Bennett Briggs

In Southeastern Europe lies the small nation of Montenegro. Bordered by five countries and the Adriatic Sea, Montenegro is economically, socially, and religiously diverse. According to the 2011 census, approximately 72 percent of the countries 650,000 residents identify themselves as “orthodox”. This orthodoxy is split between the Serbian Orthodox Church (about 70 percent) and the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (with the remaining 30 percent). Sixteen percent of the population identify as “Bosniak” which is an official category made up of Sunni Muslims with another 3 percent identifying as simply Muslim. There are small congregations of most other religions in the Country, the largest being Catholics with about 3 percent of the population.

Montenegro’s Constitution allows for general freedom of religion and makes it clear that the practice of one’s religion will only be inhibited if the expression dangers the health and safety of the public. Religious discrimination is prohibited and behavior found to be religious hate crimes is punishable by prison time.

Currently there is a lot of controversy surrounding the legal status of Churches in the Country. Although laws exist which help a church register and grant said churches rights, such as property ownership and tax-exempt status, many of those laws were written when Montenegro was under Yugoslavian influence and are outdated. The Serbian Orthodox Church, the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, and the government have been trying to work towards new draft laws in these regards, but there remain many problems. Because of policies and animosity, for a time, members of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s clergy were denied visas because the church was not properly registered. These tensions have caused small bursts of violence in the name of religion, but mostly the disagreements have not been physical. Although relationships are still strained, the various bodies have been working together to remove the politicking and focus on the formal and legal registration of all religious congregations.