Vatican City, Feb 19, 2021 / 13:00 pm
A Vatican cardinal on Friday congratulated the new leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church on his election and said he hoped that relations with the Catholic Church would "continue to grow."
In a Feb. 19 message, Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, congratulated Metropolitan Porfirije after he was chosen as patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The 59-year-old was elected on Feb. 18 during an assembly of bishops at the Temple of St. Sava in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
Koch wrote: "Learning with joy of your recent election and enthronement as Patriarch of Serbia, I express my warmest congratulations in the assurance of my spiritual closeness to Your Holiness and to the Serbian Orthodox Church entrusted to your pastoral care."