Eastern Orthodoxy presence in Montenegro
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.
The current Metropolitan of Montenegro and primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro is
Joanikije II
, who serves as
56th head
since the establishment of the diocese in 1219. The seat of the diocese is the
Cetinje Monastery
, since 1484.
Demographics
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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 Nik?i?
, with seat in
đurđevi Stupovi
near
Berane
,
[5]
- Eparchy of Mile?eva
, 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.
Independent churches and religious NGOs
[
edit
]
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)
[
edit
]
In 1993, a group led by recalled
Orthodox Church in America
and
Serbian Orthodox
monk,
Antonije Abramovi?
reformed a separate religious organization, known as the
Montenegrin Orthodox Church
, at time receiving support from the
Liberal Alliance of Montenegro
, a minor political party that advocated the independence of Montenegro.
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
Mira? Dedei?
, controversial priest recalled by canonical Eastern Orthodox Churches back in early 1990s, Dedei? tried to reorganize MOC, hoping that state
independence of Montenegro
, achieved in 2006, would secure wider political support for his organization.
The MOC (1993) has been recognized as a religious NGO since 2001.
Montenegrin Orthodox Church (2018)
[
edit
]
In 2018, a group of priests of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC) split and formed an organization.
[10]
This split was headed by Vladimir Lajovi?, who after the split became, in June 2018, an archimandrite under the jurisdiction of the
Orthodox Church of Italy
(
Italian
:
Chiesa Ortodossa d'Italia
),
a schism of the
Orthodox Church in Italy
[
citation needed
]
which itself was under the jurisdiction of the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church ? Kyiv Patriarchate
.
[10]
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Aleksov, Bojan
(2014). "The Serbian Orthodox Church".
Orthodox Christianity and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Southeastern Europe
. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 65?100.
- Batakovi?, Du?an 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, Amael; Michels, Patrick (2005).
"Dualite orthodoxe au Montenegro"
.
Balkanologie: Revue d'etudes pluridisciplinaires
.
9
(1?2): 235?253.
- ?irkovi?, Sima
(2004).
The Serbs
. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
- Curta, Florin
(2006).
Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500?1250
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- D?anki?, 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.
- Foti?, Aleksandar (2008). "Serbian Orthodox Church".
Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire
. New York: Infobase Publishing. pp. 519?520.
- Ivi?, Pavle
, ed. (1995).
The History of Serbian Culture
. Edgware: Porthill Publishers.
- Jelavich, Barbara
(1983a).
History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press.
- Jelavich, Barbara
(1983b).
History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century
. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press.
- Mileusni?, Slobodan, ed. (1989).
Serbian Orthodox Church: Its past and present
. Vol. 7. Belgrade: Serbian Orthodox Church.
- Morrison, Kenneth (2009).
Montenegro: A Modern History
. London-New York: I.B.Tauris.
- Morrison, Kenneth; ?agorovi?, Neboj?a (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.
doi
:
10.1057/9781137477866_7
.
ISBN
978-1-349-50339-1
.
- Pavlovich, Paul (1989).
The History of the Serbian Orthodox Church
. Serbian Heritage Books.
- Popovi?, Svetlana (2002).
"The Serbian Episcopal sees in the thirteenth century"
.
Старинар
(51: 2001): 171?184.
- Radi?, Radmila (2007). "Serbian Christianity".
The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity
. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 231?248.
- Samard?i?, Radovan
; Du?kov, Milan, eds. (1993).
Serbs in European Civilization
. Belgrade: Nova, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute for Balkan Studies.
- Sotirovi?, Vladislav B. (2011).
"The Serbian Patriarchate of Pe? in the Ottoman Empire: The First Phase (1557?94)"
.
25
(2): 143?169.
- Wachtel, Andrew B.
(2004). "How to Use a Classic: Petar Petrovi?-Njego? 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
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
|
---|
- Ilarion I
(1220?1242)
- German I (1242?1250)
- Neofit (1250?1270)
- Jevstatije
(1270?1279)
- German II and Andrija (1279?1293)
- Mihailo I (1293)
- Jovan (1293?1305)
- Mihailo II (1305?1319)
- David I (1391?1396)
- Arsenije I (1396?1417)
- David II (1417?1435)
- Jeftimije (1434?1446)
- Teodosije (after 1446)
- Josif (1453)
- Visarion I (1482?1485)
- Pahomije I (1491?1493)
- Vavila
(1493?1520)
- German III (1520?1530)
- Pavle (1530?1532)
- Vasilije I (before 1540)
- Nikodim (before 1540)
- Ruvim I (1540?1559)
- Makarije (1560?1561)
- Ruvim II (1561?1569)
- Pahomije II (1569?1579)
- Gerasim (1575?1582)
- Venijamin (1582?1591)
- Nikanor I and Stevan (1591?1593)
- Ruvim III
(1593?1636)
- Mardarije
(1637?1659)
- Rufim IV
(1673?1685)
- Vasilije II (1685)
- Visarion II (1685?1692)
- Sava I
(1694?1697)
- Danilo I
(1697?1735)
- Sava II
(1735?1781)
- Sava II and
Vasilije III
(1750?1766)
- Arsenije II
(1781?1784)
- Petar I
(1784?1830)
- Petar II
(1830?1851)
- Danilo II
(1851?1852)
- Nikanor II
(1858?1860)
- Ilarion II
(1860?1882)
- Visarion III
(1882?1884)
- Mitrofan
(1884?1920)
- Gavrilo
(1920?1938)
- Joanikije I
(1938?1945)
- Arsenije III (1947?1961)
- Danilo III
(1961?1990)
- Amfilohije
(1990?2020)
- Joanikije II
(2020?)
|
|
|
|
---|
Sovereign states
| |
---|
States with limited
recognition
| |
---|