Is the Montenegrin church disintegrating?
The battle over primacy in the Montenegrin Orthodox Church gets ugly
Welcome to Divine Diplomacy. This is my second post of the week. I aim to publish two newsletters a week. One at the beginning of the week – which is a roundup of weekly Orthodox topics, and a “Main piece” - which is an analytical commentary of a single issue that deserves a deep-dive, usually published towards the end of the week.
The annual log-burning celebrations in Montenegro’s old royal capital, Cetinje, are known to be a sporadic flash point for incidents between the supporters of the dominant Serbian Orthodox Church and the unrecognised Montenegrin Orthodox Church. Both communities organise two separate celebrations roughly one hundred metres apart and traditionally gather on Christmas Eve (6 January).
This year's celebrations were no different except for one unusual change – the police had to focus on flashpoints between members of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. The event, which is usually a podium for patriotic and church folklore, turned into an occasion of hostility and scuffles between the supporters of Metropolitan Mihailo (Dedeić), who has been the head of the church since 1997, and the controversially appointed Met. Boris (Bojović) as the new Primate of the church, who has claimed this title since last September (2023).
The rivalry between Mihailo’s and Boris’s supporters on Christmas Eve exposed the ongoing struggle for the top leadership position in the church. It demonstrated the severity of the situation, suggesting that this conflict is far from over.
Probably the most pressing question is the one of the future of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. Are we witnessing a complete disintegration or a rebirth under a new and more energetic leadership?
The Montenegrin religious landscape has recently been a source of political instability and a cause of significant change in the Montenegrin government. The Serbian Orthodox Church repeatedly proved to be a great political actor as its actions in 2020 were instrumental in the departure of the country’s former President, Milo Đukanović, bringing new faces into government after his three decades of rule.
The win for the Serbian Orthodox Church, which materialised with the signing of the long-time polarising “Fundamental Agreement” with the Montenegrin state, had triggered the downward spiral that the Montenegrin church is currently on.
The Fundamental Agreement, which cements the strong position of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, immensely affected the pro-autocephaly wave that the Montenegrin church was riding for a short while. The MnOC leadership hoped that the Ukrainian autocephaly success would create a long-lasting and positive momentum for their church. While the church received increased attention from the country's main political figure, Đukanović, following the change of government things shifted dramatically against it.
How did the situation in the Montenegrin church escalate?
Public statements suggest that the origins of the split within the church (Mihailo vs Boris) date back to May 2023 when the Montenegrin Orthodox Church was supposed to sign its own Fundamental Agreement with the Montenegrin government regulating the legal rights and obligations of the church as a religious and legal entity.
The signing ceremony was originally announced for 18 May 2023. However, no signing occurred on that day because of a “last minute” change of plan regarding the meeting protocol. Instead of Prime Minister Abazović, who was expected to be present at the ceremony, the government made a decision to be represented at the meeting by officials from the Ministry of Justice. This sudden change was considered unacceptable and offensive by the MnOC, judging by Met. Mihailo’s statement.
The situation became acute over the summer of 2023 when Bishop Boris started to disagree publicly with Met. Mihailo. One such occasion was the decision by Bishop Boris not to attend the 28th commemoration of the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bishop Boris cancelled his participation because of the attendance of the Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović at the event. By doing so, he explained to the public that he wanted to show his protest against Abazović’s instrumental role in signing the Fundamental Agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church. Met. Mihailo disagreed with his decision, and claimed that Boris had interfered directly in a political matter, something that he considered the church should never do.
After the public scolding of Bishop Boris, Met. Mihailo issued another statement on 11 August (2023) that offers an insight into the worrying events unfolding in May of that year.
The statement discloses that there had been a “campaign” over several months against Met. MIhailo. Some of the priesthood coming from the Kotor eparchy and Bishop Boris had been exerting pressure on the church’s leadership over several months, asking for the resignation of Met. Mihailo and his replacement by Bishop Boris, who, according to the statement, wanted to become the new head of the MnOC.
The statement gives us more detail about two meetings (11 and 15 May 2023) in which the group had allegedly asked for the resignation of Met. Mihailo in a tense atmosphere but had offered him financial compensation. The statement also alleges financial malpractice by Bishop Boris, who has strongly denied any such accusations.
