Cetinje Mayor wants SPC Bishop’s enthronement ceremony moved

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The enthronement ceremony of the new Montenegro-Littoral Bishop Joanikije has been scheduled for September 5 in Cetinje but the mayor of that town is calling diplomats to help have it moved.

Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Patriarch Porfirije will perform the enthronement ceremony at the Cetinje monastery, Podgorica daily Pobjeda said on Wednesday adding that the list of people invited includes state officials, cabinet ministers, party leaders, foreign diplomats and the judiciary. “Patriarch Porfirije will serve mass at the Cetinje monastery as well as the ceremony to enthrone Metropolitan Joanikije,” the daily quoted the invitation.

The SPC Montenegro-Littoral Bishopric was left vacant when Bishop Amfilohije died several months ago with the SPC and the Montenegrin authorities debating who would take over and when. Bishop Joanikije was chosen to succeed Amfilohije. The authority of the SPC is disputed by some Montenegrins. The previous government introduced a law which critics said would strip the SPC of all of its properties, possibly including the Cetinje monastery, in the country in favor of the unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MPC) which is headed by a defrocked SPC priest. Montenegro-born Bishop Amfilohije was a fierce critic of the Montenegrin authorities under President Milo Djukanovic.

Pobjeda said that protests have been called for September 5 forcing the National Security Agency (ANB) to consider how to provide security during the enthronement ceremony including providing a helicopter to take the Patriarch and bishop from Podgorica to Cetinje.

Cetinje Mayor Aleksandar Kascelan sent letters to the heads of foreign diplomatic missions calling them to prevent the ceremony from being held in Cetinje. “I respect religious rights and civil liberties but I believe that preserving the peace has to be a priority at this time,” the letter said.