Metropolitanate of Montenegro and Littora: Public Statement

Montenegrin Ministry of Religion
Nr. 01-863
Podgorica 06.11.2000

With regards to the latest incident which includes the illegal breaking into a church dedicated to St. John the Baptist in Bajice (near Cetinje, Montenegro) in an attempt to lay claims and violently appropriate this church that legally belongs to The Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral our Montenegrin Ministry of Religion (as the State institution authorised to regulate affairs and relations between the State of Montenegro, the Orthodox church, the Islamic religious community, the Roman Catholic church and other religions) issues the following

PUBLIC STATEMENT

We are recently witnessing in the Republic of Montenegro cases where actual violation and attempts to violate the universal and absolute property rights of certain religious institutions are taking place and in particular the rights of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral.

These attempts of certain individuals to forcibly take possession of church property belonging to the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro are a direct attack on the rule of law and the legal system in Montenegro. Under the false pretence of human and religious rights these people are bringing down the complete Montenegrin constitutional and legal system.

Unofficially, through the media, this Ministry has also learned of the existence of a certain religious organisation that calls itself "the Montenegrin Orthodox Church." Media have also reported that this organisation was registered on 17. 01. 2000 at the local police station in Cetinje. Since, however, our Ministry, as an official State institution authorised to regulate the religious affairs in Montenegro, has not up until this day received any official record regarding the registration, we have not been able to determine:

Who is representing the newly-formed religious organisation,
Where are their headquarters,
Which premises are they using,
Do these premises fulfil the basic requirements for mass gatherings
Do the owners of these premises have all sanitary and building permits,
Have the police or any other competent institutions actually checked the above-mentioned conditions.

Article 11 of the Constitution of the Republic of Montenegro allows for only one Orthodox Church to exist in Montenegro. The legitimate representative of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro, regarded as such by our State institutions, and also by the Mother Church, The Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate and all other Orthodox Churches in the world, is the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral headed by His Grace Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Dr. Amfilohije Radovic.

The right to property is an inalienable right. The protection of this particular civil right is anticipated in the Article 45 of the Constitution of the Republic of Montenegro. Article guarantees the property rights and explains that no one can be dispossessed of his right to property nor can his right be in any way restricted except when this is required by the general public interest regulated and established by Law.

Protection of this particular right is anticipated in Article 1/ section 1/ of the First Part of the Convention for the protection of human rights signed in Paris 20.03.1952. It clearly states that every person or legal subject has the right to use his own property freely and that no one can be deprived of his property except when this is required by the general public interest and under the conditions specified and regulated by Law and general principles accepted by all International Legal Institutions.

Whether the authorities regularly registered this newly formed religious organisation is a matter to be decided by the Montenegrin Constitutional Court. Ministry of Religion regards this registration invalid since the Article 11 of the Montenegrin Constitution allows only one religious organisation to exist for the 3 principal faiths: Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church and Islamic religious community. As soon as they are registered newly formed religious organisations can obtain property in a usual way. However, even the possession of valid official registrations do not legally entitle these organisations to steal and break into property that belongs to an old and established religious institution such as the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral. Responsible state institutions in Montenegro and the state officials should not allow such things to happen if we really want to become a democratic state run by the rule of law established to protect human and property rights. Only after achieving this we can expect to be easily integrated into the international community.

We also want to point out that there is not a single church, throughout the Orthodox world, that legally belongs to individuals, families, clans, a tribes or local citizen. The fact that someone (personally or his ancestors) financially supported the building of a particular church is not the proof that after its completion it becomes his property. In any case mass gatherings of people and various citizens' organisations are not entitled to make decisions or judge matters that deal with the ownership of churches. It is a well-known fact that churches belong to the Church. In this case the rightful owner is the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, the State of Montenegro should legally protect its property and prevent illegal, and lawless, Wild West style attacks on the property of this religious organisation.

Otherwise, Montenegro should be prepared to face spiritual and political isolation from all civilised nations and the entire international community.

MINISTER OF RELIGION
Budimir Dubak
(translation)

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