Porphyry: Spokesman for gender inequality

Patriarch Porfirije won the first place in the survey conducted by the Association for the Protection of Women and Citizens Empowered.

This result is not something that the Serbian patriarch could be proud of, because it was a poll that declared a misogynistic person in 2024. On this list, the second and third places were taken by the famous YouTuber Bogdan Ilić, better known as Grandma Pig, and the Minister of Family Care, Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski.

However, the patriarch's absurd fight against the Law on Gender Equality, which began in the summer of 2023, prevailed. The Patriarch's addresses on this topic, full of prejudice, offensive and quite radical, are the reason why he found himself at the head of the list of the Empowered Association.

Blessing gender-insensitive language

Conservative circles in Serbia have been smearing gender-sensitive language for years. The use of feminine nouns for certain female occupations is perceived by those who supposedly advocate some traditional values ​​as a linguistic and moral downfall.

Everything culminated when the first man of the Orthodox Church gave his blessing to this way of thinking.

In May 2023, a video appeared on social networks in which Patriarch Porfirius, while having dinner with other priests, talks about the Law on Gender Equality, addressing someone from "the poor".

"I would cry, I would scream in agony, when I see a poor woman who changes her thesis, then says 'why didn't they take care of women, women are endangered', well they are endangered, we are all endangered by you, you poor thing, because you came to the manger and you sell fog, bro, as if the world exists because of you. He says 'they are protesting against the law on language, on sensitive language'. And then, changing his thesis, he says 'they don't take into account the fact that women are endangered', so now everything is in order. What does that have to do with each other?", said the patriarch at the time.

Fueling inequality

One of the founders of Osažene association tells "Vreme" that the patriarch of the SPC deservedly won the title of "misogynist of the year", and that his speeches, in which there is clearly a lot of discrimination against women, are disastrous for several reasons.

"Patriarch Porfirije is the supreme head of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church is not only a spiritual leader of the faithful, but also a figure who has a great influence on social, political and moral currents in the country. As a spiritual leader, the patriarch recognizes the importance of preserving the tradition, faith and identity of the people, which forms the foundation on which the daily life of believers is shaped," explains Ivković.

The misogynistic statements of the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Ivković claims, can have deep and negative consequences on society, because the words of the spiritual leader have a significant impact on shaping the attitudes and behavior of a large number of people, including attitudes towards gender equality.

"When such misogynistic statements come from authoritative figures such as a patriarch, they can have a serious negative impact on society, they increase the problem of violence against women and reduce the chances for social changes in the direction of equality. Without adequate mechanisms for protection and with such statements that undermine trust in institutions and social changes, it will be difficult to build an effective response to the problem of violence against women", concludes Ivković.

No need for violence against women

Serbia is struggling with a growing number of cases of domestic violence, as well as femicide. The first femicide in Serbia this year has already been recorded. It happened on January 8 in Srbobran. In 2024, 17 femicides were committed in Serbia.

On this topic, the head of the Serbian church was not as eloquent as when speaking in gender-sensitive language.

One of the few such announcements took place in January 2024, when Patriarch Porfirje stated that the Serbian Orthodox Church was determined to condemn violence.

"In the world of the so-called, 'new normality', the public is informed every day that a husband has killed a wife or a boyfriend has killed a girl, that a parent, God forbid, has killed a child, and what's terrible is the other way around." Violence is also publicly called for, unfortunately, from unexpected positions, and even from our holy Church, from where only messages of peace should be echoed. The Church immensely respects every woman, sister and mother as a saint and an icon of God," he said, speaking about violence against women.

Apart from these words, there have been no major efforts in the fight against ubiquitous violence against women and misogyny at the top of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Baptized son without mother's knowledge

In September 2021, the Croatian singer Severina Vučković gave an interview to the Croatian portal "H-Alter", in which she said that the head of the SPC baptized her son without informing her beforehand.

"There is also the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the famous Porfirije, who supposedly forgives me for something, but I don't ask for forgiveness from him." Let him rather repent of his sins and pray for the salvation of his soul. He will need it," Severina said.

And she added: "Porphyrius, as a good friend of Milan, allowed a child baptized in the Catholic Church to be re-baptized in the Orthodox Church, without the mother's consent." There is no such thing anywhere".

The Orthodox and Catholic Churches mutually recognize the holy mystery of baptism. Therefore, if someone was first baptized in one church, it will be recognized by the other, so there is no need for re-baptism.

Unacceptable LGBT ideology

He did not spare Porfiria insults when it came to the LGBT community.

After serving the "National prayer for the sanctity of marriage and the family" in 2022, he pointed out that the SPC is against holding Europride because the goal of that event is not just to walk and have fun, but to "reshape our values, our society, our way of life, and that we we didn't ask for that".

The patriarch stressed that the Church is not waging a "crusade", as some have called it, stating that the SPC did not go to another country to impose its world view, its way of life and its values ​​on them.

And he pointed out: "So who is leading the crusade?" Others have come to our house and propagate their ideas, impose them on us. They want to tell us what we should be and how we should be. In this story, we are the ones who are exposed to violence. They rape our mind, they rape our soul. They would like to, but they won't be able to."