We are witnessing the escalation of a campaign of historical revisionism and the relativization of crimes, which the Serbian Orthodox Church is carrying out with the sole intention of provoking a civil war in Montenegro – there is no other explanation. This plan was launched a few months ago by Joanikije Mićović in Republika Srpska, known as a protector of pedophiles within the SOC, through the glorification of World War II collaborators as “heroic” figures. The latest act of this moral downfall comes from the “metropolitan” from Berane, a refugee from Sarajevo, who turns his personal frustrations and poisonous hatred towards Bosniaks and Montenegrins into sermons worthy of the darkest pages of history.

His words – that “above all, we must be like Pavle Đurišić, faithful to our kin, knowing that we are Serbs and Orthodox, because many of those who slaughtered us came from our own roots” – are nothing but the justification of crimes and the incitement of interethnic hatred. Such a message does not belong at the altar, but in the political propaganda of power centers outside Montenegro, which leads to new discord and violence within Montenegro.

There is no forgiveness for those who know the Gospel and yet turn away from the mercy of God, transforming criminals into false saints and bloodstained leaders into idols placed before and above Christ. They teach the youth that it is more important to belong to an ideology and a nation than to be a human being. This is not faith. This is not Orthodoxy, as the Serbian Church in Montenegro pretends to practice it. This is a demonic deception and a betrayal of everything that has been sacred and honorable in Montenegro. And to those who sow hatred, poison the people, and spit on the martyred blood of the righteous, let it be on their conscience and at the judgment of God: “May God curse you, vile renegades…”

Cetinje, August 10th, 2025
Archbishop of Cetinje and
Metropolitan of Montenegro
† M I H A I L O s.r.