State Prosecutor's Office in Ljubljana on January 12, it filed an indictment against the patriarch Serbian Orthodox Church Porphyria due to allegations of abuse at work in the case of priest Željko Lubarda, who claims he was subjected to long-term pressure because he refused to testify falsely to cover up financial malfeasance in church cashier.
According to the document of the District State Prosecutor's Office in Ljubljana dated February 10, 2026, in which portal Nova.rs has insight, the indictment was filed against the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirij Perić, who at that time was the Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana, as well as against the Serbian Orthodox Church - Church Municipality of Ljubljana as a legal entity.
In response to an inquiry by the portal Nova.rs, the Slovenian prosecutor's office confirmed that in this case an indictment was filed with the Municipal Court in Ljubljana against one person for abuse at the workplace, as well as against one legal entity for being responsible for the same criminal act. As they stated, part of the criminal complaint against other persons was dismissed in the meantime.
According to the prosecution document, the case refers to the period when Porfirije was the head of the Zagreb-Ljubljana Metropolitanate of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The former Ljubljana parish priest Željko Lubarda claims that he suffered long-term and systematic mobbing, because he did not want to keep quiet about, as he explains, financial malfeasance in the church treasury, writes Nova.
"The most serious case of abuse of an employee in Slovenia"
"I was exposed to that abuse while, on the basis of an employment contract, I was employed as a priest at the Church Municipality in Ljubljana. The abuse I was exposed to at the Labor and Social Rights Court has already been legally confirmed and by all parameters represents the most serious case of abuse of an employee in judicial practice in Slovenia," Lubarda told Nova.rs.
As priest Lubarda said, the District State Prosecutor's Office submitted the indictment proposal at the beginning of January, and he was informed about it at the beginning of February.
According to him, Patriarch Porfirije has already been heard before the court of inquiry.
Lubarda says that, in addition to Porfirio, the Church Municipality in Ljubljana, as a legal entity, is also accused, "responsible for carrying out his persecutions".
"It is now up to the court to verify the legality of the indictment and schedule the start of the trial, which is expected in the coming months," Lubarda said.
What is written in the explanation of the prosecution
According to the report of the District State Prosecutor's Office in Ljubljana dated February 10, 2026, an indictment was filed before the competent court against two parties, Prvoslav Perić, i.e. Patriarch Porfiri, then Metropolitan of the Zagreb-Ljubljana Metropolitanate of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and the Serbian Orthodox Church - Church Municipality of Ljubljana as a legal entity.
The part of the report against Patriarch Porfirio that related to the criminal acts of perjury and obstruction of judicial authorities was dismissed and is not included in the indictment.
The indictment refers to the criminal act of abuse at the workplace. The Serbian Orthodox Church - Church Municipality of Ljubljana as a legal entity is charged with the same crime, with the explanation that the crime was committed in its name and on its account by Porfirije as its manager.
In the explanation of the prosecution, it is stated that Patriarch Porfirije, in his capacity as metropolitan, violated the rights of the employed priest Željko Lubarda, who was employed in the Church Municipality of Ljubljana in the period from 2014 to 2017. According to the prosecution, Perić ordered that Lubarda be served with the termination of the employment contract with the explanation that it was a business reason.
However, as stated in the prosecution's report, the reasons stated in the explanation of dismissal, such as failure to meet conditions, quality and trust, do not represent business reasons arising from the sphere of the employer.
According to the prosecution's position, the real reason for the dismissal was a revenge move because Lubarda opposed the order to transfer to another parish. In the prosecution's report, it is written that his transfer to Novo Mesto in Slovenia was first planned, and then to Koprivnica in Croatia.
Such transfer, according to the position of the prosecution, was not a consequence of the objective needs of the service, but a subjective reason.
The Serbian Orthodox Church did not respond to the Nova portal's request for comment until the publication of the text.
Source: Nova
