PRIEST NENAD ILIĆ WRITES TO PATRIARCH PORFIRIJE: “Your silence hurts; we want to believe that you are not a coward”

Retired Serbian Orthodox Church priest Nenad Ilić, father of well-known YouTuber Bogdan Ilić, better known as Baka Prase, has sent an open letter to Patriarch Porfirije, appealing to him to address the faithful and present the Church’s position on current social and political developments in Serbia.

Ilić published the letter on his official Facebook account, pointing out that there are differing opinions among the faithful about the Patriarch’s conduct, and that his silence is causing dissatisfaction and deepening divisions.

-Your Holiness, as a priest of our Church, I am addressing you on behalf of a large number of believers with a request that you speak to the faithful and explain to them the position of our Church regarding the latest events in our recent history, which some describe as historic, Ilić says in his address, adding:

-Many defend you, while many accuse you of being the patriarch of only one, smaller part of the people that supports the previous government. Our internal conflicts are growing. We are not in the Church to engage in politics, but to be transformed according to what Christ has given us.

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Priest Ilić stated that it was “unacceptable” for people in the Serbian Orthodox Church to have to define themselves according to certain political options.

-The people in Serbia have risen up against injustice, crime and corruption, not in support of any political option. Most of those people are members of our Church. If they are mistaken, tell them and explain why. If they are not, support them in their struggle for basic human values. Your silence hurts. Something like this requires courage now, but many of us want to believe that you are not a coward. Your silence weakens our Church and its work in transforming the people towards the Truth of the Kingdom of God, priest Nenad Ilić states in his letter.

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He addresses Patriarch Porfirije at the end with the words:

-Forgive me and remember me in your prayers.

Source: Serbian Times Foto: ATA Images/Milan Maričić, Facebook