Irinej Bulović

Bishops of Serbia's powerful Orthodox Church on Thursday elected Porfirije Peric as their 46th patriarch.

The new Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovac and Patriarch of Serbia had previously, since 2014, been Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana.

Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana Porfirije has been elected the new patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Who is the new patriarch? Screenshot/ TV B92

Serbs lined the streets of Belgrade to pay homage to the late Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej for his funeral on Sunday, despite the spike in COVID-19 infections across the country.

Irinej tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to hospital in Belgrade on November 4. His condition worsened on November 15 and he passed away on November 20, aged 90.

They said that they hope that the people will act peacefully and calmly in these moments when no reasonable person wants any riots and conflicts.

Most Orthodox churches urged their worshipers to adhere to the measures introduced to suppress coronavirus, not to go to temples, but to watch Easter liturgies on television. The Easter liturgy was served at midnight by Patriarch Irinej of Serbia in the crypt of St. Sava Temple in Vracar, Belgrade, with a television broadcast (RTS and Tanjug News Agency).

These photos show President Vucic serving guests a traditional roast pork.
Among the guests was the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Irinej.
Earlier today, Vucic bestowed decorations on the occasion of the national holiday, addressed the ceremony, and met with representatives of Serbs from Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In October last year, at a celebration marking the 800th anniversary of the SPC's autocephaly, or ecclesiastical autonomy, Patriarch Irinej honoured Vucic with the Order of St. Sava 1st Degree, the Church's highest order.

Tensions in Montenegro could be heightened after the Serbian Orthodox Church holds an assembly and a protest rally in Niksic on Saturday against a controversial new law on religion.

The Montenegrin Movement, an NGO, has called on the authorities to ban the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej, from entering Montenegro for celebrations marking 800 years of the Serbian Church's autocephaly, or ecclesiastical independence.

The Croatian journalist was most interested in the canonization of WW2-era Croatian Catholic cleric Alojzije Stepinac.