Church dignitary blasts “made-up language”

14/1/2011

PODGORICA — The top Serbian Orthodox Church bishop in Montenegro says that the Montenegrin language was “made up”, and condemned those who said they spoke it.

Metropolitan Amfilohije made the statements in Podgorica last night, during the ceremonies to mark the Julian calendar New Year.

Before the recent introduction of the Montenegrin language, the majority population in that country officially spoke Serbian.

Now the metropolitan warned that Montenegro’s road to Europe “must be done in Cyrillic”.

“Some say, let’s change our language and introduce another, non-existent, which nobody ever spoke before in Montenegro. We can do that as well, but that will no renew the soul of Montenegro, her memory and her mind,” Amfilohije said in front of several thousand citizens gathered in front of a local church.

The SPC dignitary was also quoted as saying that “one does not go to Europe as a beggar, to make oneself bare, remove the clothes, like a member of the Zuku (sic) tribe”.

The metropolitan also reflected on the curse he recently put on at “anyone who wishes to demolish the tin church on Mt. Rumija”, and on comparing leader of the Democratic Alliance in Montenegro Mehmet Bardhi with “(Ottoman) Turks who brought down the honorable cross”.

Amfilohije said these were not instances of hate speech, but rather words of “love and most profound care”.

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