Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić met Patriarch Irinej of Serbia to discuss the problems that the Serbian Orthodox Church is facing in Montenegro.
Patriarch Irinej told at a news conference that the Serbian Church was subject to the worst persecution in its long history: “The situation for Orthodox Serbs in Montenegro is worse than it was during the Ottoman occupation and during the Communist period. At least the Church was treated with respect at the time,” the Serbian Patriarch said.
He added that Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović had been trying to eliminate the Serbian nation and their Church through the implementation of a plan that the Croatian Nazis had attempted to carry out during World War II. The plan was about exercising control over the Orthodox Church.
The Patriarch said that he respected the independent state of Montenegro and claimed that Milo Đukanović had been trying to establish a new Church in Montenegro, hence he called on him to think carefully about what he was doing. “He has not been baptised and he is an atheist. I wonder why he wants to establish a Church,” he said. He also called on Serbian President to “protect the Serbian people and the Serbian Orthodox Church who are being persecuted in Montenegro.”
Moreover, the Serbian President has pledged to use all legal and democratic means to protect Serbs in Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church: “We will respect the state of Montenegro and its independence but we will also protect our nation. We insist on maintaining unity among the people and we will not allow anyone to dissolve us as a nation. Clearly, some believed they could assimilate the Serbian nation into theirs,” Aleksandar Vučić said at a press conference. He recalled that Serbs made up 30% of the population in Montenegro and assured that Serbia would not leave Serbs alone in Montenegro and, therefore, would defend their rights internationally.
It is noteworthy that Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović spoke of the need to establish a new Orthodox Church two days ago: “If the Serbian Orthodox Church insists on maintaining the national nature of the Church, then we will establish a Montenegrin Church,” he told at a press conference last Monday.
Source: ANA-MPA