The District Court of Ljubljana has sentenced Serbian Patriarch Porfirije to a four month suspended prison sentence with a probation period of one year. The court also imposed a suspended fine of 10,000 euros, likewise with a probation period of one year. The proceedings were initiated following a long running dispute between Željko Lubarda, the former rector of the parish in Ljubljana, and the leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

This was reported by the publication Nova.rs.

Lubarda previously stated that, acting as the legal representative of the Church community in Ljubljana, he filed a criminal complaint against the former parish rector, Peran Bošković, on the instructions of the then Metropolitan Jovan Pavlović, alleging the misappropriation of Church funds.

According to Lubarda, he later refused to withdraw the complaint or alter his testimony in Bošković’s favour. As a result, he says, he was subjected to years of harassment. He also claims that the newly elected Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana, Porfirije, played a key role in that campaign against him.

The Serbian Orthodox Church, however, rejects these allegations. In a statement, the Holy Synod described the case as involving “groundless lawsuits” that had been filed over many years by Željko Lubarda, a priest who had been removed from ministry. It added that the appointment and transfer of clergy fall exclusively within the canonical authority of the competent bishop. The Serbian Orthodox Church also maintains that neither Patriarch Porfirije nor his lawyer was notified that the proceedings had begun or given an opportunity to respond to the allegations. It therefore argues that the trial was conducted with serious procedural violations.

The conflict between Željko Lubarda and the leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church has continued for more than ten years. It began while Lubarda was serving as a parish priest and the legal representative of the Church community in Ljubljana.