Last Sunday, in the capital of the Republika Srpska town of Banja Luka, a mass action took place in support of the Montenegrin people in the fight against the Law on Freedom of Religion and Legal Status of Religious Communities, which allows authorities to confiscate Orthodox shrines.
Twenty thousand Orthodox believers took to the streets on the Feast of Epiphany to participate in prayer and procession. The lithium was attended by the Serb representative to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, Milorad Dodik, the President of the Republika Srpska National Parliament, Nedeljko Ćubrilović, and the Mayor of Banja Luka, Igor Radojić. The procession was led by Bishop Efrem, priests and monks from local Orthodox churches.
“I am glad that Litija was joined by a large number of citizens who decided to devote their weekend to expressing solidarity with our spiritual goals, in order to show unity and commitment to Serbian holy places wherever they are”, – commented on the action Milorad Dodik.
The politician believes that the law on religious freedom in Montenegro should be repealed, because it threatens the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC).
Recall that in December 2019, the Parliament of Montenegro by a majority vote of the ruling coalition approved this law, which caused significant public outcry and mass protests of Orthodox believers. The SPC fears that this document will initiate the seizure of Serbian church property in favor of the unrecognized in the Orthodox world Montenegrin Church.
The other day, the “metropolitan” of the self-proclaimed Montenegrin “autocephalous church”, Mikhailo Dedeic, stated on a Croatian TV channel that the Republika Srpska is “a state in a state”, which, in his opinion, is impossible. Commenting on Dedejić’s remarks, the Serbian representative to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, Milorad Dodik, stressed that the self-proclaimed “metropolitan” had a place in a psychiatric hospital, not on television.