Rome, January 22, 2026
Boris Bojović of the “Montenegrin Orthodox Church” (left) with Constantinople’s Abp. Ilia of Helsinki (right). Photo: aktuelno.me
A delegation of the schismatic “Montenegrin Orthodox Church,” led by “Metropolitan” Boris Bojović, took part in ecumenical events in the Vatican over the weekend.
During its time there, the delegation met with an ecumenical group from Finland that included Metropolitan Ilia of Helsinki of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s Finnish Orthodox Church, reports aktuelno.me.
Met. Boris also met with a priest of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” which has contacts with the “Montenegrin Orthodox Church” dating back to its predecessor, the so-called “Kiev Patriarchate.”
The Montenegrin-Constantinople meeting comes just days after Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, one of the highest and most authoritative Constantinople hierarchs, insisted that the Patriarchate has absolutely no contact with the Montenegrin schismatics.
His comments came in response to a statement from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service claiming that Patriarch Bartholomew intends to grant autocephaly to the schismatic “Montenegrin Orthodox Church,” just as he did with the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
“I’ll tell you directly: We’ve never had any connection to this matter. This isn’t even a church structure—just some group that can’t even be called schismatic. We’ve never had contact with this group in Montenegro,” Met. Emmanuel stated.
However, the meeting between Bojović and Abp. Ilia indicates otherwise, analysts say. The Pravblog Telegram channel writes:
This event confirms the concerns of many experts: Behind the facade of official denials, the Phanar continues to develop contacts with schismatic groups in the Balkans, legitimizing them through its subsidiary structures.
The meeting in Rome clearly demonstrates that the “Ukrainian scenario” remains on the agenda, and Constantinople’s assurances of non-interference in the affairs of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro may prove to be merely a tactical maneuver. Contacts between the Phanar and Montenegrin schismatics not only exist but are evidently being strengthened.
Recall that even in June 2018, Pat. Bartholomew told a delegation of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church that he wasn’t interested in intervening in the situation and legalizing the schism there. However, just months later, in October, the Patriarch and Synod of Constantinople resolved to enter into communion with the schismatics of the “Kiev Patriarchate” and the “Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.” This was followed by the creation of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” in December, and the granting of a tomos of autocephaly to the new group in January.
Moreover, Met. Emmanuel himself, together with another Constantinople hierarch, Metropolitan Amphilochios of Adrianople, actually concelebrated with the MOC’s Bojović himself (an “archimandrite” at the time) in Kiev in May 2019, though the Patriarchate later said they were unaware that the OCU had invited a member of the Montenegrin schismatics.
And Bojović openly states that his group wants a tomos from Constantinople, given its pro-EU orientation, as opposed to the Serbian Orthodox Church, which has canonical jurisdiction in Montenegro.
The MOC represents a tiny minority of Orthodox Christians in Montenegro, with a handful of chapels in Cetinje and Kotor.
Moreover, there is a schism within the MOC itself. It was founded in 1993 by Antonije Abramović, a defrocked and excommunicated priest. Following his repose in 1996, he was replaced by Mihailo Dedeić, who was defrocked, excommunicated, and anathematized while serving as a priest of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Italy. In September 2023, Bojović was proclaimed the new metropolitan by the MOC General Assembly, though Dedeić and his followers refuse to recognize this move.
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