One gets the impression that by signing a letter condemning the labeling of students protesting in Serbia, Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Littoral has formally distanced himself from the rhetoric not only of the ruling political circles and media outlets sympathetic to them in the neighboring country, but also of certain influential parts of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC).
This was assessed for "Vijesti" by the program director of the Center for Civic Education (CCE), Petar Đukanović, in response to the question: why did Joanikije initial a letter condemning allegations that students protesting in Serbia are "Serbian Ustashas", if he has not been an opposition to the authorities in Belgrade until now, unlike his predecessor Amfilohije.
DON'T MISS IT
"Of course, the question remains how sincere this demarcation is and whether he will persist with it, considering that he was previously too in agreement with the authorities in Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church headquarters itself, led by Patriarch Porfirije," said Đukanović.
He stated that, in this context, Joanikije's move could be interpreted more as some kind of "wavering" within the Serbian Orthodox Church and a struggle for influence due to political turmoil in which it is evident that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has weakened, and therefore those who are the pillars of his government - including, he says, Porfirije.
The Serbian government has been facing three months of protests by students and citizens, who are demanding that it establish criminal responsibility for the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1st last year, when 15 people died.
"Ultimately, this underlines the prevalence of political influence in the Serbian Orthodox Church, as this religious organization is at the same time a very interested and active political actor," Djukanovic added.
They ask him to withdraw his signature.
Joanikije is one of the signatories of the statement sent to Porfirije, which states that the Serbian Orthodox Church does not consider the students to be “Serbian Ustashas”. The others are Metropolitans Grigorije of Germany, Justin of Žička and Dimitrije of Zahumlje-Herzegovina and Littoral, as well as Archbishop Maxim of West America and Bishop Irinej of East America. They spoke out after Metropolitan David of Kruševac published an article on the website of that diocese under the title “Zdučači, manitoši and ljudi od veresija”. However, he later claimed that it was untrue and a fabrication that by the term “Serbian Ustashas” he meant students of the University of Belgrade.
"Since various accusations against students have appeared in public in recent days, and some of them were made by church dignitaries and conveyed through official SPC publications, we feel the need and duty to express our position and call for respect for students and their just and dignified struggle, as well as for responsible expression and reporting," the statement by six SPC priests reads.
A few days later, Belgrade tabloids demanded that Joanikije withdraw his signature from the letter, saying that he had joined the public attack on Porfirije and David, and that he had “joined the ranks of those who do not wish well for the Serbian people and Serbia.” This was stated in a text by the little-known portal “Sunčanik” (suncanik.info), close to the Serbian Orthodox Church, and which was reported by the local tabloid press.
The Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral (MCP) did not respond to questions from "Vijesti" yesterday - why Joanikije decided to sign the letter, how they comment on the assessments that he opposed Porfiry, and what they think about the attacks by tabloids demanding that he withdraw his signature - but they left open the possibility of doing so today.
The attack on Joanikij came from circles close to the regime in Serbia, which is supported by some of the Montenegrin government parties, and which are also considered close to the head of the MCP. These parties, led by the parties of the former Democratic Front (DF) - New Serbian Democracy (NSD) of Andrija Mandić and the Democratic People's Party (DNP) of Milan Knežević, did not respond to "Vijesti"'s questions about how they view Joanikij's statement and how they comment on the tabloid attacks on him.
Raising your voice - a question of responsibility
Jelena Jorgacevic Kisic, assistant editor-in-chief of the Belgrade weekly "Vreme", assesses that Joanikije signed the letter of support "because his conscience told him to," and that this is not about opposition to the authorities, or support for one party or an attack on another.
She told "Vijesti" that it's not about who Joanikije and his five brothers are against, but what values they stand for.
"No matter how intertwined and complex the relationships between religion and politics in the Balkans are, I know it will sound naive - but I believe that there is a moment in which being silent and observing, standing aside, or, on the other hand, still raising your voice - is truly a matter of personal responsibility and morality," says Jorgacevic Kisic.
According to her, the letter initialed by Joanikije is very moderate and "was truly needed by a part of the Serbian Orthodox Church's believers, as well as society, who felt in Serbia that their Church, or rather the top of the Church, at the very least, did not see and hear them sufficiently."
"Finally, it's also about the way he expresses his views. Bishop David's subsequent denial that he wasn't referring to the students was written with so much bitterness that it seems to me that instead of healing the conflict a little, he's creating it even more, precisely because of his choice of words, his labeling... And he's not the only one when it comes to his manner of addressing people," the interviewee notes.
