The Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church is chaired by Bishop Basil (Vadic) of Srem, because Bishop Lavrentiy (Trifunovic) of Šabac, who, as the oldest bishop was supposed to be chairman, is hospitalized since yesterday at the Clinical Center in Belgrade.
In total, 36 bishops out of 39 who have the right to participate in the Council (4 vicar bishops of the SOC and 7 bishops at rest – do not take part in the election of the Patriarch). In addition to bishop Lawrence, bishop Siluan (Mrakich) of Australia and New Zealand and bishop Maxim (Vasilevich) of Western America are not present.
Judging by the comments under the news about the election of the new Patriarch of Serbia, lord Ioannikiy is the favorite of the sympathies among people. On the whole, he is very popular among the believers of the Serbian Church, especially in Montenegro.
However, according to media reports, he is not the “favorite” of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Mainly because of fears that the “Montenegrin scenario” (that is, mass protests of the people and clergy against the authorities, for one reason or another) may repeat itself in Serbia.
In addition to lord Ioannikiy, as the Vjesti writes, Vucic would not like to see the current bishop of Frankfurt and all Germany Gregory (Durich) as a new Patriarch because of his position on Kosovo.