Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović tried to declare Metropolitan Amfilohije a Montenegrin, which he was not, said Metropolitan Fotije of Zvornik-Tuzla. He also accused Milatović of abusing the liturgies for political purposes, because according to the president's presentation, as Fotije claims, it turned out that they were initiated to strengthen the independence of Montenegro.
The Metropolitan of Zvornik-Tuzla commented on Milatović's explanation for why he posthumously awarded Amfilohije the Order of the Great Star of Montenegro today.
"After reading this Milatović address, I was amazed at what I was reading and hearing: that Amfilohije was only a Montenegrin and that he 'spread the glory of Montenegro throughout the world'. Secondly, according to Milatović, that Amfilohije did nothing in 2006 to prevent the separation of Montenegro from Serbia. Thirdly, that Amfilohije also launched the 2019/20 litia in order to confirm the independence of Montenegro and distance it as much as possible from Serbia, and for Montenegro to accept the policy - Europe Now. There is more that Milatović said and it can be read in his address, which is already circulating on social networks. This cannot be understood otherwise than as the Montenegrinization of everything and everyone, including Metropolitan Amfilohije. If it is from Milatović, it is a lot," Fotije points out in a press release published on the website of the Diocese of Zvornik-Tuzla.
He pointed out that he had met Amfilohije before the President of Montenegro and said that generations and generations of students at the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade can confirm that the deceased metropolitan never said that he was a Montenegrin, "in the sense in which the esteemed Milatović wants to present him."
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"In everything Milatović said, which was mentioned at the beginning, we see an attempt to declare a great man of the Serbian Church a Montenegrin, and God forgive me for saying this, to make him like a groschen. Amfilohije was not that, nor did he teach us that, but to be people, as Patriarch Pavle said, people of Christ, people of God, people of Truth, people of hesychasts," said Photius.
He added that Amfilohije said and wrote in many places - in his sermons, texts and books - that Serbia and Montenegro were one.
"The esteemed Mr. Milatović reaches the crown of his presentation, or rather Montenegrinization, by mentioning the liturgies in Montenegro, which in his opinion, Amfilohije initiated in order to strengthen the independence of Montenegro, further distanced it from its sister Serbia. And he directed Montenegro on the only correct and possible path, and that is the path - Europe now, now or never. This means that without Europe there is no Montenegro, or anything. As for these words of Milatović about liturgies, we cannot call them anything else except - the most transparent misuse of liturgies for daily political purposes in the reality of Montenegro. We can say otherwise that Milatović's position on liturgies is not the truth, but a lie. A pure lie. Because it is known why liturgies were initiated in Montenegro - to preserve and protect the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. That and that alone was the reason for initiating liturgies, and everything else is a malicious interpretation and an attempt to desecrate liturgies," assessed Fotije.
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The Metropolitan of Zvornik-Tuzla joined the list of bishops in June who do not support the students in the blockade who launched protests in Serbia demanding accountability from the authorities after the collapse of a canopy in Novi Sad last year, when 16 people died and another was seriously injured. According to the Nova.rs portal, Photius wrote the poem "Smirenje" in which, among other things, he states that young people learn anarchy by accepting "demonic rebellion", emphasizing that their minds have thus become "satanic".
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