Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Coast said that between communists and Nazis we can find many differences, but also many similarities.
"One of those similarities is the fact that they easily resorted to large and mass crimes. And what distinguishes both of them is the hatred against Orthodoxy. And we see that hatred exists in the same way in Europe today. And many they don't hide it anymore," said Joanikije at the end of this morning's service in the Cetinje monastery, it was announced on website of the Metropolis of Montenegro and the Littoral (MCP).
Joanikije said that Metropolitan Joanikije Lipovac also died "just because he distorted communist godlessness, even though he showed great mercy to everyone during the occupation."
During the war, Joanikije Lipovac collaborated with the Italian and German occupiers, actively supported the Chetnik movement and fought against the partisans in Montenegro. After the end of the war, he was captured and killed by units of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. The Serbian Orthodox Church celebrates him as a saint and priest-martyr.
"He saved the relatives of many of his evildoers - that is known. But he suffered for the justice of God. And there was no repentance in Montenegro, as there is in Russia, for the murder of Emperor Nicholas and the imperial family. It was a terrible crime," he said. Metropolitan MCP.
He also said that the Russian Tsar Nicholas had retired.
"He said, if I'm the problem, I'm stepping down. He was resented by many Russians who wanted to preserve the Russian Empire, but he took that step to reconcile the people. However, that was not enough. The godless Bolsheviks are killed not only him but also his entire family," said Joanikije.
He added that the state was built on that crime for a long time.
"It was not allowed to be mentioned during the reign of Lenin, even Stalin, even though he was a bit softer, and especially Khrushchev. It was not allowed to mention Saint Nicholas and his family, nor in any way to mention their liquidation," said Ioannikije .
He said that everything that was built on that crime fell apart.
"And as that seemingly powerful, but internally weak creation, the Soviet Union, fell apart, repentance came to the Russians. They very quickly, when Russia came back to itself, proclaimed the Holy Imperial Martyrs and counted them among the saints," said the Metropolitan.
Joanikje emphasized that we in Montenegro have a special reason to remember them in prayer.
"From Metropolitan Danilo Petrović until the end of the reign of King Nikola, the Romanians were the patrons of Montenegro. We should not forget that. Those who were our protectors and patrons must not be something else for us today. We should remember and give thanks." emphasized Joanikis.
He also said that Emperor Nicholas saved the Serbian people in the First World War.
"We are not ready to falsify historical facts, but to communicate them as they are. And, of course, this is not the only merit of Saint Nicholas. Go to the Holy Land and see all the temples he built there, the most beautiful temples in the Holy Land. And the most beautiful Orthodox temples around Europe built by the Russian imperial family of the Romanovs," said Joanikije.
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