Patriarch of Serbia: The priest is there to pray to God on behalf of all those serving in the Armed Forces

On Thursday, November 12, 2026, the day on which the Serbian Orthodox Church commemorates Saint King Milutin, Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Mark the Apostle in the Tašmajdan district of Belgrade, on the occasion of the feast of the Military Chaplaincy Service of the Serbian Armed Forces.

Concelebrating with the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church were Metropolitan Arsenije of Niš, Metropolitan Jovan of Šumadija, Metropolitan Ilarion of Timok, and Bishop Dositej of Lipljan, who also serves as Military Bishop.

The occasion also marked an important anniversary: the fifteenth anniversary of the signing, on behalf of the local Church, of an agreement between the late Serbian Patriarch Irinej and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, providing for the reintroduction of clergy and the Church into the country’s Armed Forces.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Patriarch Porfirije, accompanied by his brother hierarchs, the clergy, and the faithful, celebrated the blessing and sanctification of the festive bread before delivering an address.

At the beginning of his homily, the Patriarch emphasized that “the…