His Holiness Irinej,
Serbian Patriarch, met with the President of the Republic of
Serbia, Mr. Aleksandar Vucic, in Belgrade on 15 March 2020. (photo:
predsednik.rs, video: Tanjug)
We are in a special
situation while facing a ghreatproblem, which is not only our problem
but the problem of the whole world, i.e. appearance of the coronavirus.
We have not yet experienced the peak of the negative effects of that
virus, but we are certainly on that way. It is a great comfort to us
that our country is equipped to deal with this phenomenon and that it
will undertake all the measures to resist the negative effects of
theterrible virus, which, as we can see, has beenthreatening people all
over the world, said Patriarch Irinej and added:
-Our
Church will contribute on her part and invite
the faithful to observe what is being suggested, to listen to the
professional people who follow up the development of this terrible
disease. If we obey them, we will surely achieve an effect. The Church
will do her utmost to expose to our people the horror that can be caused
by the virus, which we can stopped with our discipline, responsible
behaviour, and observing what is being proposedas a way of defending
ourselves against this great ordeal.
-I take the opportunity to
invite all our faithful to be disciplined and to accept everything that
is proposed to them, and to implement that in their life for their
own interest. Life is the greatest gift of God that we must preserve. Of
course, with caution and implementation of all that is offered to us,
we will pray to God believing that prayer can help quite a great deal.
In the Church we will exercise discipline in the behaviour of believers.
That, I believe, will have its effect and significance. Let us be
disciplined, let us listen to what expert people suggest. This is the
only way to resist the presentgreat temptation, Serbian
Patriarch Irinej said.