The Archbishop of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro, Mihailo, has sent an official letter to His Excellency Mr. Matei-Viorel Ardeleanu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to Montenegro. The letter concerns the uncanonical, unlawful and morally unacceptable activities of the defrocked layman Bojan Bojović, as well as the misuse of the name of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church on the canonical territory of the sister Romanian Orthodox Church. In the letter, the Metropolitan requested that the competent Romanian authorities take the appropriate measures and expressed his readiness for a personal meeting with the Ambassador.

We publish the letter of the Metropolitan of Montenegro, Mihailo, in full.

Your Excellency,

I am writing to you in connection with deeply alarming information and an official representation received by our Church on 22 June 2026 from Ms. Andreea Pascu (), a copy of which was also sent to journalist Andrei Udisteanu () of the Romanian investigative platform Recorder. The representation concerns a request to review the alleged affiliation of a monastery located in Ernei, Mures County, Romania, with the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. It states that on 19 June 2026, one Emilian Prodan, presented as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church in Romania, performed the ordination of Ovidiu Ciobota as a priest in said monastery. The monastery building is the property of Cristian Pomohaci, a former member of the Romanian Orthodox Church who was excluded from it in 2017 and who is currently held in pre-trial detention in Romania under suspicion of particularly serious criminal offences, including sexual offences against minors and possession of high-risk narcotic substances.

The Montenegrin Orthodox Church categorically rejects, with disgust and the deepest indignation, any association with the aforementioned monastic project or the persons mentioned therein. Our Church has never received that monastery into its structure, nor does it recognise any ordinations or acts performed under our misappropriated name. All these activities are carried out in blatant violation of the canonical territory of our sister autocephalous Romanian Orthodox Church, which provokes our justified outrage and strongest condemnation.

These scandalous acts are part of the broader destructive activities of layman Bojan Bojovic (former Vicar Bishop Boris), who was canonically defrocked and returned to the rank of layman by decision of the Holy Hierarchical Synod of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (Act No. 50 of 13 September 2023). The said layman has for some time been disturbing Montenegrin and Romanian Orthodox public opinion by falsely presenting himself as the alleged head of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, while our Church has its own legitimate head and clearly defined canonical structure.

We wish to inform you that the Montenegrin Orthodox Church has filed with the competent state authorities of Montenegro an initial criminal complaint on 25 July 2024, followed by an official supplement on 8 June 2026, against layman Bojan Bojovic (born 01.12.1981, residing at Lovcenska bb, Cetinje). Both complaints were submitted to the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Cetinje on suspicion that he has continuously committed the following criminal offences: Forgery of Documents (Art. 412 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro), Special Cases of Document Forgery (Art. 413) – where the misuse of the original seal and dry stamp of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church is separately documented and prosecuted, Causing False Certification of Content (Art. 415), and Fraud (Art. 244).

The financial investigation in Montenegro is focused on the fact that monetary donations collected from citizens and the diaspora in the name of our Church are not deposited into the official bank account of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church held at NLB Bank (account no. 530-467-57), but are instead diverted to the account of a third legal entity – the Non-Governmental Foundation ‘Lucindan’ Cetinje (account no. 510-0000000179604-63, PIB 11078672). These abuses continue despite official decisions of the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro (No. UPUV-10-081/23-85/11 and Certificate No. UPUV-10-081/24-46/2 of 19 June 2024) which explicitly confirmed that the Montenegrin Orthodox Church is represented solely by the Archbishop of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro, Mihailo.

Within his para-church project, which is today in complete disarray, Bojovic has performed three false ordinations, none of which can be considered valid from the standpoint of canonical law, since Bojovic does not possess a legitimate episcopal grace through which he could transmit priestly office:

(1) FIRST FALSE ORDINATION – Domenico Cantore (Bishop Kyriakos): Performed on 12 November 2023. Cantore is a former Italian Roman Catholic priest who publicly repented for his homosexual past. He accepted the title of ‘Bishop for Greater Greece’, paying Bojovic 500 euros for it – a classic act of simony (purchase of an ecclesiastical office). The Roman Catholic Church defrocked him, and the Italian authorities never recognised him. He severed ties with Bojovic on 31 October 2024 with a letter of repentance, describing him as a dictator connected to dangerous Masonic and occult organisations (link: https://www.cpc.org.me/latinica/naslovna/izabrano/2803-pokajao-se-clan-bojanovog-laznog-sinoda/).

