BELGRADE, SERBIA [DOM Communications] – His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia reposed in the Lord this morning at 7:07 AM in the Karaburma Military Hospital in Belgrade, according to the official site of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The Patriarch was 90 years old. He served as a hierarch of the Serbian Church for 46 years, and nearly 11 years as Patriarch.
Memory Eternal!
His Eminence Archbishop Paul sent the following letter of condolence to His Grace Bishop Longin of New Gracanica-Midwest America:
Dear Brother and Concelebrate in the Lord,
I would like to express my most sincere and deep condolences to Your Grace with the passing of Patriarch Irinej Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci. His Holiness was a dedicated servant of the Lord, serving in a hierarchical capacity for forty-six years, and as the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church for nearly eleven years.
In July of 2017, I had the blessing of concelebrating the Divine Liturgy with His Holiness during the canonization of St. Mardarije of Libertyville. A holy occasion that filled all of Chicago with grace and strengthened the spirit of all Orthodox Christians.
May the merciful Lord rest the soul of His newly departed servant in the mansions of the righteous and make his memory eternal.
In Christ,
+PAUL
Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest
