Violence In Montenegro Shows Persisting Division In Balkans And Orthodoxy

The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Podgorica, Montenegro. Creative Commons photo.

(ANALYSIS) BELGRADE, Serbia— Serbia’s Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije recently prayed for the Balkan nation in a unity ceremony.

“I pray to God that we will never be moved by petty and selfish passions, against each other, but that we will be one in ourselves, one among ourselves, and that we will build unity with everyone,” he said.

The call for unity comes after violent protests against the Serbian Orthodox Church’s enthronement of a new metropolitan of Montenegro, Joanikije. Metropolitans in the Orthodox Church serve as bishops over a particular regional jurisdiction. 

Montenegro, formerly part of Yugoslavia, declared its independence from Serbia in 2006, but its Orthodox churches remains under Serbian control.

Protesters blocked many roads to the ceremony at the Serbian Orthodox monastery in Cetinje with burning tires and sit-in demonstrations and then threw rocks, bottles and firecrackers as church leaders arrived by helicopter to enthrone Metropolitan Joanikije. The police deployed tear gas on protesters and arrested more than a dozen of them. As many as 50 people, including 20 officers, were injured, Reuters reported, citing state authorities.

According to a 2011 census, Montenegro’s 620,000 people are 72% Orthodox Christians, 19% Muslim and 3% Catholic. The Serbian Orthodox Church has historically been the most popular religious institution in Montenegro.

In Montenegro, both the Serbian and Montenegrin Orthodox churches claim the rights to use Orthodox religious sites. But the Montenegrin Orthodox Church is not recognized by any other Orthodox church. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the global leader for 300 million Orthodox Christians, stated in 2019 that “the only canonical Church in Montenegro is the Metropolitan of Montenegro of the SOC (Serbian Orthodox Church). … I repeat, we will never grant autocephaly to the so-called Montenegrin Orthodox Church.”

To say the current situation in Montenegro is complex is an understatement. On one side are the newly formed pro-Serb government and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro; on the other are the pro-Western President Milo Djukanovic, with his Democratic Party of Socialists, and the Montenegrin Orthodox Church.

Djukanovic and his party were against this enthronement ceremony because they see the Serbian Orthodox Church as a Serbian-influenced assault on Montenegro’s identity. Djukanovic accused Serbia and the church of “dismissing Montenegro and Montenegrins, as well as the integrity” of his country and of promoting pro-Serb policies that are aimed at undermining Montenegrin statehood.

While Djukanovic visited Cetinje during the protests, Montenegro’s pro-Serb Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic went to Podgorica to welcome the Serbian patriarch.

Only 55.5% supported Montenegro’s referendum for independence in 2006. And by some census estimates, almost a third of the Montenegrin population identify as Serbs. 

‘The divisions have been artificially created’

After the enthronement ceremony, Metropolitan Joanikije stated that “the divisions have been artificially created and we have done all in our power to help remove them, but that will take a lot of time.”

The U.S. government reacted to the protests and violence on enthronement day with a statement insisting that “religious freedom and the freedom of expression, including to peacefully assemble must be respected.” 

Djukanovic said that protesters were guarding national interests, but Krivokapic said that the protests were “an attempt of a terrorist act.”

Tea Gorjanc-Prelevic, a human rights activist from Podgorica, told Serbian media that people have the right to protest against a religious community but don’t have the right to obstruct religious ceremonies because that is a criminal act in Montenegro.

Also, Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right of believers to meet peacefully in order to worship in the manner prescribed by their religion.

Nury Turkel and the Rev. Johnnie Moore, representing the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom under the Trump administration, published an op-ed article for Newsweek in 2020 discussing how Christians are under attack in Montenegro. They said they supported the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro and understood the Serbian Orthodox Church’s fear.

Questions of national identity and church-state relations

The Cetinje protests hit at disagreements over the relationship between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the government as well as national and religious identity in Montenegro.

Ahead of his new political agenda, Djukanovic said that Montenegro needs its own Orthodox church to cement its national identity. He openly supports the creation of a noncanonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church.

While the Orthodox Church condems nationalist churches, which it calls “ethnophyletism,” many Eastern European countries tie national identity to Orthodox Christianity — even with low church attendance — creating divisions at times with other Orthodox Christians, especially between two countries at conflict.

For example, in 2019, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine became autocephalous, meaning Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople granted the church permission to self-govern, break away from the Russian Orthodox Church and no longer answer to the Moscow patriarch. The Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church have a close relationship, and Ukraine remains in a slow-moving war with Russia over Russian annexed territory.

After the Orthodox Church of Ukraine became autocephalous, many warned that inter-Orthodox religious tensions between church authorities of Moscow and Constantinople could spread to the Balkans.

Patriarch Bartholomew enjoys good relations with the U.S. and many see his acts as being under U.S. influence. Because of that, the Moscow-Constantinople clash is seen as a U.S.-Russia conflict. The creation of the new Ukrainian church was openly supported by the U.S. and Trump administration.

Soon after that, Djukanovic said he hoped for a “Ukrainian scenario” for the Montenegrin church.

Meanwhile, the Cetinje event raises questions about secularism in Orthodox-majority countries today and the state’s interference in religious matters.

Tensions in Montenegro are likely to continue. On Sept. 14, the Cetinje town assembly held debates about returning the Cetinje monastery to the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, but the government decreed that the monastery should be state-owned and banned any transfer of ownership rights. 

On Sept. 26, Porfirije will visit Montenegro to enthrone Metodije as the bishop of Budim-Niksic.

Mladen Aleksic is a freelance journalist who covers the Orthodox Church as well as a theologian and elementary school teacher in Serbia. He writes for various Serbian media outlets as well as Balkan Insight, Global Comment and Christianity Today. Follow him on Twitter @MladenAleksic85.