Helsinki, January 23, 2026
Abp. Ilia of Helsinki. Photo: Facebook Archbishop Ilia of Helsinki of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s Finnish Orthodox Church published a clarifying statement yesterday regarding the photo of him with the head of the schismatic “Montenegrin Orthodox Church” at an ecumenical event in Rome.
On January 19, aktuelno.me published a story about “Metropolitan” Boris Bojović’s trip to Rome including a photo of him with Abp. Ilia. The outlet cited a statement from the MOC saying Bojović had “met with” a Finnish delegation that included the Archbishop:
Metropolitan Boris, together with the delegation of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, met with an ecumenical delegation from Finland, which included Tapio Luoma, Archbishop of Turku and all Finland of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and Ilia Valgren, Archbishop of Helsinki and all Finland, primate of the Finnish Orthodox Church, which operates under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
News of this encounter quickly spread, as just days prior, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon firmly stated that the Patriarchate of Constantinople does not and has not ever had any contacts with the MOC (although the Metropolitan himself had concelebrated with Bojović in Kiev in 2019).
For example, the Greek Orthodox outlet Romfea wrote:
Recent moves in Montenegro and Rome show that conditions are being formed behind the scenes that merit closer reading…
In published photographs Boris met with the Archbishop of Finland, His Eminence Ilia, a hierarch under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which perhaps adds an element that is difficult to ignore…
His statements that the granting of autocephaly or autonomy by the Ecumenical Patriarchate would be an “historic event” for Montenegro essentially confirm that there may be an open channel of communication.
Such statements are usually not made in a vacuum; they typically prepare the ground so that public opinion will not be caught off guard when the time comes for official announcements.
In English, the story was covered by the Union of Orthodox Journalists and OrthoChristian.
Linking to the UOJ story, Abp. Ilia posted a clarifying statement yesterday, saying that he happened to run into Bojović at the ecumenical event in Rome and they quickly took a photo together:
A fleeting encounter in Rome with someone dressed as a bishop who introduced himself as being from Montenegro. A photograph taken in that moment. And from this, a narrative is spun.
Let this serve as a textbook example of how disinformation is manufactured and shamelessly disseminated.
There were no negotiations. There was no meeting. What occurred was a one-sided, two-minute encounter—the kind that happens at any large gathering where people cross paths.
Those who wish to construct elaborate stories from chance encounters may draw their own conclusions. The rest of us recognize this for what it is: the anatomy of a lie, laid bare.
The Archbishop titled his statement “A masterclass in disinformation,” although UOJ representatives explained in comments to his post that their original article simply presented the situation, noting that the photo raised concerns, without drawing any conclusions.
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