Participation of the Montenegrin Metropolitan visarion in the first phase of negotiations between Montenegro and the holy see about Concordat

Abstract

Immediately after acquiring state independence at the Berlin Congress, in 1878, Prince Nikola initiated negotiations with the Vatican for concluding a Concordat, which would regulate the position of the inhabitants of the Catholic faith in Montenegro. The first mediator was Bishop Strossmayer, and from the summer of 1881 the negotiations continued through the personal envoy, the bishop Visarion Ljubiša, the last metropolitan of Montenegro. The paper gives a synthetic presentation of the participation of this Orthodox ecclesiastical dignitary in defining the first draft of Concordat, as well as his role in negotiations with the highest representatives of Curia, during which his adherence to principles and high awareness of the importance of the task entrusted to him by the highest state authority were expressed.

Keywords

• concordat
• montenegro
• vatican
• visarion ljubiša
• prince nikola
• strossmayer
• austria
• pope
• cardinal
• nuncio