EU, Montenegro to Begin Membership Talks

Montenegro and the European Union (EU) are set to begin talks this week concerning the former's admission to the EU. They were scheduled after Montenegro met preliminary human rights and legal standards necessary for consideration for EU membership. More here.

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.

Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Visiting Montenegro

Patriarch Irinej (Gavrilovic) of Pech has begun a pastoral visit to Montenegro today, which will be his first to the country's Eparchy of Budimlje and Niksic. More 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 Suggests Self-Government for Orthodox Church in Montenegro

It has emerged that during his recent Montenegro visit the Russian Orthodox Church's Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk suggested to Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovic) of Cetinje that he should request some sort of self-governing status from the Serbian Orthodox Church for the Orthodox Church in Montenegro to help reduce the tensions between itself and the Montenegrin government. More 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 Hilarion Begins Visit to Serbia, Montenegro

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk has begun a 3-day visit to Serbia and Montenegro, meeting with Patriarch Irinej (Gavrilovich) of Pech, members of the lesser Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and the Serbian minister of foreign affairs shortly after his arrival today in Belgrade. More on that here.

During his visit to Montenegro Metropolitan Hilarion is expected to work to reconcile the Montenegrin government with the Orthodox Church in Montenegro, with meetings scheduled with the Montenegrin president and prime minister and with Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovic) of Cetinje. More on that here.

Montenegro Demands Orthodox Church Register

The Montenegrin Ministry of the Interior has overlooked laws in force and demanded that the Orthodox Church in Montenegro apply for registration as a legitimate religious organization. Under Montenegrin law religious organizations that existed at the time the last regulations regulating their existence was enacted in 1977 are not required to register with the government. More here.

Orthodox Church in Montenegro Responds to Illegal Immigration Claims

The Metropolitanate of Cetinje has responded to the Montenegrin government's claims that it has sponsored the illegal immigration of many of its clergymen from neighboring Serbia, noting that the cases cited by the government have all been in the process of legalization, a process apparently obstructed by the Montenegrin police and then used in the government's media campaign against the Orthodox Church in Montenegro. More (in Serbian) here.

Metropolitan Amfilohije Ready to Appeal Government Mistreatment to European Courts

Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan Amfilohije of Cetinje has stated that the Orthodox Church in Montenegro respects the independence of the Montenegrin state, but expects the state to respect the ancient structure of the Church. During his statements Metropolitan Amfilohije indicated that the Orthodox Church in Montenegro will appeal to European courts in Strasbourg and Brussels should the Montenegrin government not respect the freedom of the Church. More 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.

Controversy Over Montenegro's Sveti Stefan Church

The Montenegrin government has halted the reconstruction of St. Alexander of the Neva's Church in Sveti Stefan. Although formerly a parish of the Serbian Orthodox Church, since the Communist era St. Alexander's has been part of a resort on Adriatic Sea that is currently owned by a Greek company. A pause in the reconstruction of the church was agreed to by Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Lukšić and Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovic) of Cetinje. More here.

Montenegrin Metropolitan Calls on Flock to Freely Identify in Census

Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovich) of Cetinje, Montenegro, and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church has issued a press release exhorting his flock and all Montenegrins to participate in the upcoming national census "without fear and prejudice, without any ideological burdens...according to conscience and [their] responsibility before God, the people, and their descendants - to express their religious, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds." Orthodox Christians, however, were called upon to identify their faith. More here.

The press release comes after remarks by Patriarch Irinej (Gavrilovich) of Pech encouraging Montenegro's ethnic Serb majority to identify as Serb and by Muslim leaders in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia for Montenegro's Muslim minority to identify as ethnic Bosnians.

Serbian Orthodox and Yugoslav Muslim Leaders Call on Montenegrins to Identify in Census

Patriarch Irinej (Gavrilovich) of Pech of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Mustafa Ceric, head Bosnia-Herzegovina's Muslims, and Muamer Zukorlić, grand mufti of Serbia's Muslims, have all called on Montenegrins to freely identify their ethnicity and faith in the upcoming national census in Montenegro. Nationalists in Montenegro are pushing for the republic's citizens to identify as ethnic Montenegrins regardless of their actual ethnicity. More here.

Serbian Outreach to Diaspora Not Interference in Neighbors' Internal Affairs

Responding to protests from Serbia's neighbors in the Balkans, Serbian President Boris Tadic has stated that his government's efforts to more closely connect the Serb Diaspora with Serbia is not intended to interfere in the internal issues of Serbia's neighbor states as Serbia does not consider the Serbs there as living in diaspora and leaves to them the workings of their local and national governments. More 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.