Serbian Orthodox patriarch tests positive for COVID after attending outlawed nationalist celebration

The patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, whose predecessor died after contracting COVID-19 in 2020, has tested positive for the virus, The Associated Press reports.

Patriarch Porfirije — born Prvoslav Perić — is 60 years old. His symptoms are reportedly very mild and have not prevented him from carrying out his duties as he self-isolates. His predecessor, Patriarch Irinej, died in November 2020 at the age of 90 after contracting the virus.

Bishop Hrizostom, who served as the church’s interim leader after Irinej’s death, contracted the virus in December 2020 but recovered, Radio Free Europe reported. The Orthodox Times reported that Hrizostom was vaccinated on Mar. 25, 2021.

According to Reuters, Porfirije previously quarantined in March 2021 after coming into contact with a COVID-positive priest. In his 2021 Pascha (Easter to most English-speaking Christians) address, he stressed the importance of “respecting the recommendations of medicine.

The Associated Press suggests Porfirjie may have contracted the virus during his Sunday appearance at a Day of Republkia Sprska celebration, where few attendees wore masks.

The holiday, which coincides with the Old Calendar Eastern Orthodox feast day of early Christian martyr St. Stephen, is a national holiday celebrated by Bosnian Serbs. Bosnia and Herzegovina banned the holiday in 2015 because its association with Orthodox Christianity was considered to be discriminatory against the country’s majority-Catholic Croats and majority-Muslim Bosniaks. The Day of Republika Sprska is also closely associated with the nationalist movement that contributed to bloody ethnic conflicts in the 1990s, The Associated Press reported.

Bosnian Serbs largely ignored the ban and continue to celebrate their national day.

This most recent celebration of the outlawed holiday, which featured a military-style parade and nationalist songs, comes less than a week after the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against Republika Sprska leader Milorad Dodik, accusing him of “corrupt activities and continued threats to the stability and territorial integrity.” Dodik has publicly denounced the status quo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, called for total self-government for Bosnian Serbs, and cultivated close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Under the framework established by the 1995 Dayton Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains one nation but is divided into two enclaves: the ethnically Serbian Republika Srpska and the ethnically Croat and Bosniak Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most governmental functions devolve to the semi-autonomous governments of these entities. The nation’s presidency is constitutionally required to be made up of a Croat, a Bosniak, and a Serb — currently Dodik.

Despite his attendance at the celebration, which heavily conflated Orthodoxy with nationalist rhetoric, Porfirjie has been described as a “moderate” and a “man of dialogue.” In 2016, he received an award “for his contribution to the reconciliation of the people in the Balkans,” Religion Unplugged reported.

The Serbian Orthodox Church has approximately 12 million members.

The patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, whose predecessor died after contracting COVID-19 in 2020, has tested positive for the virus, The Associated Press reports. Patriarch Porfirije — born Prvoslav Perić — is 60 years old. His symptoms are reportedly very mild and have not prevented him from carrying out his duties as he self-isolates.…

The patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, whose predecessor died after contracting COVID-19 in 2020, has tested positive for the virus, The Associated Press reports. Patriarch Porfirije — born Prvoslav Perić — is 60 years old. His symptoms are reportedly very mild and have not prevented him from carrying out his duties as he self-isolates.…