His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Mr. On September 10, 2024, Porphyry received a delegation of the Coptic Orthodox (pre-Chalkidonian) Church from the United States of America in the Patriarchal Palace in Belgrade.

The delegation consisted of: Metropolitan of Southern California and Hawaii and Bishop of Los Angeles Mr. Serapion and vicar bishops Avram and Cyril.

Most Reverend Metropolitan Mr. Serapion thanked the host on behalf of the delegation for the hospitality and pointed out that their visit to Serbia was the first visit to this part of the world in general. Today, in the morning hours, the guests visited the Church of Saint Sava in Vračar, the Cathedral Church of Saint Michael the Archangel and the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and therefore during the meeting they conveyed to Patriarch Porfiri their impressions of the living Serbian Church, which shares a similar suffering fate with the Coptic Church. Metropolitan Serapion thanked the Patriarch of Serbia for his active witness to the timeless principles of Christian love by providing support and the opportunity to hold a service for the believers of the ancient Coptic Church for the first time in Serbia this year, on the Annunciation, in the Patriarchal Chapel of Saint Simeon the Myrrh-Blower.

His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Mr. Porfirius thanked the guests for the visit, confirming the attitude of Metropolitan Serapion regarding the sufferings that Coptic Christians and Orthodox Serbs and their Churches, which bravely carry their cross on the road to salvation, have gone through and are going through. - No matter how difficult it is to carry the cross, it is impossible to understand the message of Christ without the cross - said Patriarch Porphyry, who emphasized the importance of the presence of the Coptic Church in the Western world, where people can learn a lot about the ancient spirituality that has its roots in Egypt thanks to the Copts.

At the end of the meeting, special gifts were exchanged. The reception was attended by His Eminence the Metropolitan of Zvornik-Tuzlan Mr. Photius and archpriest Đorđe Stojisavljević, head of the cabinet of the Serbian Patriarch.

The ancient Coptic Orthodox (pre-Chalkidonian) church has more than twelve million believers, most of whom live in Egypt. About 600,000 Coptic believers live in the United States, led by fifteen bishops.

Source: SPC