Another provocative statement by the President of Montenegro about the Government’s aspirations to take national features as a basis for the establishment of a local church has caused a wide public response.
This was reported on Tuesday, May 19, by the Serbian editorial office of News Front.
Speaking at a press conference, President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic offered the canonical Serbian Orthodox Church a “promising” proposal to “become part of” the unrecognized formation of the “Montenegrin Orthodox Church. The politician also noted that the SPC had rejected this idea.
“In this case, they have to be the Church of National Serbs in Montenegro, and we’ll have to create a church of Montenegrin nationalities in Montenegro”, – said the president. – “In this case, we will seriously work on the formation of the Orthodox Church of Montenegrins.
It’s unacceptable that the head of state suggested creating a nationalist church, commented former Minister of Religious Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Professor Bogoljub Shijakovic.
“It would be caricaturistic and comical if it were not tragic, but could become even more tragic”, – he admits.
According to the expert, there is also a national moment in the name of the Serbian Orthodox Church, however, it is a consequence of historical circumstances – the Serbian Orthodox Church has united around itself a specific nation that has preserved its identity. At the same time, the SPCA is the church of all Orthodox Christians in its canonical jurisdiction area and does not divide its parishioners by nationality.
“In Montenegro, all Orthodox believers, regardless of whether they are Serbs or feel like Montenegrins, go to this church because it is their church, they always see it as their own. And it’s the church that never asks who they are by nationality or political beliefs”, – said Shijakovic.
Church schism in Montenegro
Since last year, protests related to the provocative law “On Freedom of Religion” have not subsided in Montenegro. Its democratic name conceals the authorities’ attempt to legitimize the unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which is active in the country.
The law provides for the forced nationalization of a large part of the property of the Montenegrin-Primorska Metropolitanate of the Serbian Orthodox Church, to which the vast majority of Orthodox believers in the country belong.
The Government was attempting to requisition churches, monasteries and other shrines in favour of dissenters.
The expert community acknowledges that the scandalous law leads to serious violations of the rights of the canonical Orthodox Church.