Serbian Patriarch Porfirije consecrates a Melbourne parish church that local Serbian Orthodox families built in 1994
Patriarch Porfirije, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, consecrated the Church of St. Stephen the Archdeacon in Keysborough, a Melbourne suburb, during a visit to Australia and New Zealand. "There is only one zone, and that is faith," he told the congregation.
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Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church consecrated the Church of St. Stephen the Archdeacon in Keysborough, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday, Oct. 11, and celebrated the Divine Liturgy there with visiting bishops and a large congregation, Orthodox Times and the Belgrade daily Politika reported. SBS Serbian, the Serbian-language service of Australia's public broadcaster, said the service began at 9 a.m.
The church was built in 1994 by Serbian Orthodox families living in Keysborough and other parts of Melbourne, and has served as a center of worship and community life for more than 30 years, according to Orthodox Times. Wood from the Šumadija region of central Serbia was built into its foundations.
"Wherever there is a follower of St. Sava, wherever there is an Orthodox Serb, Serbia is there too, within the heart," the Patriarch said in his sermon. Speaking about the distance between Australia and Serbia, he said, "There is only one zone, and that is faith, our brotherly and sisterly embrace." He added that "wherever an Orthodox Serbian Christian goes, from America to Australia, he remains who he is, while at the same time becoming one with those among whom he lives," according to Orthodox Times and Politika.
Australia's Assistant Minister for Citizenship and International Education, Julian Hill, welcomed the Patriarch and congratulated the parish, both outlets reported. Victoria's Deputy Premier, Gabrielle Williams, also sent congratulations, Orthodox Times said. The parish priest, the Rev. Aleksandar Savić, said part of the day's donations would go to church-run soup kitchens in Kosovo and part to St. Sava College in Varroville, near Sydney. Metropolitan Siluan, who leads the Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand, thanked everyone who helped build the church.
The Patriarch left Belgrade on Oct. 6, accompanied by several bishops, SRNA, the news agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Republika Srpska entity, reported. His itinerary includes Canberra and Sydney, where he is to consecrate the Church of the Nativity of Christ at St. Sava College and bless a foundation stone there.
Sources
Orthodox Times: Patriarch of Serbia consecrated Serbian Orthodox Church in Melbourne (Oct 11, 2026)
https://orthodoxtimes.com/patriarch-of-serbia-consecrated-serbian-orthodox-church-in-melbourne/Politika: Patrijarh srpski Porfirije uputio blagoslov vernicima u Kizborou u čast osvećenja hrama (Oct 11, 2026)
https://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/792636/patrijarh-srpski-porfirije-uputio-blagoslov-vernicima-u-kizborou-u-cast-osvecenja-hramaSBS Serbian: SBS Serbian episode notes (Oct 11, 2026)
https://podfollow.com/sbs-serbian/episode/db5fa8c06df45c494a8232cdbc708ada5e258d0b/viewSRNA: Patriarch Porfirije travels to Australia (Oct 6, 2026)
https://srna.rs/en/novost/1437399/patriarch-porfirije-travels-to-australia
Corrections and updates
- Update, October 11, 2026: Brief prepared from Orthodox Times (page datePublished Oct. 11, 2026), Politika (page datePublished Oct. 11, 2026), SBS Serbian (the sheet dates the episode notes Oct. 11; the Podfollow listing returned 403, so the day was not read from the page), and SRNA (the sheet dates the trip story Oct. 6; the live page did not expose datePublished). One-off; no threadId. The sheet date is Oct. 11, the consecration, so sourcePublishedAt is 2026-10-11. The brief is in the Oct. 11 edition. Tags are global, church-life, and orthodox. There is no australia tag. No persecution tag. The relic placed in the altar is left out. No prior Wayback snapshot was found for any of the four. No photo.