Notwithstanding his ability to exert pressure on the bishops, President Aleksandar Vucic will not decide who will be Serbia’s next Patriarch. Because of the system of random selection, the best he can hope for is that two of “his” candidates make it to the last round, increasing the chances of one of them being elected.
Several candidates are likely to make it to the Gospels. One is the that of powerful Bishop Irinej (Bulovic), nicknamed “protector of the unworthy” because of his past shielding of several senior clerics involved in corruption and sexual abuse scandals.
Because of his role as gatekeeper of the secrets of the Church, he controls an impressive voting machine in the Assembly of Bishops. Irinej is very close to the Russian Orthodox Church and thus presents an obstacle to the ecumenical drive of the Serbian Church. Irinej is not among those bishops who are critical of the Serbian regime, yet, because of his power, his election would be risky for President Vucic, who would have a hard time controlling him.
Two bishops competing for the graces of the Serbian regime, and likely to get to the second ballot, are Porfirije, Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana and Jovan, Bishop of Sumadija, one of the largest dioceses in the Serbian Church.
Porfirije is close both to the Vucic regime and to Bishop Irinej, but is younger and appears more modern. However, he spearheaded the Church’s firing of professors at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade who spoke out against abuse and corruption in the institution, directly violating the autonomy of universities, which is protected by the Serbian constitution.
Jovan comes close to a caricature of a certain type of post-2000 Serbian Orthodox senior cleric, living in gilded palaces, driving around muddy villages in motorcades of black SUVs and closer to the business elite that emerged from the murky economic transition than the rest of the impoverished population. The bishop’s dismissal of a parish priest in 2017, allegedly because he had refused to charge the poor for his services, provoked months of protests by thousands of parishioners.
Irinej, Porfirije and to an extent Jovan, count on the same pool of votes, so it is unlikely that all three will make it to the top three.
Candidates whose prospects of getting elected are feared by President Vucic include Bishop Joanikije (Micovic), a close collaborator of late Metropolitan Amfilohije and current administrator of the Church in Montenegro, and Grigorije, Bishop of Düsseldorf and all Germany.
In 2020, the Montenegrin police arrested Joanikije and several priests for leading protests against a controversial law on religion proposed by the former Montenegrin government. Joanikije was a disciple and a close collaborator of Amfilohije’s and would likely continue his policies.
Bishop Grigorije (Duric), is the candidate preferred by the progressive part of Serbian society. Because of his liberal views, he has often been on collision course with the old ways of the Church. During the pandemic, unlike most senior clerics, he called for strict respect of social distancing measures. His words, “I am for churches full of healthy people, and not empty churches and derelict hospitals, full of people fighting for their lives” resonated among people.
His Christmas announcement, which many interpreted as willingness to directly enter the field of politics, prompted a menacing smear campaign against him in pro-government tabloids.
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