Patriarch receives Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija

His Holiness Porfirije, Serbian Patriarch received Dr. Petar Petkovic, Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, at the Serbian Patriarchate in Belgrade on April 8, 2021.

The Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church listened carefully to the analysis of the situation and issues of key importance for the stay and survival of the Serbian people in the southern Serbian province. Patriarch Porfirije expressed satisfaction with the cooperation of the Serbian Orthodox Church with the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, especially in relation to the support of churches and monasteries that are important for all who live there, because in them priests, monks and nuns pray daily for peace and well-being. people. His Holiness especially emphasized the necessity of keeping peace and that our state should insist on maintaining a dialogue on the principles of law and justice.

Director Petkovic pointed out that the security situation and the position of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija are facing numerous challenges and serious temptations, because there is a danger that dialogue and talks will be replaced by blackmail and threats.

Patriarch Porfirije, who is already well acquainted with the problems of the Church and the people in Kosovo and Metohija, especially pointed out the danger of continuing attacks on our shrines, such as the last attacks during his stay in the Patriarchate of Pec. The interlocutors agreed that such attacks are aimed at expelling the Serbian people from centuries-old hearths, erasing our past and spirituality, in order to destroy every trace of the historical continuity of the Serbian people and state in Kosovo and Metohija.

Special attention in the conversation between His Holiness Patriarch and the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija was given to the project of renovating the severely damaged Church of the Mother of God of Ljevis in Prizren and preserving and restoring the Stauropegial Laura of the Pec Patriarchate.

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija reiterated the position that it is of priceless importance that the Church and the State work together for the welfare of our people in the province through joint efforts and care.

His Holiness also heard information about the process of immunization of the Serbian population from Kosovo and Metohija against the COVID-19.