Orthodoxy is one of the three main religions in Montenegro , the largest in the country by the number of followers: over 465,000 people (75% of the population of Montenegro) are Orthodox Christians.
Montenegro is part of the canonical territory of the Serbian Orthodox Church , which is represented in Montenegro by two main dioceses [1] : the Montenegrin-Primorsky metropolis and the Budimlyan-Niksic diocese , as well as partly the Mileshevsk diocese and the Zakhumsk-Herzegovina and Primorsky diocese .
There is also a small non-canonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church .
The most significant Orthodox shrines of Montenegro are:
- Tsetinsky Monastery or the Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built in 1484 by order of Prince Ivan Tsrnoevich. Two centuries later, the monastery was destroyed almost to the base and rebuilt again. Today the monastery keeps in its walls a particle of the Holy Cross, the right hand of St. John the Baptist and the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Filer. Cetinje Monastery is the seat of the Metropolitan of Montenegro.
- Ostrog Monastery , which is a functioning Serbian man’s monastery, erected directly in the cliff not at an altitude of 900 m above sea level. The shrine consists of 2 parts (upper and lower) and stores the relics of Vasily Ostrog. Today, 12 monks live here.
- The Moraca monastery complex , built in 1252 and consisting of a pair of churches and monastery cells. The visiting card of this monastery is unique murals, the oldest of which dates back to the 13th century. The hand of St. Great Martyr Charalampius is kept in the monastery [2] .
History
In the territory of modern Montenegro, the Patriarch of Serbia in 1220 founded the diocese subject to himself - Zeta. After the fall of the Serbian state ( 1389 ), Turks and Venetians began to threaten the metropolis . The throne of the metropolis in 1484 finally settled in the Cetinje monastery . In 1493, the monk Makarii printed the first Slavic book, and in 1516 the metropolitans became not only the spiritual leaders of the Montenegrins, but also secular rulers of the principality.
Since 1603, the Montenegrin Metropolis has become virtually independent jurisdiction .
In 1697, Daniel (Petrovich) , the founder of the metropolitan dynasty , became the metropolitan - since that time the post of metropolitan has been transferred to the nephew of the previous ruler.
Canonical independence was confirmed for the Montenegrin Autocephalous Orthodox Church in 1766 , after the destruction of the Serbian Pechersk Patriarchate [3] .
In 1852, Montenegro became a secular state. The new Metropolitan has since been only a spiritual leader.
The structure of the Montenegrin Metropolis, the procedure for the formation of its central and local governments, their powers are determined by the Charter ( Holy Synod ), adopted in 1904 [4] .
During the reign of Nikola I Petrovich, the territory of Montenegro almost doubled in size, and the Church was divided into three dioceses. Two years after Montenegro entered Yugoslavia ( 1918 ), the Montenegrin Metropolis entered the unified Serbian Orthodox Church , re-established in 1920 , becoming a diocese with the rank of Metropolis. Nikodim Yanushevich, who acted independently in America, in Detroit, opposed the inclusion in the Serbian Orthodox Church.
In the early 1990s, along with the intensification of centrifugal aspirations in Yugoslavia, supporters of autocephaly intensified in Montenegro (they existed in socialist Yugoslavia). Despite the proclamation, with the support of the authorities, of the non-canonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church , most believers remained faithful to the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Notes
- ↑ Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs continues to put pressure on the Church / Orthodoxy. Ru
- ↑ Religion of Montenegro
- ↑ Montenegrin Orthodox Church.
- ↑ Holy Synod of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (1904) (Unavailable link) . Date of treatment May 8, 2014. Archived on August 20, 2007.