Eastern Orthodoxy in Montenegro

Eastern Orthodox Christians in Montenegro (2011 census)

Eastern Orthodoxy in Montenegro refers to adherents, religious communities, institutions and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Montenegro. It is the largest Christian denomination in the country. According to the latest census of 2011, 446,858 citizens of Montenegro (72.07%) registered as Eastern Orthodox Christians. The majority of Eastern Orthodox people in Montenegro are adherents of the Serbian Orthodox Church. A minor percentage supports the noncanonical and unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which has the status of a religious non-governmental organization (NGO) since its founding in 1993.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The current Metropolitan of Montenegro and primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro is Joanikije II, who serves as 51st head since the establishment of the diocese in 1219. The seat of the diocese is the Cetinje Monastery, since 1484.

Meanwhile, the current Metropolitan of Montenegro of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church is Mihailo, who serves as 2nd head, since its re-establishment in 1993.

Demographics[]

According to the 2011 official census, of the total 446,858 Eastern Orthodox Christians in Montenegro, there are: 246,733 ethnic Montenegrins (55.22%), 175,052 of Montenegrin Serbs (39.17%) and 25,073 of other ethnic groups (5.61%)

Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro[]

Cetinje Monastery, seat of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral

Upper church of the Serbian Orthodox Ostrog Monastery

The Cetinje Octoechos

Four eparchies (dioceses) of the Serbian Orthodox Church cover the territory of Montenegro, two of them being entirely within its borders, and two partially:

Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, with seat in Cetinje Monastery,^[4]
Eparchy of Budimlja and Nikšić, with seat in Đurđevi Stupovi near Berane,^[5]
Eparchy of Mileševa, partially covers northwestern region of Montenegro, mainly the Pljevlja Municipality, and southwestern region of neighboring Serbia,
Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina, also covers a small coastal region of Sutorina, Herceg Novi Municipality in southwestern corner of Montenegro.

In 2006, the Bishops' Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church decided to form a regional Bishops' Council for Montenegro, consisted of bishops whose dioceses cover the territory of Montenegro. By the same decision, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral was appointed president of the regional Bishops' Council.^[6] The 17th-century Ostrog monastery is a religious landmark of Montenegro and the most popular pilgrimage site.^[7]

Independent churches and religious NGOs[]

In modern times, some independent groups and organizations emerged within the wider scope of Eastern Orthodoxy in Montenegro, challenging the traditional position of the canonical Serbian Orthodox Church in the country. Alternative religious movements are focused mainly on the creation of a separate and independent (autocephalous) Orthodox Church in Montenegro, receiving so far a limited support from the public.

Montenegrin Orthodox Church (1993)[]

In 1993, a group led by Antonije Abramović founded a separate religious organization, known as the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, receiving support from the Liberal Alliance of Montenegro, a minor political party that advocated the independence of Montenegro.^[8] Antonije was proclaimed Metropolitan of Montenegro by his supporters, but his movement failed to gain any significant support. It remained unrecognized, and was labelled as noncanonical. In 1996, he was succeeded by Mihailo Dedeić who tried to reorganize MOC, hoping that state independence of Montenegro, achieved in 2006, would secure wider political support for his organization.^[9] Those hopes were reinforced after the Moscow-Constantinople schism (2018), an event that caused great concerns among canonical Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Montenegrin Orthodox Church (2018)[]

In 2018, a group of priests of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC) split and formed an independent organization, claiming to represent genuine traditions of Montenegrin Orthodoxy.^[10] This split was headed by Vladimir Lajović,^[11] who became an archimandrite under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church of Italy (Italian: Chiesa Ortodossa d'Italia), a schism of the Orthodox Church in Italy, and another a noncanonical church body.^[12] Creation of MOC-2018 presented a challenge for the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, since the emergence of the new organization received significant public attention.^[13]

References[]

Sources[]

