Montenegrin Orthodox Church

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The Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC) is an officially unrecognized church that is registered as a non-governmental organization with Montenegrin Ministry of the Interior since 1997.

It claims to be the sole legitimate Orthodox church in Montenegro, but it is unrecognized internationally by mainstream Orthodox theological circles and other faiths. In addition to not being recognized by the official Orthodox Christian representatives (Ecumenical Patriarch), its leader is also anathemized and banished from the Orthodoxy by the Ecumenical Patriarchy. In Montenegro itself, the overwhelming majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians belong to the Serb Orthodox Church.

MOC supporters present an excerpt from the 1911 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica as one of the proofs of legitimacy: "The Montenegrin Church is an autocephalous branch of the Eastern Orthodox communion. In 1894 it formally vindicated its independence against the claims of the Russian synod [link]."

MOC is led by the Archbishop of Cetinje and Montenegrin Metropolitan Mihailo Miraš Dedeić. At the general Montenegrin people's assembly in Cetinje on January 6, 1997, he was chosen by traditional public acclamation the Head of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. In the Church of St. Paraskeva in Sofia, on March 15, 1998, he was ordained as Episcope by a self-declared 'Bulgarian Patriarch' (schismatic bishop) Pimen and seven Metropolitans and Episcopes of a schismatic synod of the 'Bulgarian Orthodox Church'.[link] He was enthroned to Metropolitan of Montenegrin Orthodox Church in Cetinje on October 31, 1998, in the presence of several thousands of believers and followers of Montenegrin Orthodox Church.

Mihailo is a defrocked priest of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople. The MOC claims to be the true and sole descendant of the church which was established in Montenegro in the 13th century, when Montenegrins were converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.

Montenegrin Orthodox Church currently holds its services in at least two dozen churches in the area of Montenegro's former royal capital Cetinje.[link][link] The MOC officially opened a new shrine in the old town of Kotor, following the referendum on independence.

Montenegrin Orthodox Church maintains that Serbian Orthodox Church usurped its churches and other property in Montenegro in the early 20th century, following the unification of Montenegro with Serbia.

The MOC has strong support from abroad, however it has not built any shrines in North America, South America, Australia and Western Europe, all home to important Montenegrin émigré communities, many of whom also support the Serbian Orthodox Church. Seven ethnic Muslims in Chicago have together donated around US$500 for the autocephalous Montenegrin Orthodox Church.[link]

Construction of the first MOC shrine abroad, the Sveti Pravedni Ivan Crnojević Church, is planned to take place in Serbia with the help of the Association of Ethnic Montenegrins in Serbia Krstaš.[link] A contract for the land on which the new MOC shrine will be built has been signed on 5 August 2005. [link] A list with the names of several dozen donations - from Montenegro, USA, Slovenia, Australia and Switzerland - for the construction of a MOC shrine in Serbia has also been published. [link]

According to the MOC, the Metropolia of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), headed by Metropolitan Amfilohije, has existed for only around eight decades, "or to be more precise, it has been there since 1920 when it was established as a structural and integral part of the Serbian Patriarchy in doctrinal, legal and organizational sense". The MOC maintains that the SOC Metropotanate was installed in Montenegro only after the autocephalous Montenegrin Orthodox Church was dissolved in 1920 "against the constitution and canon law".

The Church claims support from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (though no longer, since the schismatic synod headed by bishop Pimen repented and returned to the Canonical Bulgarian Orthodox Church)[link], and a lesser known Italian Orthodox Church.[link] However, in recognized Orthodox theological circles (such as the Russian Orthodox Church or the Ecumenical Patriarchy), MOC is seen as a purely political fabrication without any religious basis and background.

Opponents accuse it of being a group without theological purpose, and of having only political goals. Metropolitan Antonije Abramović (initialy vehemently supported by by the biggest pro-independence party in Montenegro at the time - Liberal Alliance of Montenegro (LSCG)[link][link]) was the first leader of the church in 1993. He was later replaced by Metropolitan Dedeić. Most Liberals didn't approve of this change and their support for the church soon started to fade. Not too long after Milo Djukanovic became Montenegro's president in early 1998, the links between MOC and LSCG were pretty well broken off.

Currently, the MOC and the SOC have equal status in relations with the Montenegrin government consisting of Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro as well as their coalition partner Social Democratic Party of Montenegro.

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