Even a less interested observer would have noticed a series of successive strong media campaigns in which, on non-existent issues and problems, certain circles from different sides of the political spectrum are trying to mark the Serbian Orthodox Church as the culprit on duty. Some do it out of ignorance, others because of ideological blindness or pathological hatred, others to cover up their own mistakes or even transgressions, and there are also those who, in fact, belong in the "donkey bench", who accuse the Church in advance, in advance and preventively, because of the problems they themselves are still planning to create.
The believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church are hardly touched by those media lies and spin campaigns. It is clear to them, for example, that a bishop who travels many thousands of kilometers a year must have a car at his disposal, not in his personal property but in the property of the Church. It does not occur to any believing person that the Church, which is the only one left with the people in Kosovo and Metohija, renounces the promised Serbian land or intends, even hastily (!) to switch to the "new" (Gregorian, "papal" ”) calendar. The masters of political spins and media lies do not create them to "twist the minds" of believers, but of the simple-minded people who are still waking up and awakening after decades of communist totalitarianism and state atheism.
The latest poisonous spin, sown literally in all important media, refers to the alleged unwillingness of the Church to support the campaign of the Ministry of Health Produži život, that is, to "wait" for the Church's position on the bequest and organ transplantation program. At the same time, no one points out the glaring example that, in this matter, publicly and in front of the cameras, His Holiness the Patriarch of Serbia, Mr. Porphyry. Namely, he is a voluntary blood donor every year, at least twice a year, and on his initiative, all parish homes in Belgrade, whenever necessary, are available to the Transfusion Institute, about which the Church regularly informs the faithful, as well as all others . It is a known fact that some Serbian bishops bequeathed their organs and did not hide it from the public. Of course, many priests who did not speak about it publicly acted in the same way. In the end, no one in charge in the state officially asked the Church for an official position, let alone that there were "difficult negotiations" about it, as some write. As with many important questions of life that have been put before the believing people (read: the Church) during the last decades, the Church, i.e. its Holy Synod of Bishops, adopted a position in 2004, based on the teachings of Christ and, consequently, on the Holy Scriptures and on the two-millennium experience (Holy Tradition), by which she agrees with organ transplantation if the following conditions are met:
- that the donor voluntarily bequeathed his organs and
- that the donor's family gave their consent posthumously.
All this is valid with the fact that the death of the donor was determined by an expert medical commission in accordance with medical ethics. The Holy Synod of Bishops affirms the transplantation of organs of living persons as long as the life of the donor ("donor") is not endangered.
In the era of growing social differences, and bearing in mind the horrific experiences of past wars, one of the most terrible of which is the so-called Yellow House in neighboring Albania, our Church will always and unquestioningly emphasize that the decision to transplant organs, regardless of whether is the "donor" dead or alive, a question that can only be dealt with by medical personnel of impeccable morals, not those who are morally indifferent or, worse, corrupt.
Our Church, in this regard, has always had, now has, and will have in the future, an open and extremely benevolent position on the issue of organ transplantation, so that no one needs the impression that it "should" or "must" decide or for positions of current political structures or against them. She has an attitude, not from yesterday, but, here, for two thousand years. The insinuation that "negotiations" with her are "difficult", they have not even started, is completely pointless. Her only result is that the well-known media, which are always hostile towards the Church and Serbia, rose to her defense and referred to her previous positions and relevant texts, some of which we publish again with this comment, as a reminder.
The open door of goodwill, understanding and love, with fidelity to the timeless principles and standards of Orthodoxy, whether the current bearers of social responsibility and state-political authority like it or not, should not be broken with a tank, but simply walked through.
Some previous decisions and texts on the problems of bioethics and transplantation:
Decision of the Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church AS37/zap57 of 15/2. May 2004 (jpg)
Metropolitan Irinej of Bačka: Briefly about transplantation (pdf)
Basics of the social concept of the Russian Orthodox Church - Problems of bioethics (pdf)
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