Serbian Patriarch Ireney meets with OCA hierarchs

Serbian Patriarch Ireney meets with OCA hierarchs
Serbian Patriarch Irinej [second from right] with [from left] Archimandrite Matthias, Bishop Longin, Metropolitan Jonah, and Bishop Tikhon.

His Holiness, Patriarch Irinej, the Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch, met with His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah; His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania; and Archimandrite Matthias, Bishop-elect of Chicago and the Midwest, at Saint Sava Monastery here on Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

Hosting the meeting was His Grace, Bishop Longin of New Gracanica and Midwestern America at the monastery’s episcopal residence.

Patriarch Irinej, who was elected successor to His Holiness, the late Patriarch Pavle on January 22, 2010, began a two-week visit to the Chicago area on February 16. Three days later, he presided at the six-month Memorial for His Eminence, the late Metropolitan Christopher of Libertyville-Chicago.

During the meeting, Patriarch Irinej shared his views on a wide range of topics, including the role of the Orthodox Church in America in an increasingly secular society, the situation of the Church is Kosovo, the Great and Holy Council, and the situation of theological education in his homeland.