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Church bells rang in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, on Friday. Thousands of mourners flocked to Saint Savo’s Cathedral and other churches. Andreja Mladenovic was one of many who lit a candle for the patriarch.
“This is very painful and sad for us,” he told Reuters.
Patriarch Irinej, 90, had great influence in Serbia, including on political issues. He opposed Kosovo’s declaration of independence, arguing that Serbia would not allow pride parades. He described homosexuality as “a deviation from human nature.”
The Serbian government has announced three days of national mourning and President Aleksandar Vucic paying tribute to the patriarch, who led the Serbian Orthodox Church for ten years.
“It was an honor to meet you. People like you never leave us,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic wrote on his Instagram account.
The funeral will take place on Sunday.
Irinej got infected with the coronavirus on November 1 when he presided over the funeral of the supreme leader of the Church in Montenegro, Bishop Amfilohije Radovic, who also died in the suites of the covid-19. Thousands of people attended the funeral, which violated the rules on social distancing. At the start of the pandemic, Amfilohije Radovic had urged people to defy the rules against large crowds.
At the funeral, many kissed the body of the dead bishop in the open casket. Authorities had warned that the funeral could exacerbate the crown crisis and, in addition to the patriarch, several other high-ranking representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church were infected. Other participants in the funeral were also infected with COVID-19.
Patriarch Irinej was attended in a military hospital on the outskirts of Belgrade since 4 November. He died Thursday night, according to the Serbian news site B92.
Serbia, with just over seven million inhabitants, has 110,351 confirmed cases of covid-19. 1,140 people have died in the suites from the disease.
The Serbian Orthodox Church has 12 million followers, most of them in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia.
