Head of 'Montenegrin Church' discusses prospects of Phanar-issued Tomos

Boris Bojović. Photo: risu.ua

Boris Bojović, the head of the non-canonical and schismatic "Montenegrin Orthodox Church", shared that his structure hopes to receive a Tomos of Autocephaly from the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In an interview with the RISU publication, Bojović stated that his structure "has contacts", and he hopes that "soon we will be able to go to the Phanar to communicate with representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople about the spiritual freedom of the Montenegrin people, who have significant problems in their relations with the Serbian Orthodox Church."

According to him, the Serbian Church "tries to assimilate Montenegrins so that they do not perceive themselves as a separate people, but as part of the Serbian one," which is "facilitated by the Belgrade regime".

He revealed that "the Patriarchate of Constantinople has now sent observers to check the internal organization of the 'Montenegrin Church'."

Bojović believes that "there is a problem faced by Montenegro itself, that all the ruling elite – the president, the prime minister, etc. – are pro-Serbian, pro-Russian, and also very closely connected with the Serbian Orthodox Church."

At the same time, the "hierarch" mentioned that "previously, there was an idea from President Djukanovic, who was in power about 30 years ago, to create a local Montenegrin Orthodox Church."

"He met with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, visited him about two times, and Bartholomew also visited us in Montenegro," Bojović said.

However, he admitted that "overall, we still do not have a unanimous opinion on what this should look like (autocephaly of the 'Montenegrin Church')." But he believes that, like other Orthodox peoples, the Montenegrin people deserve their autocephalous Church.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the vicar of the Serbian Patriarch stated that if Patriarch Bartholomew issued a tomos to schismatics in Montenegro, the Serbian Church would sever relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Later, the Prime Minister of Montenegro visited the Phanar, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, discussed the recognition of the "Montenegrin Church" with Balkan politicians.

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