Irinej

Old Serbia stretches from Kaimakcalan in North Macedonia to the present-day lands of Slovenia, where Serbs live. This was said by the Serbian Bishop of Bačka, Irinej Bulovic, during the service at the Cathedral in Novi Sad, in Vojvodina, in the northern part of Serbia.

He pointed out to the numerous dangers and important meetings regarding Kosovo and Metohija.

The new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church addressed the people gathered.
"I pray to God and I ask all of you to support me so that the great and responsible task that is placed before me, on my weak shoulders, I could present joyfully, as the 46th patriarch, and the 57th leader of our church, I be at least a humble representative," said the new patriarch.

Bishops of Serbia's powerful Orthodox Church on Thursday elected Porfirije Peric as their 46th patriarch.

The new Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovac and Patriarch of Serbia had previously, since 2014, been Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana.

Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana Porfirije has been elected the new patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Who is the new patriarch? Screenshot/ TV B92

"It was always important for the state to have the support of the Serbian Orthodox Church for its policy, whether domestic or international," he said. "The pressure is not bigger now," Aleksic said, but Vucic's constant presence in the media makes his role appear "most important".

In fact, German was not elected under the present-day lottery system. The Church introduced the "apostolic vote" only in 1990, precisely to stop the state from meddling in the process.

This decision was made by the Holy Synod of Bishops as the supreme canonical authority in the Church, authorized to schedule sessions of the highest church body.

The funeral of SPC Patriarch Irinej caused the most controversy, and when asked to comment on the event and whether the measures of the Crisis Staff were respected, Dr Kon said that, based on what he saw on television, it is quite certain that the measures were not fully respected.