To His Beatitude
Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia
Mr. Stefan

Blessed in Christ, brother and fellow celebrant,
We have just prayed to the Risen Lord at the Divine Service, together with the clergy and faithful people of the capital city of Belgrade, for our brothers and sisters, believers of our sister Macedonian Orthodox Church, who suffered last night in Kočani. The Gospel truth that if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; and if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it (1 Cor 12:26), which applies to all people and all nations, we feel even more deeply when it comes to the suffering of our closest brothers and sisters, as is the case with last night's tragedy in Kočani. Know, Your Beatitude, that together with our faithful people, we are united with you in sorrow, because those who have only taken the first steps on the path of life have left, but that we are also united in prayer to the Lord to settle them where there is neither sorrow nor sighing, but where life is endless.
Your Beatitude's brother and co-celebrator in Christ,
AEM and Serbian Patriarch
Porphyrije