Church leaders in the Balkans have also claimed that Wurst's win is responsible for floods in south-east Europe in May 2014, which left over 60 people dead. Metropolitan Amfilohije, the Montenegrin patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church claimed that "this [flood] is not a coincidence, but a warning" and a "reminder that people should not join the wild side", Patriarch Irinej, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs has reportedly said the floods are "divine punishment for their vices" and that "God is thus washing Serbia of its sins". Wurst had previously been condemned by the Russian Orthodox Church. However Fr. Michael Unger, Tom Neuwirth's childhood Catholic priest, condemned the homophobic backlash against him, and said that he is "just happy that he's happy".