(ANSA-AFP) - BELGRADE, 20 NOV - Patriarch Irinej, the head of
the Serbian Orthodox Church, died of coronavirus on Friday,
three weeks after his unofficial second-in-command also
succumbed to Covid-19, the church said. The 90-year-old cleric
was hospitalised on November 4 after testing positive and was
immediately admitted to a military hospital in Belgrade. While
church said the patriarch was "without symptoms" and in
"excellent" condition, he developed a high fever and his health
quickly deteriorated due to chronic heart issues. "We will
inform the public on other details about the funeral of his
Holiness shortly", the church statement said. Coronavirus has
dealt a blow to the leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church,
as powerful bishop Amfilohije, its leader in neighbouring
Montenegro, also died after battling coronavirus in late
October. Irinej was last seen in public three days prior to his
hospitalisation, when he led his unofficial second-in-command's
funeral service in Podgorica. Thousands attended the ceremony
without social distancing, and most clerics, including the
patriarch did not wear masks. The gathering caused outrage from
health officials in Adriatic nations who linked it to an
unprecedented surge in new cases. Born Miroslav Gavrilovic in
Vidova, a tiny village in central Serbia, Irinej served as
bishop of Nis diocese before being elected 45th head of the
Serbian Orthodox church following death of highly revered
patriarch Pavle in 2010. - Controversies- The vast majority of
Serbia's population of seven million identify themselves as
Orthodox Christians, and the church is a major force in the
Balkan country. "It was an honour to know you. The likes of you
never go away," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic wrote on
Instagram. Despite the influence of the church in the region,
Irinej never reached the level of popularity his predecessor
enjoyed. In Orthodox circles, he was considered a moderate,
signalling an openness to improving relations with the Catholic
Church that have been strained for centuries. He even raised the
possibility of a papal visit. On the political side, Irinej took
an active role in campaigning against the independence Serbia's
former province Kosovo declared in 2008. The predominantly
ethnic Albanian territory is home to important SPC monasteries
and churches, and Irinej even threatened violence if holy sites
were recognised as belongings of the breakaway territory. "If
force is deployed" to deprive Serbia of its cultural and
historical heritage, "we will do all we can to defend them, by
peaceful means or by force," he said on state television in
2015. Irinej was vocal with his anti-abortion views, and drew
controversy in 2017 when he told local newspaper that it was "a
woman's duty to give birth in order to regenerate the nation".
In 2014, Irinej condemned the Belgrade Pride, the annual LGBT
march that often caused tensions in Serbia, denouncing it as
"immoral" and "imposed by the homosexual lobby and their mentors
from Western Europe" (ANSA-AFP).
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