Apart from the NSD and the DNP, most other parties did not comment on Joaniki's actions, nor on the criticism that followed against him. The only one who spoke out was the Deputy Prime Minister and senior official of the Democrats, Momo Koprivica, who assessed that the attacks on Joaniki were "for the sake of protecting the dignity of students" - "they are not attacks only on him, but on the dignity and values that he represents."
"And this is not about students, what is on the scene here is an attempt to discipline Metropolitan Joanikije, who chose to serve God and the truth, not false gods and lies. Metropolitan Amfilohije can rest assured. Metropolitan Joanikije is doing exactly everything he would do today," Koprivica wrote on the "Iks" network.
There is no comparison with Amphilochius.
Responding to the question of whether Joanikije's statement means that he is making a U-turn, or following in the footsteps of Amfilohije, who was a fierce critic of Vučić and his government, Petar Đukanović said that, for many reasons, such parallels cannot be drawn between the current and former heads of the MCP.
"Amfilohije was very influential in the Serbian Orthodox Church, and Joanikije practically allowed all the levels of autonomy of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro that Amfilohije had established to collapse in order to reach the position he is in, and we saw how some pro-Vučić media in Serbia, when they targeted him, also revealed from that side how his enthronement happened," Đukanović states.
The interlocutor recalls that Amfilohije was a vocal and dangerous critic of Vučić, but that "he was not against the authoritarian system that Vučić established, that is, he did not have a problem with his way of ruling, but with specific decisions that concerned Kosovo and partly relations with the West."
Amfilohije once called Vučić "ignorant", commenting on his statement "that the Montenegrin Autocephalous Church both de facto and de jure existed before the establishment of independence in 2006."
"At the same time, it should be borne in mind that Amfilohije criticized the most influential politician in Montenegro at the time - Milo Đukanović, and that it took courage to simultaneously open two fronts with two such influential leaders," said the interlocutor.
He assessed that it was difficult to imagine that Joannikius could show "the kind of boldness that Amphilochius had."
"A line of similarity can be drawn in that the Serbian Orthodox Church remains an important factor in political life and does not support any serious progressive political alternative in society," he added.
The top of the church and the logic of the SNS
On the other hand, Jelena Jorgacevic Kisic said that Joanikije "will not follow in that way" in the footsteps of Amfilohije, and if his letter is controversial for certain politicians in Montenegro - that, she says, is primarily their problem, and least of all his.
She said that Balkan regimes, which have ruled by trying to cause as many divisions and set fires as possible that they then put out, have "learned" that behind every different opinion, every criticism, no matter how constructive, lies a serious personal conflict.
"But in the country (Serbia) this atmosphere has been deliberately created for years, where there are only camps, where you are 'either for us or against us'. Various obscure portals and tabloids have recently attacked Metropolitan Joanikije as being ungrateful to the patriarch for signing that letter. This is literally the logic of the SNS (Serbian Progressive Party) machinery, which the top of the Church really must not, and I hope will not, follow," says Jorgacevic Kisic.
Đukanović: It's inconvenient for the former DF to distance itself immediately
Đukanović assessed that the attacks by Serbian tabloids on the head of the MCP were not a surprise, because, he said, these are media outlets under strong government control and always ready to target anyone who does not fit into the dominant political position or whom they consider to be loyal to them.
He stated that the insults and pressure will continue, with the aim of making Joanikije withdraw his signature, "because they are part of a broader strategy to suppress any different opinion and criticism, especially from the ranks that were considered close."
"This is an attempt to discipline him and put him under control, because with his move he violated the official political line of the government, but also a test of his consistency," Đukanović assessed.
The interlocutor said that, regarding relations within the Montenegrin political scene, "we now have an interesting situation in which the parties gathered around the former DF support both Vučić and Joaniki, although at the moment these interests seem to be diverging."
"It's inconvenient for them to distance themselves immediately, but they will probably continue to judge based on who has more power or who they can benefit from more," Djukanovic noted.
What do they hold against Joaniki?
The text of the "Sunčanik" portal states, among other things, that Porfirije and David, "risking their lives in the most difficult security situation due to blockades at Belvedere and the approaches to Cetinje", went to the Montenegrin capital by helicopter of the Army of Montenegro and enthroned Joanikije in the Cetinje Monastery (September 5, 2021).
"We should not forget that on September 4, late in the evening, the indecisive and uncertain - and Metropolitan Joanikije knows their names well - proposed that his enthronement be postponed to another time. Metropolitan Joanikije knows well that at one point in a very difficult situation, he too was ready for a concession of this kind," the text reads.
Joanikija is also criticized for, before signing the letter, "forgetting the key contribution of Porfirio during the final harmonization and signing of the Basic Agreement between Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2022."
Bonus video:
