Visit of his Beatitude the Patriarch of Serbia Porfirije to the Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem

From the Secretariat-General of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Between Monday, 18th /31st March 2025 and Thursday, 12th March /3rd April 2025, His Beatitude the Patriarch of Serbia Porfirije made a pilgrimage visit to the Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

His Beatitude the Patriarch of Serbia Porfirije arrived at Ben Gurion Airport at 2:30 am on Monday, 18th /31st March 2025, where he was received by His Eminence Metropolitan Hesychios of Capitolias, along with Archimandrite Christodoulos, Hegumen of the Holy Monastery of the Holy Cross.

On the same afternoon, His Beatitude was received at the Patriarchate by His Beatitude Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia to His Beatitude Patriarch Kyrios Kyrios Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, who addressed him with the following speech:

“Your Beatitude, Brother in Christ,

With joy, we welcome You and Your esteemed delegation to this place, “where His feet stood” (Psalm 131:7), the feet of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and where the light of truth “has dawned upon those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death” (Matthew 4:16).

This place, blessed through the Precious Body and redemptive Blood of the Saviour Christ, who, through His Cross, bore witness to the mystery of godliness, that is, the mystery of the Incarnate Providence, righteousness, and the boundless divine love, teaches us hope, repentance, and eternal life, so that we are no longer “strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).

Here, “the precious Blood of our Saviour, poured out for us in His death, is placed upon the incarnation of the Lord” (St. Basil the Great), and our participation in the mystical blessing of His Body and Blood makes us sharers and united as one, as St. Ignatius the God-bearer says, and provides a tangible testimony of our unity in Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

Your pilgrimage, indeed, Your visit “into the courts of the Lord” (Psalm 84:3), is not only a witness of faith but also a sign of cooperation for the restoration of unity and peace among our Orthodox Christian brotherhoods, especially those churches suffering in divisions. As the Apostle Paul says: “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10), “speaking the truth in love” and “forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3-4). Furthermore, it is a blessing not only due to Your venerable Beatitude and Your esteemed delegation, but also for the devout flock of the Orthodox Church of Serbia, under Your care…

This news was originally published on the website of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, click here to read more.