Metropolitan Porfirije: War is a Defeat of All
Church of Serbia – 7/8/2020
On the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the military action “Storm”, on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, Metropolitan Porfirije of Zagreb-Ljubljana, served as a memorial service for the innocent victims of the war in the 1990s.
Surrounded by the clergy of the Cathedral in Zagreb, representatives of the Serbian National Council and of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia and the faithful, Metropolitan Porfirije served an annual memorial service for the victims of the “Storm”, but also in the days immediately following that military action.
In his sermon after the service, the Metropolitan pointed out that in every war, and especially in the war between peoples, all of them are losers are: “Just as a war is a defeat in itself, but also a consequence of the perversion of human nature, in the same way, a celebration of war is a celebration of a defeat. It is an even greater perversion than the war itself because it celebrates evil.”
The Bishop sees a solution in repentance and prayer: “When we pray for the dead, we pray that God might grant them the Kingdom of Heaven. Through prayer, we awaken in ourselves a mood of repentance. Let us awaken in ourselves a need to fight the passion that is within us. Through repentance, we wonder if and in what way we contribute to evil – we wonder if we prolong the spiral of evil that exists in this world.
After the memorial service, the Metropolitan attended the traditional commemorative gathering in the premises of the Serbian National Council in Zagreb. The Metropolitan delivered another address in the spirit of the sermon given in the church: “Praying for all our brothers and sisters who suffered in the “Storm”, we should know that war is the greatest evil that can befall individuals, groups and peoples – and sometimes it has affected the whole world. Any celebration of war is an increase in evil and a deepening of hatred. When we celebrate any victory that involves bloodshed, we degrade ourselves and our human dignity.”
We need to start from what God wants from us. We should celebrate peace, understanding, solidarity and, above all, love, and never allow ourselves to celebrate war. With each celebration of war, we leave room for new misunderstandings and, consequently, new wars.
Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana
