The prime minister of Montenegro, Duško Marković, this week invited the Metropolitan Bishop of Montenegro and the Littoral, His Eminence Amphilochios, to dialogue over a contentious law that his government passed this month – legislation that the Orthodox Church in the small Adriatic country charges will lead to a confiscation of its pre-WWI properties and relics.
In an official letter, the Montenegro prime minister invited the Serbian Orthodox hierarch for talks over the law, which has generated intense criticism by the Church as well as twice-weekly peaceful rallies and mass prayer services by the faithful in cities around Montenegro. The rallies by the faithful, every Thursday and Sunday, aim to defend the rights and stature of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro.
In a very high-profile statement after officiating at a Divine Liturgy on Sunday, the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Irinej, charged that “…behind the authorities in Montenegro lie great and hellish forces, who are attempting to divide and destroy the Serbian Church.”