Mihailo: The Montenegrin Orthodox Church is today on Golgotha, crucified by those who serve other people's interests

The Montenegrin Orthodox Church (CPC) is today, unfortunately, on Golgotha, crucified by those who serve other people's interests, pierced by the spear of its sons and daughters, misled by false teachings, so-called street litanies and conceited "kings of the squares" - peddlers of fog and wolves in sheep's clothing, stated Metropolitan Mihailo of the CPC in his Easter epistle.

"Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on the eve of the greatest Christian holiday – the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ – we gather in faith, hope and love, celebrating the victory of life over death and of truth over all deception. Before the glorious Resurrection of the Lord, we witnessed the Resurrection of man through the example of the Four-Day-Old Lazarus. The Lord then said: "Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep, but I go that I may wake him up." (John 11:11). And indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, thus revealing to us the mystery of the Resurrection. These words of Christ are not addressed only to Lazarus, but to every believing person. We are called to vigilance – not to sleep in sins, indifference and forgetfulness of God, but to awaken to life in truth. "We are all called to be in communion with God, and the pinnacle of that communion is precisely the Resurrection - eternal life in Christ," he stated in the epistle.

Therefore, says Mihailo, every person should ask themselves: will the Lord recognize them as his friend?

"Being a friend of God is the greatest honor and the most exalted title a person can receive. But that honor does not come without responsibility. One cannot be called a friend of God who is not a friend of the Church of God, who brings discord, who is a schismatic and troublemaker, nor one who works against his brothers, his people, and his state. A friend of God is one who cooperates with Christ, who builds peace, and bears witness to love in word and deed," the metropolitan emphasizes.

He added that believers should be guided by the words of the Psalmist: "Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee from His face."

"We must know that God never abandons His own and that His justice is eternal justice. We call on all those who have followed the paths of discord to unite around the Passionate and Just Church of Christ and around the centuries-old Montenegro. May the Risen Lord grant peace to your homes, harmony among brothers and sisters, and strength to the Montenegrin people to persevere on the path of preserving dignity, freedom, and justice. Only that which is resurrected in Christ and through Christ is eternal. Everything else is transient. Therefore, with faith in the Risen Christ, I greet you with joyful words: Christ is Risen! Truly Risen! May Montenegro be eternal!", the letter concludes.