Serbian Patriarch tells EuroPride protest church not waging crusade

Tanjug/ Tara Radovanović

Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) head Patriarch Porfirije told a crowd of anti-EuroPride protesters that new values are being imposed aggressively, adding that the church is not waging a crusade.

“We are not imposing our way of life on anyone and do not want anyone to impose their views and values on us… Our measure is the word of God,” he told the crowd gathered in front of the St Sava temple in Belgrade on Sunday evening, adding that the Church is not waging a crusade to impose its views.

Several thousand people are reported to have marched to that church on Sunday evening, a day before the opening of EuroPride Week which is planned to end with a parade on Saturday. The crowd carried religious icons, crosses, candles and pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The march and gathering were called by the SPC Holy Synod.

The Patriarch said that the new system of values “which is being imposed violently and aggressively, under the radar” is intended to destroy order in civilization and the foundations of identity. “The epilogue of post-humanist sociery is not just to loose any idea of what is man and woman but in the end, these new ideologies take us to where we won’t be able to say with certainty what man is. We are an obstruction… Not every liberty can rescue us and make sense,” he said.

According to the Patriarch, the LGBT+ population is unacceptable to Orthodox Christians but voiced opposition to any labeling in the name of the SPC. “We are against hatred and labeling, violence in the name of the SPC. We do not judge them. God is judge to all… We cannot accept personal weakness and choices that are not in line with divine order that are being imposed as a new social norm and rule,” he said, adding that the Church is not .