On 15 December 2022, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije opened a scholarly gathering The Centennial of the Re-establishment of the Serbian Patriarchate in the Great Amphitheater of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Belgrade.

Immediately before the ceremonial opening of the gathering, His Grace Bishop of Marča kyr Sava presided over the Holy Liturgy in the Faculty Chapel of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian.

While opening the scholarly gathering, His Holiness Patriarch kyr Porfirije said:

– I am immensely joyful and thankful to God for the opportunity to address you today under the vaults of the highest theological and academic school of our local Church – The Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the University of Belgrade, on the occasion of the ceremonial opening of the scholarly gathering: "The Centennial of the Re-establishment of the Serbian Patriarchate." The jubilee, which encourages us over and over again to reflect on the magnificence of the gift of living in the Church of Christ as her members, is the centenary of the re-establishment of the ancient Patriarchate of Peć, i.e. the unification of all Serbian Orthodox ecclesiastical regions, previously in different canonical statuses and jurisdictions, into one and unique Serbian Patriarchate.

Being deeply aware of our Christian roots, which go back to the apostolic times, whenever we gather with the grace of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of serving the Holy Liturgy, we always remind ourselves of all those who, according to their gifts, have served and are serving in the Holy Church of God, that is the Serbian Orthodox Church. This liturgical perspective opens spiritual perspectives for us to recognize the crucial and multifaceted role of our local Church in the field of preserving the identity of our Christ-loving Orthodox Serbian people. Despite the various challenges of the duration and perseverance of the Serbian Patriarchate throughout history, taking into account that we are speaking about a charismatic God-human community and not an institution of this world, she has been and continues to be the foundation on which the identity of the Orthodox Serbs has been steadily built. However, it should be emphasized that this is not primarily about identity which modern science defines as: personal, cultural, social, psychological, state, national, biological and political. The spiritual identity is still the most important; it is the root, it is the foundation, the basis, because man is, in the true sense of the word, a spiritual being who needs metaphysical rooting. After all, owing to such an identity, not only was the entire Orthodox Serbian nation preserved, but it contributed and still contributes to the survival of our education, culture, and even statehood.

Certainly, the above, as well as much more than that, at a time inspired all the pious Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church to gather with thousands of Orthodox Serbs from all liberated and united Serbian lands, on 12 September 1920 in Sremski Karlovci, for the purpose of the announcement of the decree of the re-establishment of the Patriarchate of Peć and the conciliar unity of the Serbian Orthodox ecclesiastical regions, united into one autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church. Since the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church already on 28 September of the same year elected the distinguished Hierarch of that time, Metropolitan Dimitrije of Belgrade, as the first Patriarch of the re-established Patriarchate, confirming the decision made at the Electoral Assembly on 20 November, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, by a corresponding ecclesiastical act, that is a Tomos which is accepted on the Pan-Orthodox level, on 19 February 1922, confirmed the unification of centuries-old Orthodox Serbian ecclesiastical regions as "canonical and justified", while our local Church was recognized "permanently and forever" as the sister Church of all autocephalous Orthodox Churches.

Therefore, this jubilee is nothing but a blessed occasion for the renewal of grace in both liturgical and theological senses, in the Serbian Orthodox Church likewise the entire Catholic and Apostolic Church from one part of the ecumene to the other.

Above all, we firmly believe that the results of this scholarly symposium will truly confirm and analyze what was said previously. May the work of this extremely significant scholarly gathering be blessed and fruitful, and may the Lord, through the prayers of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian and of our Holy Father Sava, the first Archbishop of the Serbian and Maritime Lands, grant progress in every field and in your work.

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Rector of the University of Belgrade Prof. Dr. Vladan Đokić and Dean of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology protopresbyter-stavrophoros Prof. Dr. Zoran Ranković greeted by befitting addresses the participants of the symposium, professors and students, as well as Bishops Sava of Marča and Damaskin of Mohač, who also attended this event.

The working part of the scholarly symposium was divided into three sessions presided over by protopresbyter-stavrophoros Prof. Dr. Vladimir Vukašinović, Presbyter Dr. Dragan Karan, Prof. Dr. Vladislav Puzović, Deacon Dr. Nikola Lukić, Protodeacon Dr. Zlatko Matić and Prof. Dr. Rade Kisić.