President Vucic: State did not pay for the Belt of the Holy Mother of God to be brought to Belgrade

Photo: Tanjug/Milos Milivojevic

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic has dismissed as outright lies the allegations that the state paid to bring the Cincture of the Theotokos (the Belt of the Holy Mother of God) to Belgrade, and noted that "you cannot pay for a holy object" such this relic, as well as that he is proud of more than a million people who venerated the Cincture of the Theotokos while it was displayed in Belgrade's Temple of St. Sava.

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"That's not true, those are utter lies. The state didn't pay anything and you can't pay for a holy relic. That's yet more lies, taking things out of the context of something that, I believe, Milos Stojkovic said while appearing on your television. It has nothing to do with my brother, my father, or anything other than the fact that they go to Hilandar (Serbian Orthodox Monastery on Mt. Athos)," Vucic told TV Pink.

"I am proud of a million, more than a million people - as our Holy Serbian Orthodox Church has stated - who are of different political affiliations, but who stood in a calm and orderly manner, waiting in line for hours, some for days, so they could venerate (kiss) the Cincture of the Theotokos. It was there thanks to the blessing of the abbot of the Vatopedi monastery, Mr. Ephraim, and at the same time thanks to our Patriarch and the wonderful relations he has with the abbot of the Vatopedi monastery. And I would say the wonderful, brotherly relations between Vatopedi and Hilandar monasteries. That's why the Cincture of the Theotokos was here," said Vucic.

The president added that the state will continue to help Serbian Orthodox monasteries, but not only those shrines, recalling that the state also helped the holy places of other religions, such as the Altun Alem mosque in Novi Pazar, but also many Protestant and Catholic churches in the northern province of Vojvodina.

"This is a malicious interpretation by which they (Vucic's political opponents) want to attack, mainly the holy places and relics of the Serbian Church, in the worst and most galling way, and it's the continuation of a campaign. I am sorry about that, but it shows that these people have no awareness of what actually happened, and have even less personal honor, given that they're ready to drag down their Church to such a level," Vucic said.

The president noted that he was proud of the faithful who came to venerate the relic, whether they are Serbians from Serbia, or Serbs from the Serb Republic, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia...

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)