Church in Montenegro Marks Centenary of Romanovs’ Deaths
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| Russian Imperial Family. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/ ru.wikimedia. |
The Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro has commemorated the centenary of the killing of the Russian imperial family at Ekaterinburg with numerous events held under the slogan “The Romanov Family – 100 years of Holiness”.
Ending on Wednesday, the church held four days of masses for the Romanov family across the country, organized roundtables, exhibitions and book promotions while hosting the Russian Church and state officials.
In the monastery of Dajbabe, near the capital, Podgorica, the Serbian Church also erected a memorial to the Russian royal family who were assassinated by the Bolsheviks one year after the revolution that ended 300 years of Romanov rule.
Russia’s last tsar and his family were shot on the night of July 16, 1918. Besides Nicholas II, they killed the Empress Alexandra and all their children, Alexei, Olga, Tatyana, Maria and Anastasia.
The Russian Church canonized the imperial family in 2000 and their remnants are now held in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. The Serbian Church also considers the martyred Romanovs as “saints“.
The Serbian Orthodox Church said on Wednesday that people in Montenegro should never forget their gratitude to the Tsars.
“Without the help of Russia, there would have been no liberation of our people from Ottoman slavery… We are aware of this, and with the great gratitude we remember the great love of the Russian people and the Russian tsar for Montenegro,” Joanikije, the Bishop of Budimlike-Niksic, said.
The masses and other events were attended by delegates of the Patriarch of Alexandria, Theodore, Moscow Patriarch Kiril, representatives of the Orthodox Palestinian Society, Russian scholars, academics and former state officials from Moscow.
The Serbian Orthodox Church’s senior bishop in Montenegro, Amfilohije, said that the murder of the imperial family had been a great crime.
“They killed the emperor and the empress, and even though the emperor had given up power to save his people, they killed their children … You can imagine what a crime that was,” Amfilohije said.
The Russian and Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro cherish close relations dating back to the 19th century, during the rule of the Montenegrin prince-bishop, Njegos.
Relations between the two governments, however, have cooled markedly since Montenegro joined Western sanctions against Russia in 2014 over the crisis in Ukraine.
Relations with Russia deteriorated further after Montenegro joined NATO last June. Moscow had warned that it would “freeze joint projects with Montenegro” if it joined the alliance.
Ties become even more frayed last October when Montenegro accused Russians of standing behind an alleged coup attempt aimed at overthrowing the pro-Western government and assassinating the then Prime Minister, Milo Djukanovic.
Moscow called the accusations absurd, with some Russian media outlets ridiculing Podgorica’s claims that its intelligence and security agencies only narrowly thwarted a Russian plot.
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