Serbs of Montenegro - Culture - Religion - Serbian Orthodoxy in Montenegro

Serbian Orthodoxy in Montenegro

The Serbian Orthodox Church has been threatened in Montenegro. The newly formed Montenegrin Orthodox Church has claimed all Serbian Orthodox churches in Montenegro and is backed by a small percentage of all Orthodox Christians in Montenegro. The government has recognized the church, however none of the Eastern Orthodox churches have. The leader is the controversial Miraš Dedeić, a former Serbian Orthodox clergyman with Serbian nationalist views that after being suspended from the Serbian Church, went to Rome and became a Greek Orthodox clergyman. He formed a Serbian municipality within the Greek Orthodox church of Rome for his personal domain and was later suspended by the SOC after committing adultery with a younger woman. In 1997 he was excommunicated by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople from the Eastern Orthodox Church. MOC's leader is anathemized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and banished from Orthodoxy.

In April 2007, President Vujanović declared he would protect the property of the main religious institution in Montenegro, the Serbian Orthodox Church during an attempt of the non-canonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church to forcibly seize its property.

The Montenegrin Orthodox instigated a fight when they came and threatened Serbian Orthodox at the Cetinje monastery in 2009, Police broke the two groups.