THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN MONTENEGRO AND THE CONFLICT OF IDENTITIES IN 2019 – 20201
THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN MONTENEGRO AND THE CONFLICT OF IDENTITIES IN 2019 – 20201
Author(s): Biser BanchevSubject(s): History, Social Sciences, Sociology, Diplomatic history, Local History / Microhistory, Political history, Social history, Recent History (1900 till today), Special Historiographies:, Theology and Religion, Nationalism Studies, Post-Communist Transformation, History of Religion, Identity of Collectives, Wars in Jugoslavia
Published by: Институт за балканистика с Център по тракология - Българска академия на науките
Keywords: Protests in Montenegro; Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro; National identity; Situational nationalism; Patronage networks.
Summary/Abstract: “The Law on Freedom of Religion or Beliefs and Legal Status of Religious Communities of 27 December 2019 is becoming a problem of “national survival”. The Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) has not shared or accepted the efforts of the authorities in Podgorica to establish a Montenegrin identity. The authorities have qualified the attacks on the law as a challenge to Montenegro’s national, cultural and religious identity. The opposition claims that the Law is an offhand attempt to expropriate lucrative church properties. SOC has organized mass protests “in defense of the holy places against lawlessness”. Citizens are forced to choose among religious affiliation, national identity and affiliation to patronage networks. In 2020 the ruling party suffered its first electoral defeat in the past 30 years. The new government repealed the contentious provisions on church properties. Nevertheless, the dramatic “conflict of identities” in Montenegro remains unresolved.
Journal: Études balkaniques
- Issue Year: 2021
- Issue No: 4
- Page Range: 566-591
- Page Count: 26
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF