The Patriarch of Serbia Mr. Porfirios met today, with the mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Sapic, at the church of Saint Savva in Vracar, Belgrade . His Beatitude and the mayor of Belgrade discussed issues related to life in the capital, and especially the promotion of the institution of the family.
The mayor presented to the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church his current and future plans for the progress and development of the capital.
In his remarks, His Beatitude said, among other things, that he is grateful for the time the mayor took to discuss several important issues concerning the Church in Serbia, the people and citizens of Belgrade.
“It is of course a series of regular meetings based on relations and communication with the city’s structures, because the mayor is a kind of host of the city, therefore we refer to him for everything, whether it concerns joys or sorrows. We have a lot of work to do together. Today, among other things, we agreed and I believe we agreed on the regulation of the plateau of Agios Savvas, the square in front of the temple of Agios Savvas. We also mentioned the issue of the restoration of the Holy Church of Osia Paraskevi of Epivatini in Kalemegdan, the Church of Ruzitsa , as well as many other projects that are important for us as a Church here in the capital city” , emphasized the Patriarch of Serbia.
Regarding the issue of the family, and the planned event for the family on May 15, His Beatitude emphasized: “Certainly based on the fact that the family is one of the most important values of any community, we are very pleased with the planned event dedicated to the family in the month of May. The family as the core of every community, as the ground on which the spirit of the community is built, is something that concerns the Church. If anything is under threat today, it is our experience of ourselves as members of community. When we say that man is created in the image and likeness of God, it means precisely that man was not created as an autonomous individual, but that he was created as a community, with the aim of finding the meaning of his existence in the community. In this sense truly the whole human race was created to be a family.
The city of Belgrade is a big family that of course does not consist only of Orthodox Serbs. This family belongs to all other people regardless of the religious context in which they place themselves. In any case, the concern of the Church is to build a relationship between people, in which everyone should have a place as members of a family” .
For his part, the mayor pointed out: “My duty as mayor is to have intensive and good cooperation with the Orthodox Church in Serbia, as the longest-standing institution of the Serbian people, and with the Patriarch Mr. Porphyry. As long as I am in this place, the Church can count on her city and on every form of cooperation”.
Referring to the declaration of the month of May as “family month”, the mayor said: “This year we will organize a big gathering that will show our solidarity not only for the institution of the family but also for our people, and all the citizens of Belgrade. This is how we will highlight our traditional values and past . These we must not abandon if we want to educate the future generations in the right way. I expect His Holiness to take part in this event of ours which will promote joy, camaraderie and traditional values. We will invite people from all spheres of society to come with us and show everyone what Belgrade is, what Serbia is.”
source: orthodoxianewsagency