Merdare, Serbia, December 28, 2022
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia was stopped by Pristina authorities at the border checkpoint in the Serbian village of Merdare and told that he was forbidden to enter Kovoso on Monday.
The ban on the Patriarchal visit was announced on Sunday, though the Church said the Patriarch was still determined to visit the ancient Patriarchate of Peć, Visoki Dečani Monastery, and other holy sites.
However, the Serbian primate was physically stopped and turned away at the border, the Serbian Church reports.
“From the point of view of human rights and religious freedom of any person, such a decision is unreasonable and absolutely unacceptable.”
“The Patriarch will not leave his people and will do everything possible to meet with them and to pray together with them to God as soon as possible,” the Church report assures.
“Today, the door of my home is locked for me and I pray to God to unlock the hearts of those who closed them and that the love of Christmas and the birth of the Savior might touch the minds and consciences of all people,” the Patriarch wrote on Instagram.
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