State, Church, and Silence: Cover-Ups within the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro

By Bojan Jovanović

Bojan Jovanović, a former Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) priest and now Secretary General of the Christian Alliance of Croatia, alleges widespread sexual abuse and cover-ups within the SPC, including in Montenegro. He condemns Montenegro’s decision to honor Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović, accusing him of concealing pedophilia and exploitation in monasteries such as Cetinje and Dajbabe. Jovanović cites testimonies, police files, and media investigations. He asserts that the SPC and state institutions protect abusers and suppress justice, calling their silence criminal complicity. He is cooperating with Interpol and the EU to expose an organized network of clerical sexual abuse dating back to 1978.

The issue of sexual abuse within Orthodox-oriented religious communities in the region and beyond has long been a taboo topic. In Montenegro, this is an especially sensitive matter because the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) is perceived as a political actor. Therefore, says Bojan Jovanović, a former SPC priest and now the Secretary General of the Christian Alliance of Croatia, in an interview for Television E, the decoration awarded to Amfilohije is interpreted as a political message continuing the state-church alliance.

In Montenegro, he adds, live those who organized sexual abuse within the SPC. A priest who was arrested in Belgrade with videos showing an SPC bishop engaging in sexual intercourse with a minor is now serving in Montenegro.

“He is preaching to your children about Christianity, the beauty of faith, baptizing them, teaching them religious education. That is absurd. During that investigation, we gathered additional evidence and other witnesses. Many trails lead to the current so-called Metropolitan Joanikije, and I hope that soon all those responsible will have to sit before the police authorities and tell what they know,” claims Jovanović.

TVE: The President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, posthumously awarded Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović the highest state decoration. In an open letter to Milatović, you warned, among other things, that Amfilohije Radović for many years covered up pedophilia, pimping, and the sexual abuse of minors in monasteries. You mentioned the Cetinje Monastery and Dajbabe Monastery. Why did you decide to do this, and what evidence do you have to support what you said in your open letter?

Jovanović: This year, I have written over 200 texts on the topic of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), published from The New York Times to outlets in Australia. I have given statements to around 30 media organizations, 16 of them in the United States, as well as in Austria, Germany, and elsewhere. I did not write this letter to Mr. Milatović for personal recognition, but purely out of moral obligation. The decision to posthumously award Amfilohije Radović the highest state honor was a blow to many victims who have tried for decades to speak out.

We are talking about a man who, for years, held top authority within the SPC and who, according to testimonies I have collected from priests and victims, concealed cases of pedophilia, pimping, and sexual violence in monasteries. I mentioned the Cetinje and Dajbabe monasteries, but that is not all—there is more that we will talk about. I specifically mentioned the Dajbabe Monastery, where the late abbot Theodosije used to bring young men. I was then a court deacon there, so I am certain that this happened. Not to mention the investigation later conducted in the Cetinje Monastery.

The evidence I refer to is not sensationalist—there are testimonies from former priests, current priests, and victims’ statements, as well as records from commissions that investigated and documented these matters. Unfortunately, the institutions never prosecuted any of it. Part of this information has already been featured in international documentary films broadcast by BBC Serbian, Al Jazeera Balkans, and others.

The topic of sexual abuse within Orthodox religious communities in the region and beyond has long been taboo. In Montenegro, it remains especially sensitive because the SPC is viewed as a political force. That is why Amfilohije’s decoration is interpreted as a political message—a continuation of state cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church.

TVE: Did you expect any reaction from President Milatović to your open letter, or to the appeal by dozens of NGOs not to award Amfilohije Radović this decoration? If not, why?

Jovanović: A few months ago, after years of struggle and knocking on many doors, I received a summons to come to the police in Belgrade, where I currently live. They asked me if I knew why I had been called, and I said I did not. They told me I had been summoned at the request of the prosecutor’s office because Interpol had launched an investigation into pedophilia in the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) and the murder of a child in a monastery belonging to that church.

I testified for three hours and fifteen minutes. I received commendations from the police for finding evidence and for my persistence. They themselves said that this was the kind of work the police should have been doing—not a priest or an individual. I am now waiting for further steps from Interpol and the prosecutor’s office, the continuation of the investigation. This is very important because it is not about isolated incidents but about an entire network within the SPC that extends into Montenegro.

You should know that the time will come when the state authorities of Montenegro will have to open an investigation and take action at the request of Interpol. I can tell you that other police forces from the region and beyond will be involved, because this story reaches even into the European Union. When the full investigation begins, know that it will shake both the Serbian government and the SPC itself.

