Belgrade, November 12, 2026
Patriarch Porfirije carrying the Belt of the Theotokos when it was brought to Serbia in May. Photo: spc.rs
A fund built from the offerings of pilgrims who venerated the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos in Belgrade in May is now buying medical equipment for a children’s hospital and offering 400 scholarships to students from large families.
His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije, the chief trustee of the Honorable Belt Fund, blessed the purchase of equipment for the Service for the Examination and Treatment of Respiratory Diseases at the Dr. Vukan Čupić Institute for Mother and Child Health Care in Belgrade, reports the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The fund is paying for a capnometer, a device that continuously monitors respiratory gas levels in the blood, at 3,027,501.60 dinars (about $30,300). It’s also paying for respiratory polygraphy devices at 1,512,000 dinars (about $15,100).
On November 11, the fund also announced a competition for 400 scholarships for elementary and high school students from families with three or more children whose income doesn’t cover basic living needs. The scholarship fund totals 40,000,000 dinars (about $400,000).
The fund was established in June of this year, right after the Belt returned from Belgrade to Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos. It consists of offerings the faithful gave at the Church of the Ascension and the Memorial Church of St. Sava during the veneration of the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, from May 19 to June 6. Archimandrite Ephraim, the abbot of Vatopedi, left the offerings to Patriarch Porfirije’s free disposal.
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