His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije attended, on 4 December 2025, the formal ceremony held at the Home of the Army of Serbia on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Neonatology in Belgrade.
 
The Institute of Neonatology is a tertiary-level healthcare institution that provides highly specialized, specialist-consultative, and inpatient medical services in the field of healthcare for prematurely born infants, infants with low birth weight, and endangered newborns.
 
On this ceremonial occasion, the Director of the Institute of Neonatology, Primarius Dr. Sci. Med. Radmila Mileusnić Milenović, presented His Holiness Patriarch kyr Porfirije with a certificate of appreciation for his selfless spiritual support, love, and care for the youngest. – Your encouragement toward philanthropy and solidarity has provided a powerful support for our work in protecting the health of newborns and fostering the professional dedication of all employees of the Institute. With deep respect and gratitude, we wish to express our hope that your spiritual guidance will continue to inspire all those who fight for the health and life of the youngest – stated Dr. Radmila Mileusnić Milenović, Director of the Institute of Neonatology.
 
The Patriarch’s fatherly instruction to the physicians, medical workers, benefactors, and friends of the Institute for Neonatology followed:
 
– It is truly an exceptional honor and a great blessing for me to be here with you tonight and to have the opportunity to congratulate the great jubilee of this home of unquestionable and unequivocal philanthropy – a place where life, in its most delicate phase, meets that which is by nature an attribute of man and should be his constant trait: humanity and goodness, that is, virtue. Today we stand before the century-long efforts of many generations who poured their love into the greatest gift – the preservation and nurturing of human life, the preservation and nurturing of the life of children.
 
Reminding all that we find ourselves in the holy days of fasting and prayer – and on the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, which is, in essence, the patronal feast (slava) of the Institute of Neonatology – when we prepare for the greatest gift of God, one of the two greatest feasts of our faith, the Nativity of the God-Child Christ, His Holiness the Patriarch said:
 
– In these holy days, it is you, the employees of this Institute, who stand in our minds and hearts more than anyone else, for the Holy Church reminds us that life is a gift, a gift of God, and that man has received this gift of life precisely as the image of God. What does this mean? It means that he has received abilities, capacities, gifts, and powers to become like God – to participate in every kind of perfection, to participate in what is divine, in what is the life of God. In that sense, there is no greater gift and no greater mystery than the mystery of life and the gift of life. And at the same time, it is the greatest gift that expresses yet another unique and supreme gift every person has – the gift of love, the expression of divine love.
 
Emphasizing that the vocation of those who work in the Institute of Neonatology is much more than a mere profession – that it is a calling from above, a divine calling to serve life – the Patriarch stressed:
 
– Today’s jubilee is an exceptional opportunity to reflect on your achievements thus far, but also to give thanks for all the wondrous healings, for every child of God who, in your institution, has been given the opportunity to step into the world, to step into life, and to bring the greatest possible joy to their parents – and likewise, to bear witness through their life to the greatest gift of God’s love, to the goodness of God.
 
– May this great jubilee strengthen you to continue your service with even greater zeal and love. We pray that the Lord may grant you wisdom and strength, that your knowledge – just as has been the case so far – may progress and further develop, and that your hearts may always remain open to the children of whom you are, par excellence, the protectors, and to the continual heeding of that calling from above, the call of God, to serve Him by serving life – concluded His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije.
 
In the rich program of the formal ceremony, the Children’s Choir Kolibri and the Serbian Orthodox Cantors performed; a documentary film was shown about the history of the Institute of Neonatology, its achievements, and its invaluable contribution to the care of premature and ailing newborns. Addresses were also delivered by Dr. Ivana Stašević Karličić, State Secretary in the Ministry of Health, and Dr. Milovan Bojić, Director of the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases Dedinje.