Patriarch Irinej: Serb women are obligated to give birth

In this country, it is women - not religious dignitaries - who decide on whether to have children.

This is according to the chair of the Serbian National Assembly Committee on Human and Minority Rights, Meho Omerovic, who reacted on Wednesday.

Omerovic spoke after Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Patriarch Irinej stated that "Serb women are obligated to give birth."

Omerovic recalled that Serbia respects the separation of church and state, and added, in a written statement sent to media outlets on Wednesday, that "religious dignitaries are free to 'urge duty based on divine rules'."

"I do not wish to debate with divine rules - but there are rules that we all must obey - the law and the Constitution of Serbia, as well as the rights and obligations, that apply equally to all," he stressed.
Omerovic then observed that women in Serbia decide for themselves, of...