(2) SECOND FALSE ORDINATION – Ivan Olescuk (Bishop of Duklja): Performed on 13 November 2023. Olescuk is a married former Ukrainian parish priest, which by canonical rules excludes him from the episcopal office. He arrived in Montenegro as a refugee. Olescuk is not a member of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, nor does he have its blessing for his activities in Montenegro. On social media he presents himself exclusively as ‘Bishop of Duklja Ivan’ with the Ukrainian flag and the name ‘Ukrainian Orthodoxy in Montenegro’, with no reference whatsoever to the Montenegrin Orthodox Church.

(3) THIRD FALSE ORDINATION – Jovan Kozmin Barza (false Bishop Luka of Prevalitana): Performed on 5 August 2024 in Romania, in the courtyard of a private ‘church’ and centre for dubious ‘healings’ located on the property of Cristian Pomohaci. Barza is a defrocked Romanian priest previously convicted of domestic violence against his wife, leading to divorce. The Romanian Orthodox Church conducted disciplinary proceedings against him for departing from the faith and participating in esoteric television programmes with fortune tellers and sorcerers, and defrocked him in 2020. Fearing the Montenegrin public’s reaction to the name ‘Joanikije’, Bojovic arbitrarily changed Barza’s monastic name to ‘Luka’. Barza remained in Bojovic’s organisation for only 88 days before being expelled on 1 November 2024 for fraud. The expulsion document is available at: https://gorjeanul.ro/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/NOT-75NV24-BARZA-2.jpg and further details can be found at: https://www.cpc.org.me/latinica/naslovna/izabrano/2988-joanikije-treci-i-potonji-put-medu-crnogorcima/.

We draw particular attention to the self-styled ‘bishop’ Emilian Prodan, whom Bojovic falsely ‘ordained’ approximately two weeks ago. This man’s real name is Grigore Ioan Prodan, which he changed during a criminal investigation in order to cover his tracks. Prodan is a former Romanian police officer, dismissed from the service due to criminal activity and sentenced in 2014 to 2 years and 8 months in prison. He is married, which canonically excludes him from the episcopate. He declared himself a priest and healer, performing magical rituals for money and deceiving sick people, who regularly report him to the police. In these fraudulent activities he cooperates with Sidonia Marin, the ‘princess of white magic’, wife of the leader of a known criminal clan, whose political influence has secured the promotion of this magical business.

Within Bojovic’s and Prodan’s circle there also operated Gabriel Teodosije Vlad, who served as Bojovic’s ‘priest’ and Barza’s secretary in Romania. Vlad was caught attempting to sexually exploit a minor at a railway station, and during his flight by car he injured two people (footage of the incident: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K62SzvUOzHo). He is also under investigation for shoplifting while dressed in priestly robes and for construction fraud.

Despite all the above, Bojovic deceived the Montenegrin public by claiming he had made an official visit to the Romanian Orthodox Church in Romania, which prominent clergy of that Church have denied to us. He also fabricated receiving the relics of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and a particle of the Holy Cross from Prodan – a grave manipulation and deception of the faithful. Bojovic established in Romania the so-called ‘Vicariate of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro in Romania’, an unregistered and unknown entity. All such ‘vicariates’ have completely collapsed, and detailed statements were published on our website in the announcement of 31 August 2025.

The Montenegrin Orthodox Church, as early as 18 April 2024 in Cetinje, issued an official statement signed by the Archbishop of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro, Mihailo, unequivocally distancing itself from any connection with Bojovic’s activities and warning the faithful of the danger of accepting false relics and para-church structures. The statement is available at the official website www.cpc.org.me.

We respectfully request that you inform the competent state and security authorities of Romania, as well as the respected Romanian Patriarchate, so that they may take the appropriate legal measures within their jurisdiction, review the status of the aforementioned individuals, and prevent further damage to the reputation of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church through the misuse of its name.

Recognising the diplomatic standing and significance of Romania as a member state of the European Union, which consistently upholds the highest European standards, democratic values and the rule of law, I would greatly value the opportunity for a personal meeting. I believe that such a meeting, in the spirit of the long and good tradition of cooperation between the Montenegrin Orthodox Church and the Embassy of Romania in Montenegro, would be the best way to exchange relevant information and jointly contribute to the protection of the legal order and the prevention of further misrepresentation.

Awaiting your response and the opportunity to meet, I extend my warmest regards.

Yours sincerely,

Cetinje, 28 June 2026

Archbishop of Cetinje and

Metropolitan of Montenegro

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