In Montenegro, priests and believers were not allowed into church for the Transfiguration
In Montenegro, municipal police did not allow priests and believers from Cetinje to serve a liturgy in honor of the Feast of the Transfiguration in the Church of the Transfiguration in the town of Ivanova Koryta on the territory of the Lovcen National Park.
The police blocked access to the place, despite the fact that it is located in the mountains and far from populated areas.
“This time, Cetinje priests and believers could not even approach Ivan’s Troughs, let alone enter the Church of the Transfiguration to celebrate the patronal feast, as it should be,” says a message from the church community of the city of Cetinje (closest to this place - ed.). “We were stopped several kilometers from the temple.”
The authors of the appeal conclude that if the authorities act in a similar way with a temple that is undoubtedly owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) (that is, built after 1918 and is not subject to the discriminatory “Law on Freedom of Religion”), then one can imagine how The authorities of Montenegro will conduct themselves during the confiscation of churches and monasteries within the framework of this law.
“They (the police - ed.) should aim to regulate the relationship between church and state, and ensure freedom of religious beliefs. By their own actions they want to reduce the Church to a party-ideological service of the regime. But they are not succeeding like those who came before them (communist Yugoslav authorities - ed.). The Church worships only our Lord Jesus Christ, our God, in whose hands is Truth and Justice,” the Cetinje Church Community said in a statement.
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