PATRIARCH SERVED THE FUNERAL SERVICE FOR GENERAL MLADIĆ: “His name will remain deeply woven into the memory and prayers of the majority of the Serbian people!”

Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church Porfirijeserved the funeral service for Ratko Mladić, and in his speech said that “his name will remain deeply woven into the memory and prayers of the majority of the Serbian Orthodox people.”

Ratko Mladić, the former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, who died in The Hague while serving a life sentence for genocide and war crimes, was buried today at the Topčider Cemetery in Belgrade.

The funeral service was conducted for him by Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, with the concelebration of bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC).

N1 reports part of the speech:

“Family of the departed General Ratko. As we serve the Holy Liturgy, we pray for the peace of the whole world. We pray that everyone may come to know the love of Christ.

Brothers and sisters, many things can happen in a person’s life, but also may not happen. Many circumstances can pass us by, paths may remain unconquered. The only thing that will certainly happen, which none of us can avoid, is that one day we will leave this world.

Death is indeed an enemy, but it is not invincible. Faced with the mystery of the grave, an important question arises – is death the last thing we can say about ourselves, is the grave the end of everything, what is the meaning of human existence if nothingness is the ultimate perspective. Why were we given the ability to love, to rejoice, grieve and suffer, to yearn for truth, if everything ends a few meters beneath the earth, in the grave.

Or perhaps man is more than that.

Is there someone who opens a different perspective for us and gives a different answer. We Orthodox Christians know with certainty that this someone is not just anyone, but the Son of God.

The Orthodox Church prays for everyone. Today it stands with the one whom we know was a Christian, General Ratko, about whom priests bear witness and who in recent years calmly confessed and received Communion of the body and blood of Christ, hoping for the mercy and love of God, and who in the end fell asleep in the Lord holding a Christ-like cross on his chest.

We know that his name will remain deeply woven into the memory and prayers of the majority of the Serbian Orthodox people, who regard him as a soldier and commander who, in a difficult and tragic time, stood at the head of his people’s army and laid down his life for the freedom and survival of his people.

We stand before a life that cannot be separated from a terrible time, a horrific war, lost homes, lives and graves. Therefore, while praying for the soul of the departed, we also pray for all those whose lives were extinguished.”