The events described in the statement coincided with the week of 18 May when the MnOC was set to sign the Fundamental Agreement with the Montenegrin government.
Not long after these internal accusations, the situation took another more serious turn with the (self) appointment of Bishop Boris as the new head and Metropolitan of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church on 3rd of September (2023) in Cetinje.
The occasion was also used to “send” Met. Mihailo into retirement:
“A decision was made for his retirement due to his ill health, old age and lack of commitment to service”, proclaimed a Montenegrin church representative close to Met. Boris in front of the faithful gathered in Cetinje.
The proclamation of Met. Boris as the church’s new head in Montenegro was immediately refuted by Met. Mihailo and two other members of the “old synod” of the church who are foreign nationals (Austrian and Argentinian). Together with Metropolitan Miahilo, they decided to expel Met. Boris from the Montenegrin church. This was rejected by Met. Boris who stated that he had been appointed as the new head of the church following the Montenegrin Orthodox tradition through public acclamation.
Interpersonal spats between Met. Mihailo and Simeon (Austrian: Rihard Minihofer) further complicate the situation. In August Simeon claimed that Mihailo had been working closely with Russia’s intelligence operatives. The situation culminated the same month when Simeon was stripped of his title and membership of the MnOC. It is puzzling how Simeon and Mihailo mended relations so quickly and agreed to the expulsion of Boris.
As expected, news of these dramatic events soon after reached Montenegrin state institutions, causing a reaction that worsened things. Marko Kovač, who is Montenegro’s Minister of Justice, confirmed, on 23 October 2023, Met. Mihailo as the head of the church, dismissing the public proclamation of Met. Boris as a new head of the church.
The dramatic situation affecting the Montenegrin church is far from over. The charged atmosphere, which was evident at the log burning ceremony on Christmas Eve, led to a bitter statement from the cabinet of Metropolitan Boris saying that the appearance by Met. Mihailo at the log burning celebrations had surprised him. He used the occasion to remind everyone that Met. Mihailo has been retired from the leadership position, and he is forbidden from any church-related activities or issuing statements on behalf of the Montenegrin church. The new Synod led by Met. Boris claims that Met. Mihailo is working against the interests of the Montenegrin church, and is behind the incidents on Christmas Eve.
What is at stake?
The dramatic situation affecting the Montenegrin church unfolds day by day and could take various directions. It is becoming more apparent that Met. Boris exerts control over the church’s media presence in the country through the number of statements he issues and the appearances he makes as the head of the new church.
Met. Mihailo, on the other hand, while still not recognising Boris’s authority, has been unable to show meaningful opposition. However, the state authorities are currently backing Met. Mihailo and are reluctant to recognise Boris as the new Primate. Without state approval for this change, Met. Mihailo will still be the only legal representative of the church.
While legal hurdles could drag this dispute into a long, legal battle, Met. Boris is focusing on rebuilding the church organisation structure from within, with new church/laity bodies that would help him strengthen his new position. The current scandals illuminate the lack of proper church organisation and policies that could address problems within the church.
The situation that the Montenegrin church is in at the moment is a culmination of the difficult position it has been in for many years. With limited institutional and state support, it has barely stayed alive all these years. Discussions about possible autocephaly are now more distant than ever. This undoubtedly affects its believers and further strengthens the role of the dominant Serbian Orthodox Church, which has a privileged position and has enjoyed smooth church operations in the country.
The risk for the Montenegrin church at the moment does not come from Belgrade and the Serbian church but from within itself and from the Montenegrin state. A prolonged legal battle about the real primate of the church may cause further damage, and even more factions.
While the Montenegrin church is at a crossroads, a risk of complete breakdown is less likely because of the personality of Met. Boris, who is energetic and determined to revive the Montenegrin church. Having received his theological education in Kyiv under the (former) Kyiv Patriarchate he might be the one who has what it takes to rebuild the church.
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Till next week,
Andreja
The area covered in your article is quite far from my area of scientific expertise, but I would like to congratulate you on the clarity of your writing. I work, in my field, with Eastern countries and this gives me a good understanding of the culture in these regions. Thank you and looking forward to reading your next article