In Montenegro, there are people who were organizers of all this. A priest who was arrested in Belgrade with videos showing an SPC bishop having sexual intercourse with a minor—there is a statement from that child, now an adult, all the evidence exists, including the film. That man was arrested when he tried to sell those films to me. It is probably a unique case in the history of policing: after such an operation, all the evidence disappeared. The materials never reached the prosecutor’s office, and the perpetrator was released from custody and allowed to leave the country. That man now serves in Montenegro, teaching your children about Christianity, the beauty of faith, baptizing them, and giving them religious instruction. That is absurd.

During that investigation, we gathered other evidence and other witnesses. Many paths lead to the current so-called Metropolitan Joanikije, and I hope that soon all those responsible will have to sit before law enforcement and tell what they know.

TVE: Let us go back twenty years, to Bosnia and Herzegovina, specifically Bijeljina, and the case of then-Bishop of Zvornik-Tuzla, Vasilije Kačavenda. You were the one who brought attention to the issue of abuse under the auspices of the Serbian Orthodox Church through the Kačavenda case. However, despite the footage you released in 2011, when you accused him of pedophilia, debauchery, and involvement in murder, the Synod of the SPC did not punish him. What does that tell you, and what was the position of Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović on the matter at that time?

Jovanović: The Kačavenda case is a mirror of a system that protects the powerful and punishes those who speak out. In cooperation with the police, the prosecutor’s office, and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) itself, I worked on that case, gathering evidence, and in the end, we released a film about it. What was shown publicly was only a small fragment of that film, as the full version was seized by the Serbian police—and the Synod came to his defense.

Amfilohije Radović, who initially said that Kačavenda should be punished, eventually withdrew from the matter and began defending the institution itself—the SPC. He did not stand with the victims. In doing so, he sent the message that church authority stands above justice and that crimes can be concealed if the perpetrator wears a cassock.

The case of Bishop Vasilije Kačavenda was the first serious test of the SPC’s moral responsibility. Instead of a transparent investigation, it ended with his quiet withdrawal and retirement. This approach reveals a pattern. I can tell you that similar investigations were conducted both before and after the Kačavenda case, and that it is neither the only nor the worst case.

The new cases—of which I possess the complete documentation, which we will submit to Interpol and the relevant authorities—will fully open that already half-open Pandora’s box. They tried in every way to cover it up, but perhaps it is better that the Kačavenda case was never brought to a formal conclusion, because otherwise, they might have managed to bury some things permanently. This way, we have obtained a much broader picture, and we will be able to expose the entire, extensive network that has been engaged in these crimes for years—indeed, for decades. I have evidence dating from 1978 to the present day, amounting to more than six thousand pages.

TVE: For years you have been fighting against abuse and pedophilia within the Serbian Orthodox Church. Yet both the SPC and the judicial institutions in the region remain silent. What does that tell you, and do you believe that the crimes you speak of will ever be punished?

Jovanović: Silence is complicity. These are people who conceal crimes, and they will be punished together with Kačavenda and all the others involved. The silence of our institutions is not simply a matter of bureaucratic corruption—it is a matter of a criminal system. The SPC and the Serbian government are jointly covering it up.

However, the entire matter has now reached the international level. Foreign media have been reporting on it extensively. Last year, I helped establish a registry of individuals connected to pedophilia and sexual abuse within Orthodox-oriented religious organizations. Only about five percent of cases are reported—that represents over 17,000 victims. The Serbian Orthodox Church ranks second after the Russian Orthodox Church, accounting for 21.3 percent of those cases.

That is an enormous number of people who have endured sexual abuse and undergone psychological evaluations. All of them suffer from severe psychological trauma—the so-called “F diagnoses” (psychiatric disorders). The state pays them no attention. When some of these people later commit crimes, no one recognizes the underlying causes of their suffering.

I have twice been to Istanbul, meeting with respected figures in Turkish society who are close to the Ecumenical Patriarch. I wrote a letter that was delivered directly into the Patriarch’s hands, detailing these issues in the Balkans. I appealed for him to become involved in these cases. I am now awaiting a hearing before the European Parliament, where I plan to open this debate broadly. I hope they will have the mechanisms necessary to bring all these cases to a just conclusion.

Source: https://etv.me/politika/jovanovic-doci-ce-dan-kad-ce-drzavni-organi-crne-gore-morati-da-pokrenu-istragu-po-nalogu-interpola-o-pedofiliji-i-seksualnom-zlostavljanju-u-spc.