On March 15, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije arrived in Moscow with a formal reason of mourning Bishop Anthony of Moravia. However, in reality, the visit was rather an opportunity to shake hands with his “brother” in the church field, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
During the meeting, Porfirije poured out a whole glass of compliments onto Kirill. He expressed his “gratitude” for the “care and attention” to the late Bishop Antony, as well as for the “support and help” during his treatment.
The two church figures did not forget to talk about “fraternal cooperation between the respective Churches and peoples”. They said they are satisfied with the relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Church. At the same time, Porfirije and Kirill even paid “special attention to the challenges facing the Orthodox Church.”
However, for some reason not a word was said about the biggest challenge – Kirill’s open support for Russia’s war against Ukraine. Perhaps the Patriarchs preferred not to mention uncomfortable topics during their “fraternal” reunion.
Of course, the Serbian First Hierarch Porfirije deliberately went to Russia in order to have a formal reason for his absence at the funeral of the Bulgarian patriarch and not to celebrate the joint liturgy with Patriarch Bartholomew. After all, it is known that Patriarch Porfirije undertook to continue the pro-Russian policy in the Serbian Church. That is why, although he is afraid to declare his split from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, he avoids co-service with representatives of the Church of Constantinople, so as not to fall into the disfavor of Moscow. Porfirije repeatedly criticized the granting of the Tomos to the OCU and even issued his tomos to the Ohrid Archdiocese, which is considered an uncanonical act that contradicts Orthodox tradition.
