Belgrade - Feuding Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) bishops met
Tuesday to discuss their leadership amid uncertainty surrounding the
succession of the ailing current Patriarch, Pavle.
The 46 bishops of the SPC are divided whether to vote for the new
patriarch immediately after they accept Pavle's plea to be relieved
of his duties.
The patriarch, who turned 94 in September, is stable but remains
too frail to leave his hospital room. He was admitted to the
Belgrade military hospital last November.
One camp in the Sabor, the assembly of the heads of SPC
dioceses, wants to elect the new patriarch immediately, while the
other wants to delay it at least until the next regular meeting, in
May - but probably until Pavle dies.
Even if feuding bishops agree when to vote, they must also agree
whether to elect their new head directly or - as Pavle was elected -
by lottery.
In that case, the Sabor votes in rounds until three candidates
with the most ballots emerge and the winner is randomly selected from
names in an envelope.
The conservative wing in the SPC wants to delay the election of
the new patriarch and prevent other changes in the church, which has
become hugely influential over the past two decades.
The reformist camp is led by the oldest and most influential among
the bishops, Amfilohije, who said the SPC 'must look in the eyes of
reality' and end the hiatus caused by Pavle's absence, as well as
adopt other changes.
Pavle took the throne in 1990, on the eve of the violent
disintegration of former Yugoslavia. Under his reign, the SPC rose
from the margins, where it had been during decades of the Socialism,
to become one of the most influential factors in Serbian politics.
While locally described as a 'walking saint,' Pavle has faced
criticism over the SPC's sometimes inflammatory role in Yugoslav
conflicts, and its refusal to distance itself from atrocities
committed during the wars.
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