Last weekend, at least 6,000 followers of the Serbian Orthodox Church rallied in Montenegro against a controversial bill that they say will “steal” church property. Later, the state plans to the non-canonic Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC).
The project of the MOC, backed by the US and its friends from Constantinople dewhich, with help from the pro-Western government, is fighting the Serbian Orthodox Church, which is a main and traditional Orthodox force in the country. Similar to the Ukrainian case, the MOC seeks to seize all Orthodox Christian property in Montenegro that is in the possession of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The Serbian Orthodox Church council said that the government is trying to impose the bill “due to its unreasonable ideological and political goals”. The church said that the bill is aimed at “looting our Church property and… eventually humiliating and trampling on our freedom and religion.”
However, Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said that he would not withdraw the law, and that the government was behind its proposal. Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic also confirmed that the Serbian Orthodox Church was right whenit said that the bill pursuses particular ideological and political goals. He said that there is no place for a compromise with the Serbian Orthodox Church. Djukanovic claimed that the law is needed to demonstrate a ‘European path of development’ of his country.
The Montenegrin government is trying to push the traditional for the Montenegrin population Serbian Orthodox Church out of the country. So, the new puppet ‘indpendent’ church will be used to shape the religious and ideological landscape of the country promoting ‘right ideas and values’.
