Born on Christmas Day, he advocated for unification of Serbs: Who was Metropolitan Amfilohije

The Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Amfilohije passed away early this morning in the Clinical Hospital Center of Montenegro (KCCG).

Amfilohije was diagnosed with coronavirus on October 6, when he was admitted to the KCCG. His health had improved in the meantime, and on October 20, the results of the tests performed showed that he was negative for the virus. However, the situation suddenly deteriorated yesterday, when he experienced shortness of breath.

He was born as Risto Radovic, the son of Ciro and Mileva Radovic, on (Orthodox) Christmas Day, January 7, 1938, in Bare Radovica in Donja Moraca. He graduated from the Theological Seminary of Saint Sava in Belgrade and later from the Theological Faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade in 1962. In addition to theological sciences, he studied classical philology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade.

He continued his postgraduate studies in Bern and Rome. From there, he moved to Athens, where, during his seven-year stay, in addition to his daily parish service, he received his doctorate and defended his thesis, written in Greek, about St. Gregory Palamas, receiving the highest grade. Then, he spent a year on Mt. Athos and was then invited to teach at the Russian Orthodox Institute St. Sergius in Paris from 1974 to 1976, where, in addition to the other five languages ​​he had already mastered, he also perfected his French.

He became a monk in 1967 in Greece, where he later became a hieromonk on July 21, 1968.

Upon his return to Belgrade, Amfilohije was elected dean of the Faculty of Theology and associate professor, and at the end of 1985 he was ordained the bishop of Banat based in Vrsac, from where he moved to Cetinje on Christmas Eve 1991, when he was enthroned as Metropolitan of Montenegro-Littoral and exarch of the Pec throne, taking over the title from Bishop Vasilije.

He taught at the Faculty of Theology, University of Belgrade from 1980 to 2005, when he retired due to his numerous obligations.

After the death of Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle, on November 15, 2009, he was elected vicar of the patriarchal throne during an extraordinary session of the Holy Synod of Bishops.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of Bishops on May 21, 2010, he was appointed administrator of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren, and he left that duty on December 26, 2010 after the introduction of the Bishop of Lipljan Teodosije. At the regular May session of the Holy Synod of Bishops held from May 17 to 26, Metropolitan Amfilohije was appointed administrator of the newly established Diocese of Buenos Aires.

Metropolitan Amfilohije held the second highest rank among the bishops in the hierarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, right after the Serbian patriarch.

His stances

Amfilohije Radovic was often in the spotlight because of his views, and many resented him because, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, he advocated for unification of all areas where Serbs live.

Amfilohije belonged to a group of Orthodox priests who do not recognize the legitimacy of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, but also the existence of Montenegrins as a nation separate from Serbs.

He also opposed the independence of Montenegro and the country's accession to NATO, calling Montengro's recognition of Kosovo a betrayal.

After the Montenegro Assembly adopted the Law on Freedom of Religion at the end of December 2019, Amfilohije called on believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church to protest against that law, which, according to a part of the public, endangers the existence of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, i.e., allows centuries-old monasteries and churches to fall under the jurisdiction of the state of Montenegro.

Believers in many Montenegrin cities then took to the streets to express their dissatisfaction, and their example was followed by Serb believers in numerous cities in Serbia and the Serb Republic. In April 2020, Amfilohije and a group of Orthodox priests were arrested after a liturgy in the Zlatica monastery in Podgorica.

A statement issued by the Police Administration of Montenegro said, among other things, that the police detained citizens and clergymen who were in front of a monastery and a church in Podgorica, taking them "to the premises of the Security Center Podgorica in order to collect information regarding the said circumstances."

During the war in Croatia, he visited Montenegrin soldiers in the battlefields around Dubrovnik. In addition to Croatia, Amfilohije also visited battlefields in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the 1990s, he frequently visited Radovan Karadzic, the first president of the Serb Republic, and was close with former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his family.

Amfilohije was also known for his rather radical attitudes towards abortion and homosexuality. He called the former infanticide, and the latter an anomaly.

(Telegraf.rs)