Montenegrin church head blasts Serbian Orthodox Church

NEWS 06.01.202314:42
mitropolit mihailo boris pejović vijesti
Vijesti/Boris Pejović

The head of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (CPC) accused the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) of wanting to tear down Montenegro’s constitutional order and annex it to Serbia.

Metropolitan Mihailo told Podgorica daily Pobjeda that the Open Balkan initiative and the coming census in Montenegro are being used by the SPC and the pro-Serbia political block to increase Serbia’s influence in the country.

The CPC is not recognized canonically and its head has been excommunicated by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. It is registered as a religious community. Metropolitan Mihailo (born Miras Dedeic) was initially a monk of the SPC which excommunicated him for what it said were serious violations.

Mihailo said that the authorities in Montenegro never favored the CPC and claimed that the SPC was given the right to arbitrate in state and political issues. He blamed the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) for that. “The new authorities did not record Montenegro’s sacred and cultural heritage as owned by the Serbian church,” he said.

The CPC head said he expects the Ecumenical Patriarchate to raise the issue of the Montenegrin church’s autocephaly.