PATRIARCH PORFIRIJE: NATO AGGRESSION ONE OF SERB PEOPLE’S LAST GOLGOTHAS

VRANJE, MARCH 24 /SRNA/ – His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia has said this evening in Vranje that the 1999 NATO aggression was one of the last Golgothas of the long-suffering Serb people.

Speaking at the commemoration marking the Day of Remembrance for the NATO aggression victims, Patriarch Porfirije stressed that no matter how carefully he chooses his words, he is left with a deep feeling of helplessness in expressing the depth of the tragedy experienced by the Serbs as a people.

He recalled that 27 years ago a force that does not pray to God, under the slogan of peace, reached out to kill peace itself, spreading death and fear, leaving devastation behind.

"The terrible NATO bombing that began on March 24, 1999, turned our homeland during the following 78 days into a dreadful place of execution, ruins and ashes. The entire country and all its inhabitants, by a unilateral decision of the powerful, found themselves in a war inferno that devoured everything before it," the Patriarch stated.

He pointed out that Vranje was one of the places that suffered, where Irena Mitić and Milica Stojanović, aged 12 and 15, were killed.

"For us personally, this is evidence of a devastating fall of humanity, since the bomb that killed Irena while she was in a field had the inscription carved on it by hand by Erik N. reading ‘Bad times, isn’t it wonderful’," Patriarch Porfirije said.

This killing and the message filled with morbid cynicism, the Patriarch emphasized, resembles the one sent to the Serb people at Easter in 1944, revealing much about the roots and nature of the war waged against the Serb people, as well as any war launched in order to privilege one side and destroy another.

"By killing Irena and Milica, they did not deprive only two children of their lives, but attempted to kill peace itself, which is the prerequisite for every existence and harmony,” Patriarch Porfirije said.

His Holiness issued a prayerful appeal against war and bloodshed, both against individuals and communities, against the Serb people as well as any nation on earth.

"These days peace is being taken away from the earth every day. The forces of darkness sow death and ignite war hotspots. Human lives, the holiest of all sanctities, are losing their value. People are gripped by fear because of the possible use of nuclear weapons," Patriarch Porfirije warned.

This, he stressed, is one of the sacred sufferings of the Serb people, which the Serbs have endured with dignity, which is not a call to hatred or hostility.

"Our intention is to send a warning from here that humanity has never before faced a greater test of maturity and responsibility, and that peace has never been more threatened while unrest is becoming more widespread," the Serbia’s Patriarch said.

From the martyr city of Vranje, the Patriarch says, an appeal is sent to the entire world, especially to those who make fateful decisions affecting everyone, to put an end to hostilities, bloodshed and wartime destruction and to invest all efforts in preserving peace.

"The Serbian Orthodox Church prays daily for peace, which is the strength of our lives. No one can convince us with force and bombs to give up peace; this is the legacy left to us by Saint Sava," Patriarch Porfirije concluded.