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The Bishop of Budva-Niksic, Joanikije (Micovic), is known for entering the history of the church and the state of Montenegro as the first Serbian bishop arrested in the 21st century for the liturgy of Saint Basil on May 12 in Niksic, which was organized despite the ban on corona epidemics.
Bishop Joanikije (1959) was born in Velimlje, where he finished primary school. After high school in Nisic, he studied philosophy at the Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy and at the Faculty of Theology of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade.
Put ka vrhu
His monastic path, which began three decades ago in Celije Piperski, took him from the Savina monastery near Herceg Novi and the Cetinje monastery to the post of acting rector of the Cetinje seminary, where in 1999 he was elected vicar of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Litoral as Bishop of Budva.
“My mother always had the feeling that I would become a monk. She was happy when I enrolled in the Faculty of Theology and when she saw that I was visiting shrines, going to the Ostrog monastery and meeting many clergymen and priests, but she said: ‘You will not become a monk, God forbid.’ When, after much thought and when I couldn’t put it off any longer, I told him that everything was ready for me to become a monk, he received it with great motherly enthusiasm. “Son. , if it’s your choice, may I be blessed and be happy, “she told me with tears in her eyes. I was glad that she managed to outdo herself so quickly. My father also told me and cried. That was very difficult for me. My mother cried a hundred times, but somehow I could bear it, it was easy for her to cry. But when I saw my father cry, it was very difficult for me. However, I was decided, everything was clear and those moments passed “, told Joanikije how it all started .
In 2001, with the renewal of the Diocese of Budva-Niksic, which was founded by St. Sava in 1220, the Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church elected Bishop Ioaniki first as its administrator and then in 2002 as its bishop.
Since the Law on Religious Freedom was passed in Montenegro, people are usually guided in prayers and liturgies, and after May 12, which is traditionally organized as part of the great saint Saint Vasilije Ostroški, Bishop Joanikije was arrested. together with priests: Slobodan Jokić, Dragan Krušić, Vasilije Brborić, Danilo Zirojević, Željko Rojević, Ostoja Knežević, Nikola Marojević and Mirko Vukotić.
“I have no problem with that.” Sometimes I am ashamed to be free, that I am not in prison, considering everything that is happening, “he said a few hours before the police ordered him to remove his panagia and the cloak and put it in a cell.
They were questioned at the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Nikšić, and their “soul” was told that they had violated article 287 of the Montenegrin Penal Code (in translation, violation of measures to suppress the coronavirus).
This move by the Montenegrin authorities was interpreted by many as an own goal in a very important “match”.
And when the bishop was released after 72 hours and great pressure from the national and world public (a protest was organized in the streets of almost every city in Montenegro and the police reacted brutally using force), the people of Niksic and Berane gave him a wonderful welcome.
If the church is entrusted with the care of human souls, and yes, the protection of tradition, morals, spiritual and cultural values, and yes, the church has always declared itself, and that does not it is nothing unusual for civilized countries, but even desirable. In European countries, Germany, England, and others, the church is expected to participate in social life and speak out on all important issues that affect the destiny of the people and the state. Of course, we are not politicians, they decide on key questions of the State, and we know that, but no one can take away our vote as citizens to say what we think freely and consciously ”.
It is believed that thanks to him more than 60 churches and monasteries were rehabilitated and built in this diocese, monastic life was restored, the diocesan newspaper “Svevidje” was launched and publishing activities were launched.
In addition to dealing with theology, the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church and literature, Bishop Joanikije marked the 20th anniversary of the episcopal service in 2019 with the book “The light shines in the dark.”
In church circles, she is known as a calm and collected man and prayer leader, when many in the Serbian Orthodox Church would gladly see her at the helm. He is considered a bishop who defends his opinion before the highest ecclesiastical authorities, as well as before the state authorities.
His brothers, the archbishops, affirm that Bishop Joanikije is “a spiritual giant who can hardly be damaged or surpassed, much less broken.”
He is very proud of the people who have returned to the faith.
“In our time, atheists want to build their own churches.” When they started pushing Dedeić and his company to all the villages, they benefited us, because our people woke up. Many were completely indifferent to religion, and when they started putting pressure on them, people would say, ‘I don’t want this. Our people have awakened. “
Interesting data
The first is the bishop who received his page on social networks with the title: “Bishop Ioannicius as patriarch.”
Whereas he is also known in ecclesiastical circles as a calm and silent man whom many in the Serbian Orthodox Church would like to see at the head and who is already listed in the annals of recent Montenegrin history as the first Serbian bishop arrested in the century XXI in this Yugoslav Republic, we will only hear about Bishop Ioaniki.
He was taken into custody by the prosecutor Stevan Šekarić, when he baptized the bishop of Budva and Nikšić. The archbishop’s brothers call it the Prayer Book.
The International Academy of Personnel in Kiev awarded an honorary doctorate in December 2002.
Kurir.rs/Mondo.rs
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