Russian-backed Bishop Joins Montenegro Church Protests

A senior Russian-backed bishop in Ukraine will lead a prayer walk in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, on Saturday, joining protests led by the Serbian Orthodox Church against a recently-adopted law on religious freedom.

The bishop, Onufriy, will be the first foreign church representative to join the protests, reflecting tense relations between the Montenegrin government and Russia.

"He and his four bishops will visit Montenegro, bring blessings to Ukrainian holy places, and support the Church in the defense of holy places," the Serbian Orthodox Church said in a statement.

The Serbian Orthodox Church has led mass protests since December over a law it says is designed to strip the church of its property.

The Church has denied Russia is involved, rejecting claims that Moscow wants to foment opposition to a government that took Montenegro into NATO in 2017 just months after accusing Russia of backing an alleged coup attempt.

In a January 4 letter to Serbian Patriarch Irinej, Onufriy compared the situation in Montenegro to Ukraine, where the Ukrainian Orthodox Church gained autocephaly in 2019 over the objections of the Kremlin and the Moscow Patriarchy.

"Our Church, too, endured in the last year the developments known to the entire Orthodox world and similar in many ways to what is now beginning to happen in Montenegro," he wrote.

"These are the capturing of our churches, beating of the faithful, discriminatory laws against our Ukrainian Orthodox Church and many other things."

On December 15, 2018, a Unification Council held in Kyiv stripped Onufriy of the title of metropolitan over his loyalty to Russia, giving instead to the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Epifaniy.

Serbian Patriarch Irinej and...