Montenegrin police beat Serbian bishop, faithful protesting adoption of anti-Church law

Podgorica, Montenegro, December 27, 2019

Photo: mitropolija.com Photo: mitropolija.com     

Despite strong protests from the hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the majority religion in the country, the Montenegrin Parliament adopted the anti-Church law “On Freedom of Religion and Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities” yesterday.

Large crowds of Orthodox faithful took to the streets in several cities and towns to protest the new law, which resulted in the Montenegrin police severely beating His Grace Bishop Metodije of Diokleia and several faithful with batons, reports the official website of the Metropolis of Montenegro.

“The bishop and individual believers were knocked to the ground and beaten with batons and kicked,” the site relates.

“Two worshippers who tried to protect him were also wounded. One suffered a broken hip and the other a broken collarbone,” the report continues. Both were admitted to the hospital in the town of Pljevlja.

The incident occurred on the Đurđevića Tara Bridge, located at the crossroads between Mojkovac, Žabljak, and Pljevlja.

“This act best confirmed the truth of the words of Prime Minister Marković, who said in the Assembly that the police should not use force against believers, and shows what kind of law on religious freedom was being adopted, and how free the Church and the faithful people are in modern Montenegro,” the Church site reads.

Every parish of the Serbian Church in Montenegro will develop its own committee to protect churches, monasteries, and shrines of the Serbian Church in the wake of the adoption of the new law that will allow the Montenegrin government to seize Church property, His Grace Bishop Joanikije of Budimlja-Nikšić told protesters in Podgorica this morning.

45 out of 81 Deputies voted in favor of the law. There were no “no” votes or abstentions, as the police detained all the opposition Deputies, reports TASS.

The ruling coalition rejected all amendments to the bill proposed by the Serbian Church.

The state favors the miniscule and schismatic “Montenegrin Orthodox Church” and has subjected the canonical Serbian Church to other forms of persecution, considering it hostile to the country’s independence.

According to the new law, “All religious buildings that were property of the State of Montenegro before the loss of its independence and merging into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, and which subsequently did not become the property of a religious community in the proper legal way, will be recognised as state property,” the Secretariat-General of the Montenegrin government earlier said.

The hierarchs of the Serbian Church understand the law as a means to seize Serbian property to be handed over to the schismatic “Montenegrin Orthodox Church.”

