Written by Andrej Nikolaidis, CdM columnist
Between Christ and Pavle Djurisic, Metodije Ostojic opted for the latter. After that, no one can help him anymore. I just want to say this: in truly Orthodox communities, people are excluded from church for much less.
What’s a statue of a butcher, a war criminal, and a recipient of Hitler’s medal doing in a church, where Ostojic himself moved it? https://www.cdm.me/politika/istorijske-cinjenice-cetnickog-komandanta-i-ratnog-zlocinca-pavla-durisica-odlikovao-adolf-hitler/
Didn’t Jesus drive the merchants out of the Temple? See the Gospel of John, 2:13–25. What do you think he would do with the worshipers of murderers?
Ostojic’s decision to bring the statue of a false idol into the temple of Christ’s Father is an act of appalling paganism. Idolatry is strictly forbidden in Orthodoxy. The pagan orgy in Zaostro, under the patronage and organization of Ostojic, quite predictably ended with a mob nearly lynching journalists. What, if not violence, could anyone expect from people who celebrate war crimes? What, if not offering another human sacrifice to their false god, could be their next act of worship?
When Jesus comes down among us again, he will drive out those who hide their hatred behind his love with a whip. Priestly robes and lofty church titles won’t save you. He will come for you first. I’m sure of this, and for that I pledge my soul and risk the torments of hell. And you – are you sure that Ostojic is doing the right thing? Or is it easier to pretend you don’t understand that yesterday he defiled the church, which, after his pagan orgy, must be consecrated again?
In terms of politics, yesterday’s events in Zaostro were a classic joint BIA/SPC psychological warfare operation, carried out to weaken the Government of Montenegro, deepen ideological divisions, and ultimately, in combination with actions yet to come or already happened, prevent Montenegro from joining the EU.
The Government seems broken. Of course, Mandic’s supporters backed Djurisic’s worshippers. Deputy Prime Minister Becic mumbled something not even daring to mention Ostojic or the church or the Chetniks, trying to “fairly distribute” the responsibility for the Chetnik event. Spajic’s reaction was harsh, he engaged in a polemic with Ostojic – but he’s all alone in that, which was the point of this whole church-intelligence operation.
The Government didn’t stop the SPC from doing what they wanted. Just like the DPS-run government couldn’t prevent the installation of a tin church on Rumija. In that sense, the SPC displayed a classic show of force. Here’s the subtext: Spajic got the message – the SPC might be his enemy, too. For example: if it ever occurred to him to expel the former DF from the government.
With yesterday’s move, the Serbian Orthodox Church once again confirmed that the problem with it is not that it’s Serbian, but that it’s not enough of a church. That “church” craves Christianization. The heresy of ethnophilia has ethically cleansed Orthodoxy out of it. Over a “church” whose metropolitan brings statues of false idols, who are in fact real war criminals, into God’s temple, one may either weep or laugh, but its alleged Orthodoxy cannot be seriously discussed.
There’s no theological basis for what Ostojic did yesterday — on the contrary. Just as there is no theological basis for svetosavlje – because Saint Sava didn’t write a single theological line.
Which leads us to a key problem, from which stems the pagan revelry that took place yesterday in Zaostro. svetosavlje is not an ideology but an anti-Western, anti-liberal, aggressive political program. The father of svetosavlje is not Saint Sava, but rather Nikolaj Velimirovic and Justin Popovic – both of whom the SPC has declared saints.
Popovic was a militant opponent of ecumenism and no less a militant anti-communist. His impact within the SPC ensured a number of bishops on whom Popovic had a decisive impact: with Amfilohije being the most powerful among them. Justinovci, as Popovic’s influential students in the SPC were called, persisted in their relentless criticism of the West, the rationalist tradition, and liberal democracy, thereby making their teacher’s doctrine the dominant narrative in that religious organization.
Velimirovic, whom Popovic described as “the greatest Serb after Saint Sava,” was an ardent supporter of Adolf Hitler and a notorious antisemite, who wrote the thesis that the father of the Jews is none other than Satan himself.
The intellectual tradition created by Popovic and Velimirovic quite naturally and logically produces sympathies for fascism and Nazism, recognizing them as anti-communist forces. Anything that opposes communism, which they saw as the ultimate evil, is considered an ally. From that position, it’s easy to ingratiating oneself with Biroli, as Joanikije I used to do, as well as to the Iron Cross Pavle Djurisic received from Hitler.
However, all of this has nothing to do with Orthodoxy. It’s all blasphemy against Christ and God the Father.
(The opinions and views of our columnists aren’t necessarily the opinions or views of the CdM news team)
