Religion in Montenegro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Circle frame.svg

Religion in Montenegro (2011)[1]

  Orthodox Christian (72.07%)
  Muslim (19.11%)
  Roman Catholic (3.44%)
  Other religions (1.53%)
  Undeclared (2.61%)
  Atheist (1.24%)
Religion map of the Republic of Montenegro
Orthodox Church in Cetinje, Montenegro

Montenegro is a multireligious country. Although Orthodox Christianity is the dominant form of religion, there are also sizable numbers of adherents of both Islam and Catholic Christianity. The dominant Church is the Serbian Orthodox Church although traces of a forming Montenegrin Orthodox Church are present.

Orthodox Christianity[edit]

Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion in Montenegro. Adherents of Orthodox Christianity in Montenegro are predominantly Montenegrins and Serbs. While the Serbs are adherents of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its diocese in Montenegro, the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, Montenegrins are divided between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (which is still in its phase of conceivement and is non-canonical and unrecognized).

The identity of Montenegrins and Serbs in Montenegro is largely based on Orthodox Christianity.


Main article: Islam in Montenegro

Muslims form the largest minority religion in the country. Montenegro's 118,477 Muslims make up 19.11% of the total population.[1] They are divided into these main groups: Slavic Muslims (split among Bosnian-speaking Bosniaks, Slavic Muslims, Montenegrin-speaking Muslim Montenegrins), and ethnic Albanians. Islam is the dominant religion in the northeastern municipalities, which are part of the Sandžak geographical region, and in municipalities where Albanians form a majority. Islam is the majority religion in Rožaje, Plav, Ulcinj and Petnjica.


Catholic Christianity is mostly present in the region of Boka Kotorska, where there is a significant presence of ethnic Croats. Also, a number of ethnic Albanians are adherents of Catholic Christianity.

According to CNEWA Canada Catholics of the Byzantine Rite number over 20 000 persons in the regions of Montenegro and Serbia:

In 2003 an Apostolic Exarchate was created for Greek Catholics in Serbia and Montenegro, headed by Bishop Djura Džudžar (born 1954, appointed 2003). It has 21 parishes and 22,720 faithful, consisting mostly of a group of ethnic Rusyn Greek Catholics in the region of Vojvodina.[2]


In February of 2012, the Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Lukšić signed an agreement with the Montenegrin Jewish community to grant official recognition of Jews as a minority in Montenegro. The agreement also established Judaism as the country's fourth official religion, along with Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and Islam.[3]


Montenegro's population is mainly religious - 98.69% of its population are the adherents of some religious group. On the census from 2011, atheists comprised about 1.24% of the whole population, and agnostics 0.07%. Religiosity is lowest in Herceg Novi, which is 2.43% atheist, Kotor (2.03%) and the capital Podgorica (1.99%). In contrast, Rožaje has the fewest atheists, who make up only 0.01% of its population.[1]

See also[edit]