The canonically unrecognised Montenegrin Orthodox Church said it wants the same rights as the government plans to give the larger Serbian Orthodox Church in the country under an agreement to be signed this week.
Montenegrin Orthodox Church liturgy in Podgorica. Photo: Montenegrin Orthodox Church
As the Montenegrin government prepares to vote on its agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church on Friday, the smaller, canonically unrecognised Montenegrin Orthodox Church has demanded the same rights as its counterpart is being given.
After Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic on Tuesday called for negotiations about the agreement with the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Mihailo said that it must be treated the same as the Serbian Orthodox Church, the largest Orthodox community in the country.
“The Montenegrin Orthodox Church clerics and believers must be allowed to hold religious ceremonies in Orthodox churches and monasteries which are cultural heritage. They are the property of the state of Montenegro, not the Serbian Orthodox Church,” Metropolitan Mihailo told the news website Standard.
Montenegro is preparing to sign a so-called ‘fundamental agreement’ with the Serbian Orthodox Church on Friday.
The agreement says the government is obliged to register all Orthodox churches and monasteries as belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church, and must start restitution processes for church property that was nationalised or confiscated by the Communist authorities after World War Two.
It also says that the state cannot give permission to build Orthodox churches without the approval of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
But the government in Podgorica could face more problems after on June 27 it called on all religious communities in the country to negotiate similar agreements.
Montenegro has 32 registered religious communities. According to the Freedom of Religion Law, religious communities can be registered by at least three adults.
As well as the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Islamic Community and the Catholic Church, registered religious communities include the Jewish Community, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Adventist Church.
Also registered are the Montenegrin Catholic Church and the Islamic Community from Sandzak, although they are not recognised by the Vatican and the Islamic Community of Montenegro. For years they have been demanding the same status as the Catholic Church and Islamic Community.
According to the agreements with the Catholic Church and the Islamic Community, the government cannot allow the building of Catholic or Muslim places of worship without their permission.
The government has signed several ‘fundamental agreements’ with smaller religious communities in the past: with the Catholic Church in 2011, and the Islamic and Jewish communities in 2012, but not until now with the Serbian Orthodox Church, even though it is the largest religious community in the country.
Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Jokovic said on Tuesday that government will vote on the agreement with the church at Friday’s session, despite the disagreements within the ruling coalition.
The largest ruling party, the Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, and the Social Democratic Party, SDP, criticised the agreement draft as too favorable to the Serbian Orthodox Church. They also called on the government to sign an agreement with Montenegrin Orthodox Church.
On Tuesday, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said that the fundamental agreement draft is unacceptable.
The plans to sign the agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church provoked protests by so-called patriotic organisations, which called for the government’s dismissal if the agreement is signed.
The Montenegrin Orthodox Church claims to be the successor to the autocephalous Orthodox Church that was suppressed in 1920 after Montenegro became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
The Serbian Orthodox Church is the largest religious community in Montenegro, while Montenegrin Orthodox Church remains unrecognised by the rest of the Orthodox world.
According to the census from 2011, 72 per cent of Montenegrin citizens identify themselves as Orthodox Christians; about 70 per cent of this number follow the Serbian Orthodox Church and 30 per cent identify with the Montenegrin Orthodox Church.
Montenegro, which declared independence in 2006, is a multi-ethnic society split between those who consider themselves Montenegrins, those who identify as Serbs and various other smaller groups.
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