Patriarch Porfirije and Minister Dmitrović on demography

His Holiness Porfirije, the Serbian Patriarch, talked with Mr. Ratko Dmitrovic, Minister of Family Welfare and Demography in the Patriarchal Palace, on 11 February 2022.

The Minister informed the Patriarch about the problematic demographic situation in Serbia and the Serbian people and the state's measures to create preconditions for demographic recovery.

Minister Dmitrović informed the Patriarch in detail about several very worrying facts, and the most striking is that Serbia has less than seven million inhabitants after several decades. And last year, in terms of deaths and births, Serbia lost cities the size of Kruševac and Loznica together.

The Patriarch emphasized that the Serbian people do not have a more significant and more complex problem than this. Both of his predecessors on the throne of Saint Sava pointed out that and he supports all measures that the state is taking to that end.

The family is the basis of the nation and society. Without it, demographic revival is not possible. That is why we must do everything to preserve and support the family with all the traditional values it carries with it,  Patriarch Porfirijer and Minister Dmitrović agreed.

Besides the care for our people in the Republic of Serbia, the interlocutors agreed that the state and the Church must intensify cooperation in improving the position of the Serbian people in former Yugoslav countries and preserving and strengthening ties with Serbs in the diaspora.