PATRIARCH PORFIRIJE MISLED BELIEVERS: Instead of helping Serbs in Kosovo, as promised in May, donations from the Belt of the Virgin Mary went toward purchasing medical equipment!

Serbian Patriarch Porfirije has reversed a decision he made in May this year, when, following the arrival of the Belt of the Virgin Mary from the Holy Mountain monastery of Vatopedi in Belgrade, he announced that donations would be distributed to Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as to impoverished families across Serbia.

Instead, he ordered that the money be used to purchase medical equipment for the “Dr. Vukan Čupić” Institute, a decision that was officially announced on Wednesday.

In doing so, he misled believers who had made donations under the impression that their contributions would go toward helping Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

The decision to purchase medical equipment came after questions were raised in recent weeks about what had happened to the money donated by more than 1.1 million believers who visited and venerated the Belt of the Virgin Mary at the Church of Saint Sava. This figure was officially published by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC).

As a reminder, in May this year, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije and the SOC officially announced that donations from believers would be used to provide assistance to Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

“Today, as he temporarily departs from the capital city of Belgrade, the Most Reverend Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Great and Holy Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos, announced that the entire sum of money donated by the faithful during their veneration of the Honorable Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, is being entrusted to the unrestricted discretion of His Holiness, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, by the brotherhood of the Vatopedi Monastery.

In this regard, His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije, in the spirit of his paternal responsibility, informs the faithful of this act of brotherly love toward the Serbian Patriarchate and, while expressing his heartfelt gratitude to Elder Ephraim and his brotherhood, also feels obliged to announce that he has decided that the donations will be used to assist Serbian families in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as for other charitable purposes.” End of statement.

No explanation has been provided as to what happened in the meantime or why the Patriarch decided to change the intended purpose of the donations.

Instead of an explanation, the SOC issued a new statement:

“Patriarch Porfirije, the chief custodian of the Fund for the Honorable Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God, has blessed the allocation of funds from the Fund to purchase, for the Department for the Examination and Treatment of Respiratory Diseases at the Institute for Mother and Child Health Care ‘Dr. Vukan Čupić’ in Belgrade, a device for continuous monitoring of respiratory gases in the blood, a capnometer, worth 3,027,501.60 dinars, as well as respiratory polygraphy devices worth 1,512,000.00 dinars.”

Neither Patriarch Porfirije nor the Serbian Orthodox Church has ever disclosed the total amount of money collected during the Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God’s visit to Belgrade.