milaš), Bishop of Dalmatia (feast day: 4 October/21 September);
Confessor of the Faith Protosyncellus Kiril (Cvjetković), confessor of Bezdin and Dalmatia-Boka (12 October/29 September);
Priest Mihailo Barbić, parish priest of Krtole (22 January/9 January);
Priest Ilija Rodić (9 May/26 April);
Venerable Martyr Jovan of Stjenik (10 August/28 July);
Saint and Blessed Ana, mother of Saint Vasilije of Ostrog (13 May/30 April);
Martyrs of Reškovice, killed by the Turks in 1688 (4 May/21 April);
Venerable Martyrs and Martyrs of Rmanj (10 September/28 August);
Martyrs of Garavice and of Bihać-Petrovac (27 July/14 July).

The feast day for the Child Martyrs of Jastrebarsko and Sisak has been changed from 13/26 August to 13 July/30 June.

A unified commemoration has been established for the Assembly of Holy Fathers who taught and were taught the Word of God and prayer at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Belgrade, to be celebrated annually on 6 February/24 January, regardless of their individual feast days. Likewise, the date for the Finding of the Relics of Venerable Jakov of Tumane has been set for 21 October/ 8 October each year.

At this year’s meeting, special attention was given to the position and challenges of the Church in Serbia, the Republic of Srpska, neighboring countries, and the diaspora. As in previous years, a particular focus was given to the report on the situation in our southern province – Kosovo and Metohija. In connection with this topic and affirming the unbreakable bond with the source of our spiritual and national identity embodied in our holy rulers, the Assembly established a new decoration – the Order of Saint Prince Lazar – to be awarded to Church members for general merits.

The Assembly also attended to the improvement of spiritual life and the organization of the Church in the diaspora. In that spirit, special attention was paid to reports on the archpastoral work of Hierarchs in the diaspora, as well as the conclusion of legal and ecclesiastical-legal processes in the United States and the United Kingdom. The Assembly similarly acknowledged the necessity of continuing the process of canonical and legal harmonization within the legal systems of other countries throughout the diaspora where our Church has her jurisdiction.

Reports on the work of the Holy Synod of Bishops, Diocesan Bishops, the Patriarchal Administrative Board, Patriarchal Library, Museum, and Archive of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and the charity foundation “Čovekoljublje”, as well as other Church foundations, institutions, and departments were also heard and analyzed. The Assembly carefully considered ways to improve the functioning of these Church establishments and units.

The Assembly reviewed the current situation and challenges in ecclesiastical education. Reports were heard from all educational institutions of the Serbian Church, as well as the report of the Assembly’s Commission tasked with preparing proposals for reforming the curriculum of secondary education in theological schools of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Upon hearing the reports, the Assembly approved the conclusions and decided to introduce a four-year high school education system in Serbian Orthodox theological seminaries, to begin on 1 September of the academic year 2025/26.

The Assembly also paid attention to the matter of amendments to Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which concern the names of Dioceses and the titles of Bishops.

Once again this year, the Assembly addressed the spiritual consequences of war conflicts around the world. In this context, the Assembly reiterates its call to relevant international institutions to take note of the suffering of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, Syria, Palestine, and Kosovo and Metohija, urging all those with the power to prevent further bloodshed, hatred, intolerance, injustice, and lawlessness.

During the meeting, a session of the Central Body for the Completion of the Memorial Church of Saint Sava in Vračar was held, during which a report was received detailing all works completed to date through the contributions of the faithful and with the help of the state, as well as the works that still need to be completed in the upcoming year.

In keeping with established tradition, the Assembly visited the Royal House of Karađorđević at the invitation of Crown Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. His Royal Highness Hereditary Prince Filip Karađorđević welcomed His Holiness the Patriarch and the members of the Assembly on behalf of the Crown Prince.

In the Holy Synod, the mandates of His Eminence Metropolitan of Braničevo kyr Ignatije and His Eminence Archbishop of Upper Karlovac kyr Gerasim concluded, and they will now serve as substitute members. Remaining in office are His Eminence Metropolitan of Zvornik-Tuzla kyr Fotije and His Eminence Metropolitan of Raška-Prizren kyr Teodosije, while the new Synod members for the upcoming two-year term are His Eminence Metropolitan of Bačka kyr Irinej and His Grace Bishop of Budimlje-Nikšić kyr Metodije.