The Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije, was enthroned yesterday in the Patriarchate of Pec. During his speech, the patriarch spoke about peace and cooperation with Albanians. Beforehand, he took a walk through Prizren and spoke with the local Kosovo Albanians – a move that garnered the attention of the media in the region and incited positive reactions.
„We pray for all people, compatriots, and those who live with us, including above all our Albanian brothers. Let’s build peace together, as Serbian families use to build it with Albanian families who, in good and bad times, guarded the Pec shrine and the holy Decani. God, as love in its essence, does not care who is who. Those virtuous Albanians knew that everyone is God’s children,“ said the patriarch in his sermon.
The mayor of Pec, Gazmend Muhaxheri, attended the enthronement of the patriarch.
As a guest of honor, the mayor of Pec sat on the left side to Patriarch Porfirije at the ceremonial lunch after the enthronement.
The patriarch thanked the mayor of Pec for coming and wished him that the town where the Patriarchate of Pec is located becomes the most successful town in Kosovo, which was met by applause from those present.
Crown Prince Filip Karadjordjevic also thanked the mayor after the enthronement.
Muhaxheri also attended the enthronement of the previous Patriarch Irinej in 2010.
A Pec-born journalist Idro Seferi, who has been living and working in Belgrade for years, welcomed the fact that the mayor of Pec attended the enthronement.
„I have a lot of objections to some of his work in my town, but in all the media of the region, the name of Gazmend Muhaxheri appears with an extraordinary political maturity. He is a politician who does things that are not expected of him and succeeds in them. Well done,“ he said in a Facebook post.
Seferi pointed to one of the articles on yesterday’s enthronement, which mentions that the mayor of Pec attended this event.
„Here’s what one article says: ‘he is neither Serbian nor Orthodox, but he sat near the patriarch and all the believers were amazed and applauded him!’ And, in every article and report, it is specified how the Albanians guarded the churches! Anyone who knows diplomacy, this is an excellent example of how to do it!“ the journalist said.
On the other hand, he states that Kosovo did not become a member of UNESCO precisely because of actions contradictory to this one, and that „it has been continuously stigmatized for 20 years“.
Gazmend Muhaxheri showed respect for Serb citizens and Orthodox believers in his municipality during the previous years as well. He celebrated the Orthodox Easter with religious leaders this year, and three years ago he celebrated the Beheading of Saint John the Forerunner in Pec with about a hundred Serbian returnees and the abbot of Decani. Two years before that, the first official cooperation between a Kosovan and a Serbian municipality – Pec and Sabac – was established. Gazmend Muhaxheri was also the first Kosovo official to condemn the attack in Gorazdevac in 2015.
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Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
