The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Patriarch Irinej, has been hospitalised after testing positive for the coronavirus, the SPC said on Thursday.
“Serbian Patriarch Irinej was routinely tested and result came out positive, yet was asymptomatic and was generally feeling well,’’ it said in a statement posted to its website.
“His Holiness has been admitted to a COVID-19 hospital in Belgrade,’’ it added without providing further details.
The 90-year-old Irinej attended a massive funeral held for another cleric, Metropolite Amfilohije, who died after contracting Covid-19.
At the funeral, which was held over the weekend, thousands of people were crowded, many of whom were not wearing masks.
Several officials belonging to the incoming Montenegrin government, including the designated prime minister, Zdravko Krivokapic, were among the attendees who failed to follow health regulations.
Meanwhile, a bishop who is expected to succeed Amfilohije as head of the SPC in Montenegro, Joanikije, has also contracted Covid-19.
A leading Montenegrin doctor on Saturday said that the two-day funeral ceremony would be a lair of disease and urged the authorities to ban it.
