Zagreb, (IKA) – The newly elected Metropolitan Profirije of Zagreb-Ljubljana was enthroned on Sunday, July 13, in the Cathedral Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Zagreb. The solemn Hierarchal Divine Liturgy was served by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej. At the end of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the Serbian Patriarch handed the pastoral staff to the new Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana. Then Metropolitan Porfirije addressed those assembled. “I joyfully come to Zagreb, not on my own behalf but as the Bishop of Christ’s Church. My task as bishop is to gather the disunited people of God, to build up the body of Christ and lead all to the Kingdom of God, preach the gospel and serve the Divine Liturgy, by which the Kingdom of Heaven is present on earth. I come with the desire and prayer in my heart to serve everyone, always offering myself to others as a gift, never to seek anything for myself but always to serve what is good for the sake of Christ,” said the Metropolitan. He encouraged the faithful of the Serbian Orthodox Church to profess their Orthodox faith freely but, above all, to live in Christ by that faith so that it can give meaning to their lives and help them find answers to life’s important questions. “Self-awareness, awareness of who we are, keeping and nurturing our identity are essential prerequisites for internal peace, psychological stability but, above all, an awareness of the fullness of life in every sense. However, self-awareness is also an essential prerequisite for recognizing the unique value of every other person and those who are different as neighbors and friends. Only love of oneself, which is not selfishness or egotism but self-respect as a temple of the Holy Spirit, bears love and complete respect for one’s neighbor, better to say, for every person who is a temple of God. Such love is a mandatory prerequisite for coexistence,” said the Metropolitan. He said that he comes from the Bačka Eparchy in Vojvodina, where, in addition to Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Protestants and Jews have lived for centuries and recently Muslims, as well as members of many small religious communities. “This is the environment in which I was taught by my spiritual father, Bishop Irinej, that being a Christian does not mean to live next to someone else and tolerate him but to live for the other, because a Christian recognizes the living image of God in every person, regardless of his religion and nation, and in each person loves his God-like brother or sister,” said the Metropolitan, noting: “This is our belief. I will bear witness to it without compromise at every time and in every place through my life and words, and I will constantly remind you of it.”
“I come with joy, without prejudice, and with an open heart to all the citizens of Croatia and Slovenia. I will be sincerely ready for dialogue with all who are well-intentioned. I will respect the freedom of all above all, and dialogue, forgiveness and reconciliation shall be the principles that I will try to apply in practice, because I profoundly believe that these are the values that spring from the very heart of Christ’s gospel and affect each of us, but also all of us together,” said Metropolitan Porfirije.
He pointed out that the Church is not separate from society, which is, in his words, “especially important today when human dignity is demeaned, when the family is threatened, when we have an increase in various forms of extremism, when we are faced with declining birth rates, environmental pollution, violence and various ethical and bioethical impasses, and when all the traditional value systems are threatened by globalization.” … “Reason is needed and above all, the salutary voice of the Church. I am open to cooperating with all who share this concern, especially with Catholics, Protestants and all other religious traditions. At the same time, I am ready for dialogue with all who do not agree with my ideas but are open to their consideration and genuine conversation. I am a Serb but I am first of all a Christian, which is a universal value, and I will believe in and testify to the crucifixion and death of Christ. I love my nation but I also love all others. I will love all other nations, every person, as the image of God. Is anything else possible?” said Metropolitan Porfirije Perić.
Metropolitan Porfirije thanked the Christian as well as the entire Croatian public for the wonderful welcome in the media. “This assures me that in the days to come we shall work together for the good of all,” he said. He also thanked Patriarch Irinej and the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church for the honor bestowed on him, and expressed particular gratitude to his spiritual father, Bishop Irinej of Bačka.
The enthronement was attended by high representatives of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop of Zagreb, Josip Cardinal Bozanić; the Apostolic Nuncio in the Republic of Croatia, Archbishop Alessandro D’Errico; the Archbishop of Belgrade, Msgr. Stanislav Hočevar; the President of the Council of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for Ecumenism and Dialogue, Bishop Vlado Košić of Sisak; Bishop Antun Škvorčević of Požega; the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Bishop Andrej Glavan; and the General Secretary of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, Msgr. Enco Rodinis. The ceremony was also attended by representatives of other religious communities in Croatia, as well political and public figures from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.