The role of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro in the establishment and unification of the Serbian Orthodox Church (1918–1922)

Abstract

The intention of this article is to show how the church life of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro went from the abolition of the Patriarchate of Peć (Serbian Church) in 1766, to the end of the process of establishment and unification of the same Church in the period from 1918 to 1922. The Patriarchate of Peć was abolished in 1766 by a decree of the Ottoman Sultan Mustafa III, violently and uncanonically. The Orthodox Church in Montenegro did not recognize that act, but continued its internal life, considering itself the successor of the Patriarchate of Peć. During the 19th century, there was state emancipation in Serbia as well as canonical emancipation in various ways of other Serbian dioceses. Finally, with the end of the First World War, in 1918, the conditions were created for the establishment and unification of the Serbian Church. The Church clergy in Montenegro largely supported the unification as a political act, and the process of the establishment and unification of the Serbian Church that means the return to the situation from 1766, in its entirety. All the hierarchs of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro supported this procedure, and led by the head of the Church, Metropolitan Mitrofan Ban, participated in it.