Honorary President and Leader of the Albanian minority party Democratic League in Montenegro, Mehmet Bardhi and Saubih Mehmeti, requested from the Montenegrin authorities to remove the Church of the Holy Trinity from the top of Rumija, as well as for that location not to be designated for religious facilities in the Spatial-Urban Plan (PUP) of the Municipality of Bar, reports Podgorica’s “Vijesti”.
They submitted a petition with nearly a thousand signatures to the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, Speaker of the Parliament Andrija Mandić, Vice President of the Parliament Nikola Camaj, as well as to the leaders of Bar.
In the petition, they request that the metal church, which the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral erected in 2005, be removed from the top of Rumija, and that the location be returned to its “original state”.
The authors of the petition claim that the temple was erected “illegally and aggressively”, describe Rumija as a space that should be free from any religious object, and say that the peak of the mountain should be accessible “for all confessions and all nationalities”.
The petitioners claim that there was never a temple on top of Rumija, although historical accounts and sources exist indicating that the Church of the Holy Trinity was located on the very top of the mountain.
They describe the erection of the temple in 2005 as an “occupation and devastation” of the mountain top.
The petition also states that the facility is an “intentional, targeted, clear, and greatest provocation and threat” to Krajina, which is inhabited by the “ethnic Albanian indigenous population”.
Bardhi and Mehmeti call on Montenegrin authorities to, as they state, “free the mountain from occupation by the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral of the SOC”, with a demand that on top of Rumija “there is no place for any religious or other facility”.
The authors of the petition also recall that for centuries a custom existed to bring stones to the top of Rumija, but claim that this was done so that “the mountain would be higher”. However, according to old folk tradition, stones were carried up Rumija as a vow, believing that when enough stones were collected, the church that once existed at its peak would be built again.
On the other hand, the Orthodox Church Municipality of Bar has for years rejected claims that the temple disrupts interfaith harmony, while representatives of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral emphasize that the church was built on the site of an old Orthodox shrine.
The history of bringing stones is also evidenced by a letter from the late Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije. He stated that after the destruction of the temple at the top of Rumija, a custom arose that every participant in the procession bring a stone, with folk tradition holding that the church would “fly back again” to Rumija once enough stones were gathered.
Amfilohije also stated in the letter that the Church of the Holy Trinity on top of Rumija was erected during the time of Saint John Vladimir, in the tenth or early 11th century, and that it was destroyed in 1571, during the Ottoman conquest of these areas. According to his statements, even before its destruction, the temple was an important cult place, and Orthodox, Catholics, and Muslims participated in the procession on the occasion of the feast of Trinity Sunday.
The issue of the church on Rumija, however, is not new. Demands for its removal have appeared practically since its placement in 2005. That same year, the construction inspection issued a decision ordering the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral to remove the metal structure and stone cladding.
Demands continued in subsequent years as well, and came particularly to light in 2018, when following work on cladding the church with stone, new political reactions and demands for its removal followed.
The Prime Minister at the time, Duško Marković, declared that the facility was illegal and would have to be removed, to which the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral at the time, Amfilohije, told him in an open letter that the destruction of the church on Rumija would be equal to a crime, reports Podgorica portal “Adria”.
The question arises what kind of winds are blowing through Montenegro today when Albanians again demand the destruction of the church on Rumija, while Deputy Prime Minister Nik Gjeloshaj publicly says that “Ulcinj is an Albanian city”, and almost no reaction follows such a statement from the very top of government.
There is no reaction from official Podgorica either to the fact that Vice President of the Parliament of Montenegro Nikola Camaj shares a video on social networks from a concert in Gusinje showing a flag with a map of the so-called Greater Albania, nor to a photograph in which he shows the double-headed eagle symbol with his hands.
At the same time, mentioning Serbdom, Serbian symbols, and the identity of Serbs in Montenegro has for years sparked fierce political debates, condemnations, and public statements.
Joković: The church will not be demolished
President of the Socialist People’s Party (SNP) Vladimir Joković also reacted to the petition for the removal of the Church of the Holy Trinity from the top of Rumija, saying that the church will not be demolished.
“On the occasion of frequent announcements and initiatives that again disturb the public of Montenegro and create new divisions, concerning the demolition of the Church of the Holy Trinity on Rumija, we send a decisive appeal that an end must definitely be put to such dangerous and retrograde ideas,” Joković announced.
He said that in Montenegro “there is and must be no place for policies of destruction, disassembly, intolerance, and production of new conflicts.”
“Instead of destruction, rushing into the abyss, and deepening old wounds, the focus of our entire society, which stands on the threshold of the European Union, must be directed towards dialogue, mutual respect, and appreciation of diversity. Respecting other people’s shrines and freedom of religion is the foundation of a stable society,” Joković said.
Democratic MP and councilor of that party in the Bar parliament Valentina Minić also spoke out, assessing that behind the initiative to remove the church on Rumija stand not law, urban planning, and public interest, but, as she stated, “the well-known ideology of those who throughout history demolished churches and monasteries, seized shrines, arrested metropolitans, and persecuted monastics and clergy.”
She emphasized that it is “at the very least malicious to refer to ‘law and order’ in a city living in multi-faith harmony,” recalling that on Rumija for centuries, both before and after 2005, the cross of Saint John Vladimir has been jointly carried up on Trinity Sunday.
“Those who were always bothered by any measure of peace and freedom, even today see the richness of our diversity as an opportunity to pit brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor. Bar has always been a home to all of us, and the intentions of those who do not know how to build, but only to destroy, will this time again remain just a failed attempt to bring unrest, before which we will stand Bar-style — and that means upright, united, and proud,” Minić said.
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Source: RT Balkan, Photo: Printscreen Instagram