Serbian Bishop Grilled in Montenegro Over Illicit Funeral

Serbian Orthodox Church Metropolitan bishop of Montenegro, Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovic) leads a protest rally in Podgorica, Montenegro. Photo:PA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC

"Metropolitan Amfilohije denied that he violated the ban by the national coordination body for infectious diseases on public gatherings," Milanovic told the daily newspaper Pobjeda.

On April 23, the bishop and an opposition Democratic Front MP, Andrija Milosevic, were both summoned for hearings in the state prosecutor's office for attending a funeral in defiance of government bans on public gatherings.

They were attending the historian Vlado Jovicevic's funeral, while Amfilohije led the service. Media reported that the Serbian ambassador, Vladimir Bozovic, was also brought before the prosecutor's office for attending the same funeral.

On Tuesday Amfilohije insisted that all government health measures were respected at the funeral. Only the historian's family, "some monks, Mandic, me and the Serbian ambassador were aty the funeral, all keeping our social distance", Amfilohije told the daily newspaper Vijesti.

Earlier, on April 12, Amfilohije was questioned by police for holding a prayer service at the Zlatica monastery in the capital, Podgorica, allegedly breaking the same bans on gatherings.

The police directorate said he was questioned alongside other priests and believers for violating the ban on holding religious ceremonies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Church authorities called it an attack on the Orthodox faith.

Due to the coronavirus, Montenegro has prohibited all public gatherings, including religious ones, and only priests and a small circle of close family members and friends can attend funerals. They must also observe social distancing...