February 21, 2020. 19:48
Metropolitan Amfilohije, the Serbian Orthodox Church’s
most senior bishop in Montenegro, said Defence Minister Predrag Boskovic should
return the medal the Church gave him, as he no longer deserved it.
“The Synod of
the Church will have to take away the Medal of St Sava from Boskovic. He cannot
put on the Medal of St Sava, while spitting on St Sava and the saints,” the
bishop said during a protest in the town of Pljevlja.
The Church’s
governing synod awarded Boskovic with its highest decoration, named after
Serbia’s patron saint, in 2011, mainly for his contribution to the construction
of a church in Pljevlja, when he chaired the board of the local coal mine.
He angered the
bishop on January 17 when, on the public broadcaster, he accused the Church of
using the protests against the new law on religion to negate Montenegrin
identity and undermine Montenegro as an independent state.
He accused the
Church of effectively wanting to be above and outside the law, and above the
state of Montenegro.
On Wednesday,
Army Chief General Dragutin Dakic told television station Vijesti that
any soldiers or officers taking part in recent protests against the new law
risked being forced out, as there was no place in the military for those who
want to defend the Church from the law.
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