Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has criticized a Slovenian court’s decision to sentence the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, to a four-month suspended prison term.
The Serbian Orthodox Church said on Friday that the court’s ruling was “scandalous,” without specifying the offense for which the patriarch had been convicted. Slovenia’s public broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija, reported in March that the Ljubljana Basic State Prosecutor’s Office had filed charges against Porfirije over allegations of workplace mistreatment involving a priest.
Vučić argued that Patriarch Porfirije had been convicted in Slovenia “for something he never did,” claiming the ruling reflects attitudes toward the Serbian Orthodox Church, which he described as “a pillar of Serbian society,” according to RKS News.
“In my opinion, Patriarch Porfirije can even be proud of this verdict because it shows how important he is to the Serbian people and what all those who do not wish the Serbian people well think of him,” Vučić said during a visit to a road construction site near Leskovac.
He added that the ruling could give the Serbian patriarch “the aura of a victim and a martyr,” while strengthening the support he receives from the people he serves.
Porfirije served as Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 2014 until 2021, when he was elected Patriarch.
