Montenegro Bans Public Gatherings as Church Protests Resume

Serbian Orthodox Church protests in Podgorica, Montenegro. Photo: BIRN/Samir Kajosevic

On Thursday, the National Coordination Body for Infectious Diseases announced that open-air religious gatherings would be prohibited unless they took place on church premises. The same body also banned political gatherings in open spaces.

The rector of the Cetinje school of theology, Gojko Perovic, said the government was abusing the pandemic to pressurize the Church, the largest faith group in the country. On Friday, he said the coordination body had shown no understanding of the spiritual needs of the people.

"The Church will not break the law and health measures. We remain gathered with our people around our holy places. We despise the political abuse of health care, which can be seen everywhere in Montenegro," Perovic said in a press release.

Although the government declared Montenegro a "corona free state" on May 25, last week the number of new infections rose to about 100 in total.

On June 24, Prime Minister Dusko Markovic told parliament that new COVID-19 infections were likely coming from nearby Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He accused Serbian Orthodox clergy of deliberately violating government measures, and of "endangering public health".

On Friday, the chief of the Institute for public health, Boban Mugosa, insisted the ban on gatherings was not directed against the Church, stressing that all public gatherings were triggers for spreading the virus.

"These measures have nothing to do with politics or religion. This is an epidemiological measure, as we are trying to prevent the spread of the virus and that can be done in only one way," Mugosa said.

The Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro resumed its street protests against...