Abp. Elia Denounces Reporting on Rome Meeting as 'Disinformation'

Abp. Elia of Finland. Photo: Basilica News Agency

HELSINKI — Archbishop Elia of Finland has posted a clarification about a meeting with Boris Bojovic, head of the unrecognized "Montenegrin Orthodox Church," saying that there were no negotiations that took place in Rome.

Referring to reporting as "a masterclass in disinformation," the Archbishop said that he had a brief, two-minute encounter with an individual dressed as a bishop who identified himself as being from Montenegro, during a large gathering in Rome. "A photograph [was] taken in that moment," he said. "And from this, a narrative is spun."

"What occurred was a one-sided, two-minute encounter — the kind that happens at any large gathering where people cross paths," Archbishop Elia said. "Those who wish to construct elaborate stories from chance encounters may draw their own conclusions. The rest of us recognize this for what it is: the anatomy of a lie, laid bare."

The Archbishop's Facebook post uses a news graphic from the Union of Orthodox Journalists of America's reporting. In a story titled, "Rome Meeting Raises Questions Over Phanar’s Denials of Ties to Montenegrin Schismatics," the UOJ reported on this meeting with Bojovic and how it raises questions about Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon's recent statements about having no contact with the so-called "Montenegrin Orthodox Church."

Bojovic has interacted with hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the past, most notably with the same Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon during a service of the state-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in 2019. After that event, the Ecumenical Patriarchate released a statement saying there was no way for the hierarch to know who all the clergy were with so many present.

Members of the OCU have remained in touch with Bojovic. While in Rome, he met with Ivan Sidor, an OCU cleric.

Previously, UOJ reported that that the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation issued a statement calling Patriarch Bartholomew "Antichrist in a cassock" for continually engaging in "schismatic activity." 

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