Belgrade, October 23, 2024
Photo: spc.rs The Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church issued a statement yesterday affirming the Church’s general support for organ donation and transplantation.
The statement comes in response to media allegations about the Serbian Church’s supposed reluctance to support organ donation programs. The Church notes that His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije himself is a regular blood donor, and many Church leaders have pledged their organs.
The Church established its position on organ transplantation in 2004, supporting it under specific conditions:
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voluntary donation
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family consent
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proper medical verification of death
While maintaining this supportive stance, the Church emphasizes that such procedures must be handled by morally upright medical professionals, particularly given historical concerns about organ trafficking. The Church stresses that no official negotiations with state authorities were needed, as its position has long been clear and positive, making recent media criticism baseless.
The Church’s statement reads:
Statement on Organ Transplantation and Certain Insinuations
… The latest poisonous spin, sown literally across all major media, relates to the Church’s alleged unwillingness to support the Ministry of Health’s Extend Life campaign, or that they are “waiting” for the Church’s position on organ donation and transplantation programs. Meanwhile, no one points out the blatant example set publicly and before cameras by His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije himself. He is, in fact, a voluntary blood donor at least twice a year, and at his initiative, all parish homes in Belgrade are available to the Institute for Blood Transfusion whenever needed, about which the Church regularly informs both the faithful and others. It is a known fact that some Serbian hierarchs have pledged their organs and have not hidden this from the public. Naturally, many priests have done the same without speaking about it publicly. Finally, no competent state authority has officially requested a formal position from the Church, let alone engaged in “difficult negotiations,” as some write. As with many important life issues that have been presented to the believing people (read: the Church) during recent decades, the Church, specifically its Holy Assembly of Bishops, adopted a position back in 2004, based on Christ’s teaching and, consequently, on Holy Scripture and two millennia of experience (Holy Tradition), agreeing to organ transplantation provided the following conditions are met:
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that the donor has voluntarily pledged their organs and
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that the donor’s family has given their posthumous consent.
All this applies provided that the donor’s death has been determined by a professional medical commission in accordance with medical ethics. The Holy Assembly of Bishops also affirms organ transplantation from living persons provided that the donor’s life is not endangered.
In an era of growing social disparities, and bearing in mind the horrifying experiences of past wars, including one of the most terrible examples - the so-called Yellow House in neighboring Albania, our Church will always and unconditionally emphasize that the decision on organ transplantation, regardless of whether the donor is dead or alive, is a matter that can only be handled by impeccably moral medical personnel, not those who are morally indifferent or, worse, corrupted.
Our Church, in this regard, has always had, currently has, and will continue to have an open and extremely well-intentioned position on organ transplantation, so no one should get the impression that it “should” or “must” align either with or against the positions of current political structures. It has had its position, not from yesterday, but for two thousand years now. The insinuation that “negotiations” with the Church are “difficult” and have barely begun is completely baseless. Its only result is that well-known media outlets, otherwise always hostile towards the Church and Serbian identity, have risen to its defense and referenced its existing positions and relevant texts, some of which we are republishing alongside this commentary for reminder.
The open doors of goodwill, understanding, and love, along with loyalty to the timeless principles and standards of Orthodoxy, whether they appeal or not to current holders of social responsibility and state-political authority, should not be broken down with a tank but simply walked through.
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