Montenegrin Orthodox Episcopal Council Meets

The Episcopal Council of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro has held a session near Danilovgrad, Montenegro, with Metropolitan Amfilohije of Cetinje, Bishops Filaret (Micevic) of Mileseva, Joanikije (Micovic) of Budimlje, and Grigorije (Duric) of Zahumlje, and retired Bishop Atanasije of Zahumlje participating. (The diocesan boundaries of the Serbian Orthodox Church don't always correspond to current territorial realities, hence the inclusion in the Episcopal Council of hierarchs based in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.)

The assembled hierarchs discussed at length the need for legal regulation of the relationship between the Montenegrin government and the Church of Montenegro that would respect the former's non-interference in the canonical structure and internal life of the Church. At its close the Council reiterated the Church of Montenegro's commitment to caring for the spiritual needs of all the Orthodox faithful in Montenegro regardless of their ethnic or political background. More (in Serbian) here.

Montenegrin Metropolitan Rejects Government Commitment Dialogue as Farcical

The head of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovic), has condemned the Montenegrin government's commitment to dialogue over the issue of church unity in Montenegro as a farce, noting that in the aftermath of the recent visit of the Russian Orthodox Church's Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) leaders in the Montenegrin government began denouncing the latter's statements on the canonicity of the Church of Montenegro as attacks on Montenegro's sovereignty. More (in Serbian) here.

Metropolitan Hilarion Meets with Montenegrin Metropolitan, Officials

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk has begun his visit to Montenegro, on his first day meeting with Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovic) of Cetinje and Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic to reassure both the Orthodox Church in Montenegro and the Montenegrin government of the Russian Orthodox Church's recognition and support of the canonical Church of Montenegro against the claims of nationalist schismatics led by a defrocked clergyman of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Metropolitan Hilarion is expected to meet today with Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Luksic upon the latter's return from Serbia. More here.

Montenegrin PM Visits Serbia, Speaks on Montenegrin Orthodoxy

Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Luksic has begun a state visit to Serbia to discuss relations between Serbia and Montenegro, generally deemed to be at a historic low, and negotiate joint infrastructure and economic projects. Commenting on recent issues between the Montenegrin government and the Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Luksic stated that it was not his government's intention to alter the canonical foundation of Orthodoxy in Montenegro, but rather to encourage the unity of the Church of Montenegro to strengthen the Montenegrin state. More here and here.

Metropolitan Amfilohije Responds to Montenegrin Court

Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovich) of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro has responded to a Montenegrin court's claim that he is in contempt of court for not appearing at a hearing, sayign that he was not informed of the court date and did not learn of it until Montenegrin newspapers began running the story that he had defied the court's summons. More (in Serbian) here.

Cetinje Metropolitanate Sues Montenegrin Government

The Orthodox Church in Montenegro is suing the Montenegrin government in the European Court of Human Rights for the return of properties alienated from the ownership of the Church that are currently being considered for transfer to the ownership of a small schismatic church headed by a Serbian Orthodox clergyman previously defrocked by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. More here.

Orthodox Church in Montenegro Rejects Proposal of a Change in Its Status

The Orthodox Church in Montenegro has released a statement criticizing the recent proposals of a major Montenegrin political party regarding changing the status of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which is currently part of the Pech Patriarchate based in Belgrade. Among other things the statement notes the irony of an avowedly secular political party making proposals vis-a-vis changing the affiliation of a purely religious organization. More (in Serbian) here.

Update: A good English-language article surveying the issue can be found here.

Orthodox Church in Montenegro Responds to Property Dispute in Cetinje

In the wake of another attempt by the uncanonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church to seize the property of the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro in the royal capital of Cetinje the Metropolitanate of Cetinje has issued a press release reviewing the history of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro as well as its legal standing and the illegality of the Montenegrin government's interference in the dispute on the side of the defrocked priest who leads the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. More here.

Meeting of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro Held

A meeting of the Metropolitanate of Cetinje, Montenegro, and the Littoral was held yesterday to discuss the state of the eparchy and the currently difficult relations between the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro and the Montenegrin government. The situation increasingly mirrors that of newly independent Ukraine in the 1990s, with the exception that the schismatic Montenegrin Orthodox Church does not enjoy broad support in any part of the country. More on the meeting can be found here.

Montenegrin Prime Minister to Resolve Church Land Issues

The new Prime Minister of Montenegro, Igor Lukšić, has committed his government to resolving the land issues surrounding the Metropolitanate of Cetinje of the Serbian Orthodox Church in his country. Claims against its churches and monasteries by a schismatic Montenegrin Orthodox Church, properties alienated from the Church under the Yugoslav Communist government, and local court rulings changing property ownership from being in the name of the Cetinje Metropolitanate to being in the names of local parish and monastery associations have all troubled the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro in recent years, especially since Montenegro's independence from Yugoslavia in 2006. More here.

Pictured is the Monastery of St. Peter of Cetinje in Cetinje, Montenegro, which serves as the seat of the canonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church.