The patriarch spoke about the situation in Montenegro: I feel sad
His Holiness Patriarch of Serbia Mr. Porfirije spoke for the first time today about the opponents of the upcoming enthronement of Metropolitan Joanikije.
Source: B92
He pointed out that so far he has not said a single word about the events in Montenegro, but that he recognizes the modern mechanism of red herring.
"That is why I have not said a single word so far about what is happening in Montenegro, and we are really very sad and recognize the modern mechanism of imposing something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important issue, where you declare someone bad in advance, where you declare him a provocateur, creator of all possible problems and then create a legitimate right to restrain him from leading the paths of his freedom, which is at the same time love. Namely, for a normal, natural thing by which the church functions, and that is the enthronement of a bishop, and in this particular case, for centuries Orthodox metropolitans have been enthroned in Cetinje, someone has declared that this should not be the case, although we now have no other solution because we are implementing what is natural and normal, and we are defined as ‘someone who imposes something by force’ and as ‘someone who does not understand the situation’ and as ‘someone who provokes'.
"It's like someone telling you - You can't breathe air because that air doesn't belong to you! And you can't live without breathing because it's a natural and normal thing. Enthronement and everything the church does is always in the spirit of these words of Christ, in the spirit of what is based on faith and prayer, in the spirit of humility and in the spirit of love, the Church acts always and exclusively based on the Gospel. By its nature, the church is not there to resolve any political misunderstandings, it is not even there to influence them, let alone make political decisions", patriarch Porfirije said.
The church is not here to deal with state issues, the patriarch explained.
"The Church is the body of Christ, which means the community of all those who are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The body of Christ in which, according to the apostle Paul, 'there are no Greeks or Jews.' It belongs to whomever he wants and let him organize his life in the best possible way, but if he is Christ's and if he listens to the word of Christ, then he will always be a witness of peace", patriarch Porfirije said.
The patriarch pointed out that the enthronement of Metropolitan Joanikije should be based on faith, prayer, love and on constantly reminding ourselves that the word of Christ must be authoritative.
"If it is, we will have peace in our souls, and if it is not, we will be upset in the least," patriarch Porfirije said. It should be reminded that all opposition parties led by Djukanovic's DPS, numerous non-governmental organizations and individuals are against the enthronement of Metropolitan Joanikije, in the presence of Patriarch Porfirije.
Although the enthronement of the SPC Metropolitan is traditionally held in the Cetinje monastery, they demanded that the act be moved to another building on the territory of Montenegro built in recent decades or at the SPC headquarters in Belgrade.
The Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Joanikije, confirmed that his enthronement will be in Cetinje on September 5, despite calls for it to be moved to another location due to the raised tensions.
"It goes without saying that it will be in Cetinje," Joanikije replied.
