Church bells tolled in Belgrade and many people flocked to the capital’s main St Sava cathedral to mark his death at the age of 90, a decade after becoming Patriarch, Reuters reports.
A conservative who wielded considerable political influence, Irinej was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus on Nov. 4 and had been in a military hospital in Belgrade since then.
He is the highest-ranking figure in the Eastern Orthodox Church to have died from the coronavirus infection.
He tested positive after attending the Nov. 1 funeral of Metropolitan Amfilohije, the Serbian Orthodox Church’s senior cleric in Montenegro, who also died from Covid-19.
