Christmas epistles: Messages of peace from Patriarch Porphyry, Metropolitan Ioanniki and Bishop Grigori

The Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije, together with other bishops, sent a Christmas letter in which he pointed out that the Nativity of Christ is a family holiday and that it is wrong to celebrate it in the squares "in a half-pagan way in a half-drunk atmosphere" on the eve of Christmas.

In the letter, among other things, he emphasized the importance of the traditional family, but also its vulnerability:

"Just as the powerful of that time persecuted and wanted to destroy the God-born, so their heirs today raise their voices against the family, founded on Christian values." The Church's response to this public and permanent aggression cannot be other than evangelical, apostolic and Christmas."

Concluding that in this deeply wounded society, there is an increase in violence among young people, the MP goes on to say that in order for children to be able to resist omnipresent aggression, in schools, on social networks, in stadiums, they should be brought up in a healthy family environment and shaped by love. "The appearance of violent and destructive behavior in our schools is accompanied by the already mentioned inadmissible efforts to impose teachings, ideologies, practices and customs on the entire educational and educational system, from kindergarten to university, which are completely contrary to the Christian code of ethics and a God-pleasing life", it is further stated in MPs signed by the head of the SPC.

The Patriarch also pointed out that these days those among whom the fire of war is burning are also in prayers, first of all the brothers and sisters of the same faith from Ukraine and Russia, as well as that the Church looks with sadness at the war conflicts and victims in which, publicly or secretly, various actors. In the letter, all direct and indirect participants in the war are asked to find the strength within themselves to establish peace, end the suffering and return the refugees to their places.

The patriarch dedicated part of the letter to the situation in Kosovo:

"Since the middle of this year and in our promised homeland, in Kosovo and in Metohija, the age-old neighborhood has been issuing ultimatums, provoking, carrying out terror and continuously threatening the remaining, unprotected Serbs with persecution and cruelty, with ominous silence or, it seems to us, the tacit support of certain powerful states ".

The Church reminds, as stated, all the competent authorities that the universal human rights and freedoms enjoyed by Albanians and all people in the world should also apply to the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. Personal safety, security of property and freedom of movement belong to everyone equally and as such must be inviolable.

In his sermon, on Christmas Day, in front of the Cetinje Monastery, Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Coast spoke about the peace and joy that Christmas brings, also calling it a family holiday.

He also paid attention to healing the divisions that exist in Montenegro: "But we are slowly overcoming that and we hope that the peace of God, which the Christ the Infant Christ brought to this world, will reconcile the brothers, that the divisions and schisms will be overcome. It's not a problem that we think differently, it's a problem that we turn our small human differences into quarrels and divisions and sometimes into hatred and conflicts, unfortunately".

Metropolitan Ioannikije also pointed out that where there are real people, different opinions are a good reason for dialogue and brotherly conversation, to overcome mutual differences.

In the Christmas Epistle of Bishop Gregory of Düsseldorf and All Germany, the emphasis is on the message of peace.

Bishop Grigorije emphasized the importance of inner and outer peace, pointing out that the former should not be understood as "reconciliation with some kind of deprivation or some kind of voluntary handicap." Also, it does not mean submission to some kind of authority, but humility is liberation from everything that binds us only to the earth, from everything that is mistakenly considered wealth and that prevents us from seeing what true wealth is, as well as striving for it. "

He further said that man is a being capable of creating works that can be compared to divine creativity, but also to produce destruction that can surpass that of the demonic, and that the difference between the divine and the demonic is determined by good will.

"And good will between people must not know about the boundaries that people set between themselves. On the contrary, if it is determined by the boundaries of a specific human community, religious, national, interest, it is not the good will that the Gospel speaks of. Because for the Gospel, good will is a universal imperative," Bishop Grigorije concluded in his epistle.

Also, we should do good to those who appear to us as enemies, but that again does not mean that we accept the victory of evil.

"When he tells us to love, bless and do good, the Lord calls us to action, to actively and actively oppose evil in every moment and situation and to never agree to the fact that in another human being, no matter what we are conflict drawn in, in the final we see evil. Even when we are forced, accepting responsibility, to fight against other people, we should do so keeping in mind their salvation and our own, trying to prevent evil, not to inflict it."

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