Belgrade, May 24, 2024
Photo: spc.rs
The Serbian Orthodox Church, both in Serbia and abroad, called its faithful to fervent prayer yesterday as the UN voted on establishing an annual commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
The General Assembly resolution sponsored by Germany and Rwanda faced intense lobbying from the Bosnian Serb president Milorad Dodik and Serbian president Aleksandr Vučić, who see the resolution as branding the whole of the Serbian people as genocidal supporters of the killing of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims.
According to the site of the Serbian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije blessed for the bells in all churches to ring out at noon yesterday, “calling the faithful people of St. Sava to fervent prayer, calmness, mutual solidarity, and steadfastness in doing good, despite the completely false and unjust accusations to which they are exposed in the United Nations.”
“His Holiness invites the entire Serbian Orthodox nation to unite in prayer for justice and peace for all nations, especially those with whom we share a common history for centuries with the Biblical faith in our hearts and on our lips: “As the Lord lives, so thy soul shall live!” (cf. 1 Sam 25:26) Christ is Risen!”
And in America, His Grace Bishop Longin of New Gračnica and Midwestern America called upon his flock to unite in prayer “the for the salvation of our people.”
“We ask all the clergy and faithful of our diocese to turn to the Lord and All Serbian Saints in prayer today and tomorrow for the salvation of our people. Whichever service, akathist or individual prayer you offer, may it reach the throne of God and be heard unto the stopping of enemies and adversaries of the Serbian people,” the bishop writes.
According to the diocesan report, “This vote has the potential to label the entire Serbian nation as genocidal, undermining the tremendous suffering of the Serbian people during the war.”
The report concludes:
In these moments of collective prayer, Bishop Longin hopes to invoke the protection and guidance of the Lord and All Serbian Saints, trusting in their intercession for justice and the well-being of the Serbian people. This call to prayer is a profound expression of faith and hope, aimed at bringing about divine intervention and relief in times of need.
As the faithful respond to Bishop Longin’s call, their prayers testify to the enduring spirit of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its unwavering belief in the power of divine grace.
In the end, the UN voted 84-19 to establish June 11 as the annual Srebrenica memorial day.
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