Address of His Holiness Patriarch Porphyrios of Serbia to the participants of the scientific meeting "Legal aspects and consequences of the Law on Gender Equality", organized by the Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Matica Srpska, 14 March 2024, at the National Library of Serbia.
Your Eminences, Most Reverend Fathers, Mr. President of Matica Srpska, distinguished law professors, lawyers, scholars, participants of the previous scientific meeting, dear guests!
Instead of the usual greeting, I have to inform you that for reasons that you have probably already heard about, I am unable to participate in a conversation with you on a topic that we have been dealing with for three years now. Namely, our vicar, Bishop Anthony, who was an elder of the court of the Serbian Church in Moscow, has passed away. Since his last wish was to be buried in the church of the Serbian court where he served since 2002, I consider it my duty to see him on his way from this perishable life to the eternal life. Thank you for your understanding.
The topic that unites us and that has brought us together today is too important because the consequences of the Gender Equality Law are not only for our generation. The wise Serbian lawyer Valthazar Bogisic, at the end of the 19th century, when he coined the phrase "When a comb is born, time does not fix it", as if to warn us not to to give up and not to abandon this work. . Indeed, the near-approved support of the entire public after our meeting held in this place two months ago, especially its Conclusion, is a strong indication that our Serbian Orthodox people, like other peoples with whom we share sunlight and air to breathe, will not allow the next generations to come to a world that is humming ahead . Dozens and dozens of extant media appearances, letters, comments and reports attest to this.
The people who live here do not agree with mothers and fathers being parent numbers - 1 and 2, or maybe 3 and 4. We don't want our children to not know who their mother is and who their father is, and eventually they don't even know who they are themselves. We speak and will not speak gender-sensitive language, but only Serbian. We do not agree that anyone should be deprived of human rights because they speak Serbian, much less that they should be punished for it. Our people especially express their dissatisfaction with the fact that starting from kindergarten, through primary and secondary schools and universities, a change in the consciousness and way of life of the individual and society as a whole is imposed by the propaganda of gender, or rather LGBTQIA+ policies and practices. . Every democratic principle is contradicted that the personal preferences of a minority, which no one is or can threaten, become universally binding on the majority. This meeting: law professors, academics, lawyers and other participants, I ask today and in the days to come to propose what legal measures we need to take so that in the near future we can stop dealing with this Law, which is trying to change the way we communicate with each other, in fact completely change our way of life, our spirit.
I want to thank Ms. Peters, one of the world's leading experts on the problems caused by gender ideology and politics, and certainly a like-minded person. She came from Brussels to give us her support, and there are many intellectuals like her in Europe and the world, which proves that we are not against democratic principles, human rights and freedom, but just the opposite. The Church, Matitsa, the professional community, the entire nation defend human rights and freedoms.
And just to once again thank Matica Srpska, which is sailing with the vitality of its people, resolutely fighting for their rights, their identity and their unique recognition in the gallery of European nations and cultures.
Have a successful and blessed work.
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