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12/27/2019

See also
Controversial Montenegrin Church bill passed on for Deputies’ consideration, despite massive Church protests Controversial Montenegrin Church bill passed on for Deputies’ consideration, despite massive Church protests Controversial Montenegrin Church bill passed on for Deputies’ consideration, despite massive Church protests Controversial Montenegrin Church bill passed on for Deputies’ consideration, despite massive Church protests
The controversial draft law on Church property in Montenegro, which has provoked large-scale opposition from the Metropolis of Montenegro of the Serbian Orthodox Church over the past several months, continues to move ahead. Montenegro moving ahead with controversial law concerning religious property Montenegro moving ahead with controversial law concerning religious property Montenegro moving ahead with controversial law concerning religious property Montenegro moving ahead with controversial law concerning religious property
The Montenegrin government submitted its controversial bill on religious freedom on Thursday, December 5 for consideration by the nation’s Parliament despite opposition by the Serbian Orthodox Church and threats of social unrest. Montenegrin bill aims to seize churches from Serbian Church, bishops fear Montenegrin bill aims to seize churches from Serbian Church, bishops fear Montenegrin bill aims to seize churches from Serbian Church, bishops fear Montenegrin bill aims to seize churches from Serbian Church, bishops fear
The bishops’ statement refers to the new law as an “anti-European and anti-civilized motion for law” that “abolish[es] the inalienable right of the citizens to freedom of religious and conscience.”
Comments
Milutin Lazich7/17/2020 9:35 pm
It is a criminal action that the Montenegrin government took such action against an Orthodox Bishop. I am disgusted. It is truly shameful
Alex12/31/2019 2:11 pm
This may be one of the additional steps ahead of the “Friendship Pact” between the vatican and other world religions to achieve “ONE world religion”, led by anti-christ, which is scheduled to occur June 2020 at Hague NL in the Peace Palace. First, break the Orthodox Church into enough groups, to divide a vote, so that the schismatic Orthodox with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew can sign the Orthodox Church - sign the schismatic Orthodox Church to the pact. https://nltimes.nl/2018/09/27/peace-palace-hague-working-friendship-pact-world-religions
JEinCA12/29/2019 11:38 am
I have no doubts that this violence against the Bishop and the Right Believing Orthodox Faithful in Montenegro was carried out with the full blessing of the US State Department and their Embassy in Podgorica. These are Satan's proxies and the sooner every Right Believing Orthodox Christian understands that and prepares themselves to resist the better off they will be.I am an American convert to Orthodoxy who has studied the breakup of Yugoslavia (and the wars that followed). I saw how the US sponsored Sunni Islamist uprising in Syria targeted the Ancient Christian faithful in Syria (many of whom are Antiochian Orthodox Christians). I've seen what the US State Department did to Ukraine in 2014 and the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church MP (and the war in Donbass that followed. I've also seen now how the US State Department pressured Bartholomew (the Patriarch of Constantinople) into recognizing the Ukrainian Schismatics thus resulting in a very serious schism within the Orthodox Church itself including in Montenegro (and also brining the Georgian Church to the brink of schism). This is the handiwork of Satan's proxies there can be no doubt now because the evidence is clear for anyone with eyes to see. I was a Roman Catholic when then President Bill Clinton launched his illegal, unjust, unwarranted and by American law unconstitutional war with Serbia during the Kosovo crisis of the late 90's. It was the Vatican's failure to condemn such a travesty that would aid in my decision to convert to Orthodoxy ten years later. There's always been a place in my heart for the Orthodox Serbs and their unwillingness to compromise their Orthodox Faith no matter how much of their own blood must be sacrificed to hold on to their Orthodox faith. I honor those fallen Serbian Orthodox Warriors as a convert to Orthodoxy who is descended from both Native American and European Christian warriors himself. My Mexican-American Grandfather was part of the US Navy's Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) during WWII and was a combat veteran of both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters during that war. The Serbs and Russians were our allies during that terrible war.
Iakovos Kapellas12/29/2019 5:13 am
May God preserve and strengthen the faithful in Ukraine and Montenegro!
Chrys12/28/2019 9:57 pm
"Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in the Heavens!" May God grant you, Your Eminence and your followers, many years!
+Queen of the South/12/27/2019 9:09 pm
Well written & explained! Our Serbian Orthodox Clerics, Monastics & Faithful have acted in spirit & in truth, have protested in an exemplary fashion with prayers & hymns, processions & supplications! The Holy Spirit has moved them and awoken them astoundingly that the whole little country has one main objective, which it intensely focuses on with all its power & might, love & creativity, blocking all the main cities's roads, chanting, singing national folk songs, taking to the streets, lobbying members of Parliament, and indeed, the wise and extremely well respected Metropolitan Amphilohius even convinced an entire political Party (DF), Democratic Front to move over to his side! And lo and behold, THAT Party became the Voice of the Church in Parliament INSTANTLY! They defended it as Seminarians & Theologians would, as the Saints of Old and Holy Martyrs! It was astounding to watch in a marathon session in Parliament that lasted several hours, and went deep into the night, well past midnight, where a brawl broker out between the DF Party and the schismatics, that at 2 am, 2 paddy wagons came to arrest the entire political party (DF), and take them away! And right after that, the rest of them took to vote! - Preposterous! But I see there are missing about 14 people who must have PROTESTED that a vote should not be cast without the other parliamentarians. Will see about the exact figure, but if 45 voted FOR the law, and 22 were arrested, that leaves a balance of 14 members of parliament who are missing from the equation! At any rate, it's the Vatican behind this! The Premier met with him just 12 days prior to this outbreak, scandal & brawl! O yes... we KNOW it's the Vatican! - But WE WILL NOT SUBMIT HOLY ORTHODOXY & "SVETOSAVLJE" (SERBIAN ORTHODOXY) TO THE VATICAN! NOT HAPPENING! + + + +Queen of the South/
Gary Cox12/27/2019 8:29 pm
Does Bartholomew weep or laugh over this sort of thing?
Haeul12/27/2019 8:23 pm
This is a perfect parallel of what's happening in Ukraine - only even more senseless, because as recently as 1945, when the communists took over and created the artificial Montenegrin "nation", all Orthodox Christians in Montenegro were self-declared Serbs, and most still are. The tirannical and corrupt regime of the communist-turned-Atlanticist Milo Djukanovic now seeks to destroy the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro because he rightly views it as an archenemy of his treasonous regime and a oullar of the Serbian national identity. The laws his pawns in the parliament have introduced is openly discriminatory and seeks to drive the Serbian Orthodox Church out of Montenegro. May God protect the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Montenegro, Kosovo and Metohija, Syria and elsewhere! I incourage you all to pray for our brothers and sisters throughout the world who face persecution and violence from enemies within and without.
Alexios12/27/2019 8:15 pm
Very shameful, beating up a bishop! And, the faithful trying to defend him!
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