Montenegrin Orthodox Church

The Montenegrin Orthodox Church is an internationally unrecognized religious group which claims to be the Orthodox church of Montenegro and wishes to create an autocephalous church in Montenegro, both of which is contested by the Serb Orthodox Church (SOC).

It is led by the Miraš Dedeić, a defrocked priest of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople who claims the title of Mihailo, the Archbishop of Cetinje. The MOC claims to be descendant of the church which was established in Montenegro in the 13th century, when Montenegrins were converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.

It currently does not hold any services as no churches are under its jurisdiction nor has it built any since the creation of the movement in 1990. The Montenegrin Church maintains that the Serbian Orthodox Church - following the annexation of Montenegro by Serbia - in early 20th century usurped the sacral movables and immovables in Montenegro.

North America, South America, Australia or Western Europe, all home to important Montenegrin émigré communities, the totality of which support the SOC with mostly Slavic Muslims supporting the autocephalists [1].

MOC claims support from abroad, however it has not managed to build a single shrine in North America, South America, Australia and Western Europe, all home to important Montenegrin émigré communities, the totality of which support the SOC. Some support to the group comes from Slavic Muslims however[1].

The Church claims support from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and a less known Italian Orthodox Church[1]. In Orthodox theological circles (such as the Russian or the Ecumenical patriarchy), it is instead seen as a purely political fabrication without any religious background.

Opponents accuse it of being a group without theological purpose and only a political purpose. Antonije Abramović who was the first leader of the church in 1993 was reportedly the protégé of the independist Liberal Alliance of Montenegro. Currently, the movement's strongest support comes from independence-minded Milo Đukanović and his Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro and from Social-Democratic Party of Montenegro. The Liberals' support faded since the replacement of the late Antonije Abramović by Dedeić.

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