Religious analyst Vladimir Veljković said today to Beta that the election of the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) is uncertain according to the authorities, regardless of the fact that the authorities have been trying to lobby for their candidates to be shortlisted for a long time. At the extraordinary Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church scheduled for February 18, 43 bishops will elect three candidates for patriarch by secret ballot. Their names will be found in three envelopes in the Gospel, and the patriarch will be randomly "drawn" by the oldest abbot in the SPC.
Veljković said that the President of the State, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikola Selaković, met with several bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church last Sunday, before the meeting of the Council of Bishops.
"Knowing that this government is trying to put everything in the state under its control, we can conclude that behind the frequent meetings between the highest representatives of the state and church dignitaries was lobbying for a patriarch chosen by the government," said Veljković.
He added that several bishops joined the campaign for the election of the patriarch, publicly criticizing archbishops who have a critical attitude towards the authorities in Serbia.
"All this indicates that the interest of the regime in the election of the patriarch is great," the analyst assessed.
When asked by Beta, whether the government can make all three candidates for patriarch be of their choice, Veljković said that "mathematically, it is not very likely".
He pointed out that the government has an influence on the majority of bishops in the area of the former SFRY, but that it does not have such great influence in dioceses in the diaspora.
"In the past year and a half, several points of resistance have emerged in dioceses where the bishops were not on the political line from Belgrade, such as Rasko-Prizren, Zahum-Herzegovina, Montenegrin-Primorska, Buda-Nikšić, Dusseldorf and the whole of Germany, as well as dioceses in America and other countries, which is not an insignificant number," said Veljković
The possibility of an agreement between the "disaffected" within the SPC and those who support Vučić.
Asked if the "non-regime" bishops have a common candidate for the patriarch, Veljković said that the name of the administrator of the Montenegrin-coastal metropolitanate, Joanikije, is most often mentioned in the public.
"However, there is a possibility that an agreement will be reached between the 'disaffected' within the Serbian Orthodox Church and those who support Aleksandar Vučić, that Joanikije will be elected metropolitan and that the new patriarch will again be pro-regime," said Veljković.
He recalled that during the previous elections for the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, neither Bishop Pavle nor Bishop Irinej were candidates of the then authorities.
"Pavle and Irinej were not strong candidates, but the archbishops elected them as patriarchs. And now, it would not be a surprise if someone from the 'fringes' was elected as patriarch, whose name was not mentioned in public," said Veljković.
The church and the state have been in a kind of "symbiosis" for a long time.
When asked by Beta why it is important for the authorities to have "their" patriarch, Veljković said that the church and the state have entered into a kind of "symbiosis" for a long time.
"It is actually an alliance of the bishops' monasticism with the highest state officials, economic elites and certain public figures, against the will of the faithful. This alliance benefits only the episcopal class, primarily in the material sense, and at the same time causes damage to the church," the analyst explained.
Asked if the election of the patriarch could influence the outcome of the upcoming elections, Veljković said that the church would "turn its back" on Aleksandar Vučić if he started to fall politically.
"Even if an archbishop was chosen as patriarch according to the will of the regime, that patriarch will not defend Vučić if he starts to lose power. The Church looks after its interests in every regime and would quickly make an agreement with the new democratic authorities," concluded Veljković.
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