Press Release

These days and months we have witnessed all kinds of violence in Montenegro. From showdowns between dangerous criminal clans to other extremely violent attacks on the streets of Montenegro, which also seriously disturb the public.

Believing that the competent security services are diligently doing their duty, we find it appropriate to address the public and everyone who cares about the voice of the Church and peace in our homeland.

First of all, we would like to express our concern about the fact that in such a small Montenegro, there is, at least according to the information that is constantly reaching the public, such a large number of members of organized criminal groups. We appeal to young people to stay away from crime, which, although it provides them with seemingly easy income, in fact poses a mortal danger to them and harms the society in which they and their children should live in the long term. From our pastoral experience with people who have crossed these legal boundaries, we do not know that there are those who want their children to live lives similar to theirs. However, any crime, especially violent and corrupt, creates a new spiral of violence and, without a doubt, produces negative and tragic consequences for the entire society.

It is understandable that in a country that has been so thoroughly economically and in terms of values ​​destroyed for many decades, some young people are looking for their perspective in quick ways of earning money. But their expectations are an illusion, which will not only not help them in life, but will often cost them and many others around them their lives.

The golden rule of life remains the gospel saying that you should not do to others what you do not want others to do to you, as well as the popular saying that there is no knowledge without pain. A good and meaningful life is achieved with God's blessing and hard work.

The violence that occurred the other night in Podgorica by those whom the state accepted as our fellow citizens, and which caused an avalanche of dissatisfaction among the citizens of Montenegro, is completely unacceptable. It leads us to reconsider public policies and personal convictions. However, it must not encourage us to take revenge, lynching and incite hatred against those we consider guilty. Especially not hatred towards entire peoples and cultures.

Violence is an act of an individual, always and everywhere. Not because groups of people cannot commit collective crimes, because throughout history we have been witnesses and victims of this, but because everyone who commits violence has personal responsibility. Responsibility before God and before people.

Let us not allow ourselves to fall into the traps of those who have just collectively accused us of being evil, backward and criminal. Let us not be irresponsible like individuals who even use such incidents to incite hatred against those they consider to be the culprits on duty.

Responsibility before God will be measured by God when we come before His face, but responsibility before people is one of the greatest, perhaps the only essential, achievement of modern civilization. This responsibility is reflected in the aspiration for the rule of law as a set of rules and norms that regulate society through democratic consensus, and is reflected in the expectation that institutions serve the people, not to be self-sufficient and in the service of any individual social group (class, religious, cultural, linguistic, etc.). This attitude about the equality of all has its roots precisely in the biblical understanding of every person as a unique person created in the image of God.

For these reasons, it is natural to expect that Montenegrin state institutions, in the new circumstances, freed from decades of shackles of authoritarianism and the rule of one person, party, social group, will create conditions for Montenegrin citizens to feel safe in their country.

One way to do this is certainly to establish appropriate control over those who come to our country from abroad. Of course, it must never again be allowed that poets, university professors and religious figures are accused as those who, in the opinion of malicious individuals and groups, allegedly threaten local security, without having committed a single criminal act, while at the same time dangerous international thugs, criminals and those convicted of corruption find refuge here. Of course, it is up to the state to establish fair and clear procedures in relation to these issues.

The Church once again, on the eve of the feast of Saint Peter of Cetinje, the greatest Montenegrin fighter against blood feud, violence and all injustice, calls for peace and restraint, not for revenge and violence, but for the consistent application of the law, recalling the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

Congratulating all Orthodox believers on the feast of Saint Peter of Cetinje, we call for peace and blessings upon Montenegro and all its citizens.

Metropolis of Montenegro and the Littoral

Cetinje, October 28, 2025