Joanikije's message ahead of the enthronement "Apology to all the people of Cetinje"
"I apologize to all the people of Cetinje, they haven't yet created their own state called Cetinje," Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Joanikije said.
Friday, 03.09.2021.
16:25
Joanikije's message ahead of the enthronement "Apology to all the people of Cetinje"
This is part of the interview of Metropolitan Joanikije for Radio Svetigora, which was published on the website of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral:"One of the events that preoccupies, not only the domestic but also the international public, the previous ten days, is the enthronement of the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, Mr. Joanikije. We are two days away from this solemn act. Many stories have been raised, many voices are heard, and we thought it was the right thing to hear the real and true messages and information from the person whose enthronement was in question. What is the act of enthronement?
"In this case, it is just a continuation of this Metropolitanate. I am the 56th bishop of this St. Sava diocese, which was later elevated to the rank of metropolitanate, and the 41st metropolitan to be enthroned in the Cetinje monastery. I was ordained a long time ago right here in the Cetinje monastery, I was ordained by the blessed Patriarch Pavle, at the suggestion of our blessed Metropolitan, in the presence of fifteen archbishops, and it is one of the few episcopal ordinations that took place in the history of this metropolitanate, the act after the election of a bishop or metropolitan to promote it, in a solemn way. By the way, as the administrator of this Metropolitanate after the death of the blessed Metropolitan, later elected Metropolitan, I already have all the rights and duties that a metropolitan has.
Let me remind you: who enthroned Saint Peter of Cetinje? One should not attach too much importance, because nothing more is added to a bishop or metropolitan than he already has, by the very act of enthronement, but that simply prevailed in the life of the Church, considering how important the service of a bishop or metropolitan is in a local church, while each episcopate may be called a small local church. Because of the importance of his ministry, a solemn act of enthronement is performed, with prayers for his successful work for the salvation of his flock".
When the Holy Synod decided that the date of enthronement should be September 5, after the regular session of the Holy Synod of Bishops in May, at which you were elected, the atmosphere and ambience were completely different, both in terms of some political tensions and the situation with coronavirus. What was the original plan and how was the act of enthronement conceived, considering that it coincided with the first arrival of His Holiness after the election to the position of Serbian patriarch.
"We thought to perform this holy act as our clergy and our believing people expect. That's how we imagined it and so we wanted to prepare for this ceremony. However, because of these various complications, because of some gangs that are organized to prevent not only the act of enthronement of Bishop Joanikije, but also to prevent the right and to endanger the freedom of the entire Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, all its faithful…
So, it went in some unwanted and unforeseen direction, raising tensions. Political aspect has been attributed to this act of enthronement. It was me who built my entire life into Montenegro and the Cetinje Monastery, who was here both as abbot and rector of the seminary and who served as a bishop for twenty years in the Diocese of Budva-Niksic, which is also in Montenegro. I guess the north of Montenegro is also Montenegro, not just Cetinje. Let me apologize to all the people of Cetinje, they have not yet created their own state called Cetinje. But well, we work in peace and we don't want to argue, we don't want to argue and we don't want to contribute to that noise that has risen these days. That is why, for the sake of brotherly love and harmony, we are not contributing to the further raising of tensions, we are not contributing to fraternal conflicts, we are doing everything we can to make it happen peacefully, to send messages of peace. We don't want to quarrel with our brothers, they are our brothers, they are my brothers, they are my people, even though they do not recognize me. Therefore, for the sake of lowering tensions and for the sake of peace in the house, we accepted the restriction that only the clergy should be in Cetinje, that His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije should come, that guests from other local churches should come to us, and we have a lot of visiting archbishops: from Jerusalem, Moscow, Kiev, Poland, Albania, Bulgaria. So, the act of enthronement will be conducted it in the presence of representatives of church municipalities and a few foreign guests from the side, civilians. Still in the presence of the people, but with a smaller number, in order to fulfill the essence of this holy act and to do it modestly, but to be solemn and beautiful, because in modesty beauty is manifested and maybe that modesty is pleasing to God and Saint Peter of Cetinje, and especially because we do not want confrontations, quarrels, fights, skirmishes here in front of the Cetinje Monastery, God forbid, and that is our position. If someone wants to quarrel, as the Holy Apostle Paul says: "We are not accustomed to that".
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