Aleksov, Bojan (2014). "The Serbian Orthodox Church". Orthodox Christianity and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Southeastern Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 65–100.
Bataković, Dušan T., ed. (2005). Histoire du peuple serbe [History of the Serbian People] (in French). Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme.
Buchenau, Klaus (2014). "The Serbian Orthodox Church". Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century. London-New York: Routledge. pp. 67–93.
Cattaruzza, Amaël; Michels, Patrick (2005). "Dualité orthodoxe au Monténégro". Balkanologie: Revue d'études pluridisciplinaires. 9 (1–2): 235–253.
Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Curta, Florin (2006). Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Džankić, Jelena (2016). "Religion and Identity in Montenegro". Monasticism in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Republics. London-New York: Routledge. pp. 110–129.
Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1994) [1987]. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Fotić, Aleksandar (2008). "Serbian Orthodox Church". Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Infobase Publishing. pp. 519–520.
Ivić, Pavle, ed. (1995). The History of Serbian Culture. Edgware: Porthill Publishers.
Jelavich, Barbara (1983a). History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. 1. Cambridge University Press.
Jelavich, Barbara (1983b). History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century. 2. Cambridge University Press.
Mileusnić, Slobodan, ed. (1989). Serbian Orthodox Church: Its past and present. 7. Belgrade: Serbian Orthodox Church.
Morrison, Kenneth (2009). Montenegro: A Modern History. London-New York: I.B.Tauris.
Morrison, Kenneth; Čagorović, Nebojša (2014). "The Political Dynamics of Intra-Orthodox Conflict in Montenegro". Politicization of Religion, the Power of State, Nation, and Faith: The Case of Former Yugoslavia and its Successor States. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 151–170.
Pavlovich, Paul (1989). The History of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Serbian Heritage Books.
Popović, Svetlana (2002). "The Serbian Episcopal sees in the thirteenth century". Старинар (51: 2001): 171–184.
Radić, Radmila (2007). "Serbian Christianity". The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 231–248.
Samardžić, Radovan; Duškov, Milan, eds. (1993). Serbs in European Civilization. Belgrade: Nova, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute for Balkan Studies.
Sotirović, Vladislav B. (2011). "The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć in the Ottoman Empire: The First Phase (1557–94)". 25 (2): 143–169. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Wachtel, Andrew B. (2004). "How to Use a Classic: Petar Petrović-Njegoš in the Twentieth Century". Ideologies and National Identities: The Case of Twentieth-Century Southeastern Europe. Budapest: Central European University Press. pp. 131–153.

External links[]

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[FOOTNOTECattaruzzaMichels2005235-253-1] Cattaruzza & Michels 2005, p. 235-253.

[FOOTNOTEMorrisonČagorović2014151-170-2] Morrison & Čagorović 2014, p. 151-170.

[FOOTNOTEDžankić2016110–129-3] Džankić 2016, p. 110–129.

[4] Official Pages of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral

[5] Official Pages of the Eparchy of Budimlja and Nikšić

[6] Communique of the Diocesan Council of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro (2010)

[FOOTNOTEBataković2005122-7] Bataković 2005, p. 122.

[FOOTNOTEBuchenau201485-8] Buchenau 2014, p. 85.

[FOOTNOTEDžankić2016120-121-9] Džankić 2016, p. 120-121.

[10] Večernje novosti (2018): Raskol raskolnika: Crnogorska pravoslavna crkva se podelila u dve frakcije

[11] Archimandrite Father Vladimir Lajović

[12] Chiesa Ortodossa d' Italia: Organizzazione

[13] Sloboda (2019): Novi raskol raskolnika: Samozvani mitropolit nepostojeće italijanske crkve se odrekao Miraša^{[permanent dead link]}

[note_n0-14] The ROC severed full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2018, and later severed full communion with the primates of the Church of Greece, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the Church of Cyprus in 2020.

[note_n1-15] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Autocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized.

[note_n2-16] Jump up to: ^a ^b Semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church whose autonomy is not universally recognized.

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