Religion in Montenegro

Religion in Montenegro (2011)^[1]

  Eastern Orthodox (70.07%)

  Catholic (3.44%)

  Other Christian (0.42%)

  Islam (19.11%)

  Other religions (1.04%)

  Atheist/Agnostic (3.31%)

  Undeclared (2.61%)

Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in capital Podgorica.

While Orthodox Christianity is the dominant form of religion in Montenegro, there are also sizable numbers of adherents of both Islam and Catholic Christianity. The dominant Church is the Serbian Orthodox Church although traces of a forming Montenegrin Orthodox Church are present.

Orthodox Christianity

Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion in Montenegro. Adherents of Orthodox Christianity in Montenegro are predominantly Montenegrins and Serbs. Ethnic Serbs in Montenegro are adherents of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its dioceses in Montenegro: Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, Eparchy of Budimlja and Nikšić and Eparchy of Mileševa. Ethnic Montenegrins are divided between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (which is still in its phase of conceivement and is non-canonical and unrecognized).

The current Metropolitan bishop is Amfilohije Radović. He is a vocal supporter of Russia and has repeatedly denounced NATO; calling its actions similar to that of the Ottoman Empire and that the organization is a "national fascist pact."^[2]

Islam

Muslims form the largest minority religion in the country. Montenegro's 118,477 Muslims make up 19.11% of the total population.^[1]

Muslims in Montenegro are divided into two main groups, and further subgroups:

• Slavic Muslims
  • Bosnian-speaking ethnic Bosniak Muslims
  • Montenegrin-speaking ethnic Montenegrin Muslims
  • Other Slavic Muslims (Muslims by nationality), including Gorani, and other Slavs of the Muslim faith who identify by religion rather than by ethnicity.
• Albanian Muslims
  • Albanian-speaking ethnic Albanian Muslims

Islam is the dominant religion in the northeastern municipalities, which are part of the Sandžak geographical region, and in municipalities where Albanians form a majority. Islam is the majority religion in Rožaje, Plav, Ulcinj and Petnjica.

Catholicism

Catholic Christianity is mostly present in the region of Boka Kotorska, where there is a significant presence of ethnic Croats. Also, a number of ethnic Albanians are adherents of Catholic Christianity.

According to CNEWA Canada Catholics of the Byzantine Rite number over 20 000 persons in the regions of Montenegro and Serbia:

In 2003 an Apostolic Exarchate was created for Greek Catholics in Serbia and Montenegro, headed by Bishop Djura Džudžar (born 1954, appointed 2003). It has 21 parishes and 22,720 faithful, consisting mostly of a group of ethnic Rusyn Greek Catholics in the region of Vojvodina.^[3]

Protestantism

Judaism

In February 2012, the Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Lukšić signed an agreement with the Montenegrin Jewish community to grant official recognition of Jews as a minority in Montenegro. The agreement also established Judaism as the country's fourth official religion, along with Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and Islam.^[4]

Atheism

The majority of Montenegro's population, 98.69%, declares to belong to a religion, though observance of their declared religion may vary widely, from secular to religious.

On the census from 2011, atheists, those who declared no religion, comprised about 1.24% of the whole population, and agnostics 0.07%.

Religiosity is lowest in the Bay of Kotor region and the capital city of Podgorica.

Municipalities with highest share of atheists are Herceg Novi (2.43%), Kotor (2.03%), Podgorica (1.99%) and Tivat (1.7%). In contrast, Rožaje has the fewest atheists, who make up only 0.01% of its population.^[1]

See also

• Orthodoxy in Montenegro
• Roman Catholic Church in Montenegro
• Protestantism in Montenegro
• Islam in Montenegro
• History of the Jews in Montenegro

References