politics
March 30, 2026
Gojko Perović and Grigory in Electoral Silence
I am not inclined to casually interpret church events as political, nor do I view every public appearance of the clergy through the prism of ideological function. However, what happened in Budva, at the book promotion of Bishop Grigory, with the participation of priest Gojko Perović, can no longer be dismissed as such naivety. It was not a book promotion, but a political performance. And a performance that, in an analytical sense, fulfills all the conditions of a thoughtful public intervention: temporal precision, discursive coherence, and a clearly defined political effect. Held during the electoral silence in Serbia, this event gains the character of indirect political action displaced from formal institutional frameworks. Precisely this displacement is not accidental, but essential.
TL;DR
- The book promotion in Budva was deemed a political performance, not a cultural event.
- The timing during Serbia's electoral silence and the location in Budva suggest strategic political intent.
- The event's discourse focused on themes like student protests and church 'diversity' to normalize a specific political narrative.
- The actions of Perović and Grigory are seen as coordinated, aiming for public influence without direct accountability ('washing hands').
- The event is interpreted as an attempt to pressure Metropolitan Joanikije into more explicit political positioning.
- The author asserts that the Budva event is part of a broader process of internal politicization of the church.
- The line between the spiritual and the political was intentionally blurred, with significant implications for the institution.
- The public is perceived to recognize the difference between pastoral care and political rhetoric and can sense when an institution is used as a tool.
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