The head of the UOC considers the Patriarchate of Constantinople responsible for the situation in Montenegro
The Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Onufriy, expressed support for the Serbian Orthodox Church in connection with the situation in Montenegro.
He sent a letter to Patriarch of Serbia Irinej, the text of which is posted on the official website of the UOC, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The sad fact is that the Parliament of Montenegro ignores the will of the overwhelming majority of the believing people who oppose this law. It is known that the Montenegrin authorities also ignore the canonical Church of their country and provide support to schismatics,” the letter says.
The hierarch draws a parallel between the events in Montenegro and recent events in Ukraine.
“Undoubtedly, the events that are taking place today in the church life of Montenegro are a consequence of the anti-canonical and voluntaristic actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Ukraine, which were already supported by the former dominant political power of our country.
It is obvious that in a similar way and according to the same model, the state power of Montenegro, probably not without outside influence, is trying to act in the religious sphere of its country, interfering in church life, supporting schismatics and discriminating against the canonical Church,” wrote Onufriy.
On the night of December 27, the Parliament of Montenegro adopted by a majority vote the law “On Freedom of Religion and Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities” amid mass protests throughout the country. There were no votes against or abstentions, since the document was considered after the police detained all opposition deputies.
Mass protests are taking place in the cities of Berane, Bijelo Polje, Pljevlja, Podgorica, Bar, Budva, Kotor, Niksic. Over 55 people were detained, including opposition deputies. The Metropolis of the Montenegrin-Primorsky SOC reported that on the Djurdjevica Tara Bridge in the north of the country, police at night during a protest “cruelly beat Bishop Methodius and the believers who defended him with batons and kicked them.”
Earlier, President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic said that he would seek autocephaly for the “Montenegrin church” following the example of Ukraine. The Law “On Freedom of Religion and Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities” provides for the confiscation of 650 shrines, including the Ostrog Monastery, widely known in the Orthodox world.
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