A young archbishop from the Serbian Orthodox Church has challenged church leaders to embark on urgent reforms or risk losing relevance.In an open letter to the Church’s Holy Sabor (or Assembly), published by Serbian media on Wednesday, Archbishop Grigorije, blamed church leaders for failing to elect a new patriarch at their November convention to replace the ailing patriarch Pavle and for blocking Church reforms.
"The society we live in is rapidly changing every day, our church is facing many questions every day to which it must give answers," Grigorije said.
But the 41-year-old claimed the conservative leaders couldn’t give adequate answers to globalisation and other problems confronting the church.
Patriarch Pavle, who is 96-years-old, has been hospitalised for the past year and asked to be relieved of his duties due to old age and poor health. Grigorije proposed himself as a young, modern candidate to replace him, against conservative Archbishop Amfilohije of Montenegro and Artemije of Kosovo.
But the conservatives convinced Pavle, who has been elected for life, to stay to avoid new elections and named Amfilohije as his deputy. In an open split, Grigorije accused his conservative rivals of being controlled by state security and of alienating people from the church.
Analysts and church experts said that Grigorije was pushed as a candidate for the highest church post by pro-European President Boris Tadic and his close ally Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.
Tadic has practically amassed all political power in his hands following the May election, but his pro-European policies and soft-pedalling on Kosovo's independence, has been criticised by conservative members of the church.
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(Source: AKI)