Amfilohije

Serbian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Joanikije and Patriarch Porfirije. Photo: Serbian Orthodox Church.

"We have arranged with His Holiness to agree on the date of signing the basic agreement. I am looking forward to the election of a new Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral with great faith that he will lead the people like his predecessor, the blessed Metropolitan Amfilohije," said Krivokapic who met with the Serbian patriarch in Belgrade on Thursday afternoon.

Serbs no longer go in for eerie "penetrating wails" as much as they did, but, as with Firmilian's death over a century ago, Patriarch Irinej's death last Friday is an event of much more than religious significance - which explains the three days of state mourning and telegrams from the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bishop Joanikije of Budimlja-Niksic. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Bishop Joanikije of Niksic and seven other priests were placed in custody for 72 hours on Tuesday for violating the ban on public gatherings after they and Metropolitan Amfilohije led a procession in the town to celebrate St Vasilije's Day on Tuesday with thousands of believers.

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.

Metropolitan Amfilohije, the Serbian Orthodox Church's most senior bishop in Montenegro, has called on citizens not to vote for those who supported the contested Freedom of Religion law in coming elections. 

During a Church-led protest against the law on Sunday, Bishop Amfilohije also again urged the government to withdraw the law which parliament passed late last year.

Mass protests of Serbian Orthodox Church clergy and their supporters continued across Montenegro at the weekend as the government and Church negotiate about the fate of the Freedom of Religion law adopted in December. 

He stated that the position of the Episcopal Council, the clergy, the faithful and the citizens who participate in the liturgies in that country is to go all the way till the goal is achieved, and that is - the "victory of Christ".

A legislative committee session is being held today in the building, on which the Government's Law on freedom of religion is on the agenda.
The Legislative Committee of the Montenegrin Parliament endorsed the majority vote by the government's Law on religious freedom.

Tensions in Montenegro could be heightened after the Serbian Orthodox Church holds an assembly and a protest rally in Niksic on Saturday against a controversial new law on religion.