The meeting at which the new patriarch will be elected starts tomorrow at 12 o'clock

The meeting at which the new patriarch will be elected starts tomorrow at 12 o'clock

Before that, at 9 o'clock, a holy liturgy will be held, which is common prior to every assembly, it was confirmed to Tanjug in the Patriarchate of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Most bishops have already arrived in Belgrade, and for now it is certain that Bishop Siluan of Australia and New Zealand will not attend the Parliament, due to the measures that Australia introduced against COVID pandemic, as well as Bishop Luka of Western Europe due to poor health, while the presence of bishop Pachomije of Vranje, who recently contracted coronavirus, is uncertain.

This will be the first time that the Assembly is held at a location outside the Patriarchate, and the reason why the Temple of Saint Sava was chosen is the COVID pandemic and more favorable conditions that exist in this large area to implement protection measures.

Candidates for patriarch can be any of the 30 archbishops of our church with at least five years of diocesan service, and 39 of them have the right to vote, as many as the Council has members. According to the procedure, the archbishops first choose among themselves until they select three candidates, and the time for that is not limited.

The condition for election is more than half of the bishops present. According to the choice of the three candidates, their names are placed in the gospel, from which the envelope with the name is pulled out by a monk from a monastery, who is deemed to be a great clergyman.

According to some media, Jovan Radosavljevic will be a monk who will choose between three candidates for the 46th head of the Serbian Orthodox Church by an apostolic draw.