Patriarch Porfirije Celebrates Christmas Liturgy at the Church of Saint Sava in Vracar

During the service, the Christmas Epistle of the bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church was read, emphasizing that Christmas is a feast of peace, calling on people to overcome divisions and extend a hand to one another.

“Guided toward light and life in peace and harmony, inspired by the ineffable joy of Christmas and the peace of Christ, we call on all to overcome divisions, to embrace one another, to extend a hand to one another, and to understand that, in a word, we are indispensable to one another,” the Patriarch stated in the Christmas Epistle.

He pointed out that the current situation in Serbia is complex and difficult, noting that internal political tensions have led to deep divisions within society and a breakdown of trust among people, while differences of opinion increasingly turn into irrational hatred.

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"Particularly concerning is the loss of national and cultural identity, which calls into question the continuity of the historical and spiritual self-understanding of our people and cannot be explained solely by external influences. This is compounded by economic insecurity and demographic decline: Serbia is facing an extremely negative natural population growth rate and, consequently, one of the fastest depopulation trends in the world, along with an increasingly pronounced aging of the population", the Epistle states.

The Patriarch emphasized two messages of Christ’s Nativity: that God became man for our sake and for our salvation, and that every human being, precisely for this reason, can and should become our brother.

"Humanity More Than Ever Needs to Return to Peace"

He stressed that humanity today, more than ever, needs to return to the source of peace - peace that is not imposed by force but revealed through humility, through love that “does not seek its own,” and through relationships that build trust, unity, and respect for every person.

"We live in a time of ever-deepening religious, ethnic, and cultural divisions, in a world where geopolitical tensions continue to grow and wars increasingly become a means of resolving economic and political conflicts. Changes in the global order and the struggle of great powers for dominance give rise to instability, security crises, and fear of an uncertain future", Porfirije said.

Foto: Tanjug/Jadranka Ilić

The Patriarch called on the faithful not to be afraid, stressing that the world in which we live - "with all its fractures, conflicts, and fears" - is neither self-sufficient nor self-explanatory, nor is it abandoned to the blind forces of history.

"Through the Birth of Christ, God entered the very heart of human history and showed that evil, no matter how aggressive and widespread it may be, does not have the final word. Fear arises where a person believes they are alone. But the Nativity of our Savior Christ reveals to us that we are no longer alone and that we never will be",  Patriarch Porfirije concluded.

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