Patriarch Porfirije: There is no better way for a person to be useful to another than the way that the Gospel anticipates

Patriarch Porfirije: The reason and goal of existence and the meaning of human existence outside of Christian civilization, ie. European civilization without Christ, without the Gospel, without the Nativity of Christ, without Christmas is absolutely not only incomprehensible but absolutely something that turns into nonsense, into its contradiction.

His Holiness Porfirije, the Serbian Patriarch talked with His Eminence Archbishop Stanislav Hocevar in the Cathedral of the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Belgrade, on 20 December 2021. His Grace Bishop Justin of Hvosno and Mr. Vladimir Roganovic, Ph.D.,  the Director of the Office for Cooperation with Churches and the Religious Communities of the Republic of Serbia, attended the meeting. 

Announcement of the funeral of the newly departed Bishop Luka of Western Europe

Bishop Luka (Kovacevic) who fell asleep in the Lord in Paris on 17 December 2021, will be buried at the cemetary of the Orthodox Monastery of the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God in Belgrade, on 27 December 2021. 

His Holiness Porfirije, Serbian Patriarch will officiate the Requiem Office for the Dead  in the church of the Monastery of the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God, starting at 9 o'clock. The funeral service and burial of Bishop Luka will be performed after the Requiem Office.

Bishop Luka (Kovacevic) of Western Europe was born in Piskavica near Banja Luka on October 30, 1950. He graduated from the Theological Seminary of the Holy Three Hierarchs at the Krka Monastery in 1971, and studied theology in 1982 at the Saint Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris. He was tonsured on June 26, 1976, and in the same year, on the feast of the Holy Prophet Elisha, he was ordained a hieromonk by Bishop Nicholas of Australia and New Zealand. From 1982 to 1992, he was a brother of the monastery of St. Sava in Eilane, Australia. The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, at its regular session in 1992, elected Archimandrite Luka Bishop of Australia and New Zealand.

Communiqué of the Holy Synod of Bishops

Communiqué of the Holy Synod of Bishops

The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, in its meeting held on 21 December 2021, on the basis of the decision from this year's convocation of the Holy Assembly of Bishops, rendered a decision – with the aim of overcoming the problems in the Church-School Congregation of Saint Sava in New York, and re-establishing the ecclesial order and unity among the parishioners there – pursuant to which this Church-School Congregation and its parish were temporarily entrusted to the spiritual care and administration of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije, until the normalization of the situation in the mentioned Church-School Congregation.

from the Office of the Holy Synod of Bishops

Patriarch Porfirije: Let us, like Saint Nicholas, be witnesses of the truth of Christ

His Holiness Porfirije, the Serbian Patriarch, officiated the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy in the significant church dedicated to that God-pleasing man and miracle-worker in Zemun on 19 December 2021, on the feast day of Saint Nicholas of Myra.  (phоto gallery).

He was concelebrated by archimandrites Serafim and Danilo, protopresbyter-staurophor Bozo Bakajlic, archpriest Drasko Tepavac and deacons Dragan Radis, Radomir Vrucinic and Tomislav Krcmar.

Bishop Luka (Kovacevic) of Western Europe fell asleep in the Lord

We would like to inform the public and the faithful that His Grace Bishop Luka of Western Europe fell asleep in the Lord on December 17, 2021, at 3 pm. Eternal memory and the Kingdom of Heaven to him! The date and time of the funeral will be announced later.

Bishop Luka (Kovacevic) of Western Europe

He was born on October 30, 1950 in Piskavica near Banja Luka. He graduated from the Theological Seminary of the Holy Three Hierarchs at the Krka Monastery in 1971, and studied theology in 1982 at the Saint Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris. He was tonsured on June 26, 1976, and in the same year, on the feast of the Holy Prophet Elisha, he was ordained a hieromonk by Bishop Nicholas of Australia and New Zealand. From 1982 to 1992, he was a brother of the monastery of St. Sava in Eilane, Australia. The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, at its regular session in 1992, elected Archimandrite Luka Bishop of Australia and New Zealand.

The act of episcopal ordination in the monastery of the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God in Belgrade on August 17, 1992, was performed by Serbian Patriarch Pavle with the participation of a large number of archbishops. In the same year, he was enthroned on the throne of the Bishops of Australia and New Zealand in the monastery of St. Sava in Elaine. In 1997, he was elected Bishop of Western Europe, based in Paris, and at the same time he was the administrator of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand until 1999.

Diocese of Western Europe

Communiqué

The Holy Synod of Bishops, under the presidency of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije, in the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade from 7 do 10 December of this year, began to carry out the binding decisions of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church concerning the newly-formed corporations in the United States of America, the Saint Sava School of Theology in Libertyville, and the Church-School Congregation of Saint Sava in New York.

Alongside the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops, the meetings were also attended by Their Graces the Bishops of New-Gračanica and Midwestern America kyr Longin, Canada kyr Mitrofan, Western America kyr Maksim, Eastern America kyr Irinej and Buenos Aires and South-Central America kyr Kirilo, as well as the members of the Commission of the Holy Synod of Bishops for considering the above-mentioned matters: Their Graces Bishops of Bačka kyr Irinej and Šumadija kyr Jovan, as well as protopresbyter-stavrophoros Dr Velibor DŽomić, protopresbyter Vladan Simić, protonamesnik Miroslav Čolaković, and legal counselors Srđan Todorović, Miroslav Nikolić and Milan Andrić.