Serbia's Patriarch on Victims of "Storm": We Must Remember, but Not Hate
The Primate of the Serbian Church served a memorial service for innocently slain Serbs, calling prayer the highest expression of remembrance.
Serbian Patriarch Porfirije called on the faithful to preserve prayerful remembrance of the victims of the military operation "Storm," not allowing hatred and vengeance into their hearts. The Primate of the Serbian Church made his address on August 4, 2026, during a memorial event in Mrkonjić Grad. This was reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists in Serbia.
The head of the Serbian Church prayed for the eternal repose of all brothers and sisters who innocently suffered during the events of August 1995, and emphasized that prayer is the deepest and most worthy form of remembrance — one that not only preserves the truth but also frees a person from evil.
According to him, year after year Serbs gather in various places to "prayerfully commemorate those who innocently suffered in the terrible expulsion of our people from their age-old hearths." The Patriarch made special mention of the tragedy on the Petrovac Road, where elderly people, women, and children perished in refugee columns. "Prayer before the face of God lifts up both the pain of the victim and the wound of the one who remembers," the Primate noted.
The Patriarch also warned the people against internal divisions, calling on them not to allow mutual hatred to become a way of life. He emphasized that only through love for their own people can Serbs become capable of respecting and loving others.
"In remembering our sufferers and our homeland, we remember who we are, whose we are, and to whom we belong. And we belong to Christ, to His Church, to one another, and to the Orthodox Serbian people," Patriarch Porfirije stressed.
In conclusion, the Patriarch called on the faithful to seek reconciliation and good-neighborly relations with all peoples with whom they share their living space. He recalled the words of the late Patriarch Pavle that "hatred must give way to love, and anxiety to peace." The head of the Serbian Church prayed for the eternal repose of all brothers and sisters who innocently suffered during the events of August 1995.
As the Union of Orthodox Journalists previously reported, Patriarch Porfirije called Serbs killed in 1992–1995 "martyrs."
