Serbian Orthodox Church Metropolitan of Montenegro Amfilohije passes away

Photo: Tanjug/AP/Risto Bozovic

The Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) announced that Metropolitan Amfilohije passed away today at 8:20 this morning.

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"On Friday, October 30, 2020 at 8:20 am, in the Clinical Hospital Center of Montenegro, after receiving the Holy Sacrament of Communion, the Most Reverend Archbishop of Cetinje, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral and Exarch of the Holy Throne of Pec, Amfilohije, passed away," it was said on the Metropolitan's website.

It was also said that all other details about the funeral of the metropolitan would be announced soon.

Amfilohije was diagnosed with coronavirus on October 6, when he was received for treatment at the Clinical Hospital Center of Montenegro (KCCG).

His health had improved in the meantime, and on October 20, the results of the tests performed showed that he was negative for the virus. However, the health suddenly worsened yesterday, when it was noticed he suffered from a shortness of breath.

The head of the pulmonology clinic of the Clinical Center of Montenegro, Dr. Jelena Borovinic Bojovic, explained late last night that the sudden deterioration in Amfilohije's health was due to the development of pneumomediastinum as a consequence of bilateral diffuse pneumonia caused by coronavirus, as well as a coneqeunce of long-term oxygen therapy.

She said at the time that Amfilohije's condition was serious, and that after a scan of the lungs and pulmonary arteries and the progression of the respiratory insufficiency, he was intubated and placed in the mode of invasive ventilation.

Amfilohije was born as Risto Radovic, the son of Ciro and Mileva Radovic, on (Orthodox Christian) Christmas Day, January 7, 1938, in Radovici in Donja Moraca. He graduated from the Theological Seminary of Saint Sava in Belgrade and then from the Theological Faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade in 1962. He became a monk in 1967 in Greece, where he later became a hieromonk on July 21, 1968.

In May 1985, he was elected as the bishop of Banat. From Vrsac he moved to Cetinje, where on December 30, 1991, he was enthroned as Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, Zeta-Brdo and Skenderija and Exarch of the Pec Throne.

Metropolitan Amfilohije was the second in rank among the bishops in the hierarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, right after the Serbian Orthodox patriarch himself. In February 2012, he received an honorary doctorate from the Institute St. Sergius in Paris.

He spoke Greek, Russian, Italian, German, and French.

(Telegraf.rs)