Patriarch Porfirije Serves Christmas Liturgy at Church of St. Sava in Belgrade

. Christmas Liturgy ,Belgrade, January 7 2026 (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, served the  Christmas liturgy at the Church of St. Sava in Belgrade in the morning on Jan. 7. The Patriarch’s epistle was read after the liturgy, in all temples of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the country and abroad.

In the epistle, the Patriarch stated that Christmas was a holiday of peace and that the angelic Christmas song – “Praise the Lord in Heaven and Peace on Earth and Good Will Among People” was a prayer of peace, unity and reconciliation, based on belief in God and living by His rules.

He dedicated the central part of the epistle to the events in Serbia, with a message to everyone that deep divisions should be overcome and that “we should extend a hand to each other because we need each other.” “Internal political tension has led to a deep division in society and mistrust among people, and differences in opinion more often turn into irrational hatred,” Patriarch Porfirije noted.

He called on everyone to “overcome division, embrace each other, extend a hand and understand that we need each other.” Commenting further on the situation in Serbia, he said that “particularly alarming is the loss of national and cultural identity, which calls into question the continuity of the historical and spiritual awareness of our people, which cannot be explained solely by external influences.” “This is accompanied by economic insecurity and a demographic decline: Serbia is faced with an extremely negative population growth rate and, consequently, with one of the fastest depopulation rates in the world, with the rising average age of the population,” Patriarch Porfirije said.