Berane, Montenegro, August 13, 2025
Monastery of the Pillars of St. George near Berane, since 2001 the seat of the Diocese of Budimlje and Nikšić. Photo: epahija.me
The clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Budimlje and Nikšić have condemned the “selective and discriminatory treatment” of His Eminence Metropolitan Metodije by Montenegrin authorities and media over the past several years, and following his recent blessing of a controversial WWII Chetnik monument.
The August 12 statement comes after Met. Metodije blessed a monument to Pavle Đurišić, a WWII Chetnik commander, in Gornje Zaostro village on August 8. The service has sparked intense media criticism and legal action.
“We, the clergy, monasticism and faithful people of the Diocese of Budimlje and Nikšić, inform the public regarding the hasty and rigid reactions of the prosecutor’s office and criminal prosecution authorities,” the statement reads, expressing “protest, deep dissatisfaction and concern about selective and discriminatory treatment.”
This marks the second time in a month that prosecutors have summoned Met. Metodije for police interrogation. Additionally, clergy have been detained and two faithful imprisoned for thirty days.
“It is incomprehensible that at a time when we learn that the statute of limitations has occurred in numerous cases for the most serious criminal acts, the prosecutor’s office is calling Met. Metodije for interrogation at police stations for the second time in the last month,” the statement declares.
The clergy assert that the Metropolitan has been targeted since he was Bishop of Diokleia in December 2019. That period saw Montenegrin police beat Bp. Metodije and faithful during protests against a religious property law the Serbian Church viewed as an attempt to seize its assets.
“Met. Metodije, as the head of our diocese, since December 2019, is obviously a target of some centers of power that follow his every step, his every word,” the statement continues, adding that at all services he “calls for peace, love, community, solidarity, in one word, for truth.”
The controversy stems from His Eminence’s blessing of the Đurišić monument. During the ceremony, he praised Đurišić as someone who “defended his people who were targeted from all sides to be erased and swallowed up” and announced plans to place the monument inside the church itself.
The clergy argue that “Metropolitan Metodije’s statements are being falsified, maliciously interpreted, or he is being attributed with acts that were not even committed,” violating “basic human and civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Montenegro.”
The statement concludes: “Therefore, following the call of Met. Metodije, we also unanimously call on all citizens of Montenegro for mutual reconciliation, in the spirit of brotherly love and truth.”
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