Serbian Orthodox Church leader tests positive for coronavirus in Montenegro

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Church leader tests positive for coronavirus in Montenegro

October 7, 2020

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, which led months of protests against the small Balkan state’s pro-Western government, has been hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus, the church said Wednesday.

It said Bishop Amfilohije, 82, was feeling fine and had no major symptoms. He has been taken to a hospital in the capital, Podgorica, for preventive reasons.

Ahead of a parliamentary election in August, the largest faith group in Montenegro has led months of protests by its believers against a property law adopted by the parliament in December.

The pro-Russian Serbian Orthodox Church has argued that the law allows the Montenegrin state to confiscate its property as a prelude to setting up a separate Montenegrin church. This has been denied by the government.

The protests, some held in defiance of a ban on public gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, have managed to galvanize the opposition, which narrowly won the vote in August.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-montenegro-elections-parliamentary-elections-podgorica-78a9883d669863875cf0fa4a38e7650a


In this photo taken Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020, Serbian Orthodox bishop Amfilohije prepares to vote in parliamentary elections at a polling station in Cetinje, some 30 km south of Podgorica, Montenegro. The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, which led months of protests against the small Balkan state's pro-Western government, has been hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

[edhopper]

1. May he

go with God.

[cilla4progress]

2. Do you have a connection there,

Eugene?

We were contemplating a trip there this fall, before all hell broke loose!!