Forvm Romanvm: Ass. Prof. Dr Dalibor Đukić Gives a Lecture “Render unto God the things that are God’s, and unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s: Church property in Montenegro from the XIX century until this day”
After taking a break during exam season and the holidays, the Forvm Romanvm Club resumed their activities on the 6th of March, 2020, with a subject which connected legal history with some burning issues. Assistant Prof. Dr Dalibor Đukić, our teacher of Church Law, gave a lecture entitled “Render unto God the things that are God’s, and unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s: Church property in Montenegro from the XIX century until this day”. In light of the controversial Law on the freedom of religious denominations or beliefs and the legal status of religious communities, recently passed in Montenegro, Dr Đukić showcased the legal regulations related to Church property spanning the period between 1868 and today. Having sourced detailed arguments for his presentation from these documents (the bulk of it consisting of archive material which he found himself in the course of his recent research), and refuting, one by one, the arguments of the Montenegrin government and other supporters of this law, he has demonstrated that, throughout this period, Church property unquestionably belonged to the Church (even though there have been, for a time, some restrictions as to the free alienation of said property); he also pointed out that there is no evidence whatsoever to support the claims of historical autocephaly of the Montenegrin Orthodox church, canonically speaking. The lecture was attended by many teachers and students, but also by members of a broader public, and was followed by a very lively, long discussion.
