Metropolitan of CPC Mihailo said that three relics kept in Montenegro – particle of Saint Cross, hand of John the Baptists and icon of Lady of Philerme (Filermosa) belong to the state, and SPC does not have any rights to them.
Metropolitan Mihailo said that if SPC tries to prove its ownership of relics in court, it will surely lose.
„Icon of Lady of Philerme, particle of Saint Cross and hand of John the Baptist are not owned by either Serbian nor Montenegrin church, but by the state of Montenegro”, Mihailo said.
Mihailo said that these three relics were owned by Maltese Order of Knights until 1788.
„They ran before Napoleon, and took the relic with them, giving them to Russian Emperor Pavle. They were kept with Russians until 1918, when they were given to the mother of Emperor Nikola, Maria Fyodorovna”, Mihailo said.
She ran to Denmark and took them with her, and in 1928 they were taken to Belgrade and gifted to King Aleksandar.
„His son gave them to be kept in monastery Ostrog. Police found them in 1952, and kept them until 1978”, Mihalo said.
