The authorities of Montenegro, under the guise of an epidemic, are preparing to confiscate Orthodox property

Not a single case of coronavirus has been identified in Montenegro, but using the pandemic as an excuse, the country’s government suspended consultations with the Serbian Orthodox Church on the law “On Freedom of Religion” and banned all public events in the open air.

Balkan media reported this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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The government of Montenegro canceled a meeting of expert groups of the Montenegrin-Litovian Metropolis of the SOC and the government itself to discuss the scandalous law “On Freedom of Religion,” according to which the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church could be nationalized. The official explanation for the suspension of the consultation process is the coronavirus epidemic.

Also, the authorities of the country announced a ban on mass events in the open air, and the Montenegrin-Littoral Metropolis complied with this decision of the ruling regime.

“As a responsible spiritual institution entrusted with the spiritual care of the Orthodox people of God, we will respect the decision of the competent government authorities regarding the threat of an epidemic,” the metropolitanate said in a special statement. “In this regard, until these measures are stopped, the Metropolis will suspend holding lithiums on Thursdays and Sundays, but we will pray to God, the Healer of all diseases and infirmities, for the health of everyone in Montenegro and for the healing of the sick all over the world.”

At the same time, representatives of the metropolis called on the Montenegrin authorities to refrain from starting to implement the discriminatory law until compromise solutions are found as a result of negotiations between the regime and the church.

“Taking into account the extraordinary circumstances, we understand and accept the reasons for the delay [of expert consultations],” the Montenegrin-Littoral Metropolitanate said in a statement. “However, trust, which has been particularly undermined in recent months, forces us to reaffirm our clear position on the discriminatory law. We speak on behalf of hundreds of thousands of dissatisfied citizens who, for three months now, have been declaring during crowded rallies that they do not agree to lawlessness and the theft of sacred objects, showing that this law is unacceptable and inapplicable in its controversial provisions.”

However, in reality it turns out that the epidemic does not in any way prevent the leadership of Montenegro from preparing to implement the law that discriminates against the SOC.

“As of March 13, the Real Estate Department received data [on church property] from all regional divisions,” the head of the department, Blazho Sharanovic, told the Montenegrin press. – With the exception of Kotor. After analyzing the complete documentation, if necessary, we will request additional data from regional divisions. I emphasize that this is the initial preparatory activity for the implementation of the law “On Freedom of Religion, which applies to all religious communities without exception.”

At the same time, the background to the appearance of this law shows that it really does not threaten any religious community in Montenegro, except the SOC? against which it was accepted: the permanent leader of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, has repeatedly stated that the country needs its own autocephalous church. At the same time, such a “church” exists there - the schismatic denomination Montenegrin Orthodox Church, ruled by the defrocked Miraš Dedeić, registered as a public organization and unrecognized by the rest of the Orthodox churches. And, most importantly, it is unpopular among Montenegrins (more than 80% of believers in Montenegro consider themselves to be members of the SOC). However, the temptation to transfer the property of the canonical SOC to schismatics is strong among the ruling regime of Podgorica.

At a recent press conference, a representative of the legal department of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and Littoral, lawyer Dragan Soch, expressed concern that delaying the dialogue between the church and the government could be used to begin the implementation of a discriminatory law. He also presented to the public the document “Inventory of Orthodox churches, monasteries and church territories in the Real Estate Cadastre” for 1987, which clearly states that the sole owner of church property is the Montenegrin-Primorsky Metropolis.

Dragan Soch.

“The document was drawn up by the ideological, and in some cases biological, ancestors of people who today advocate taking away Orthodox shrines,” Schoch added.