The Eparchy of Budimlja and Nikšić or Budimlja–Nikšić () is an

eparchy Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...

(diocese) of the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

, covering eastern, central, and western parts of modern

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. The ecclesiastical seat of the eparchy is the Monastery of Đurđevi Stupovi in

Berane Berane (Cyrillic: Беране) is a town in Montenegro in the northern region. It is former administrative centre of the Ivangrad District. The town is located on the Lim river. From 1949 to 1992, it was named Ivangrad ( cyrl, Ивангра ...

. Since 2021 it has been headed by Metodije, bishop of Budimlja and Nikšić.

History

In 1219, the

autocephaly Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

medieval Serbia The medieval period in the history of Serbia began in the 6th century with the Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe, and lasted until the Ottoman Serbia, Ottoman conquest of Serbian lands in the second half of the 15th century. The period i ...

was established by

Saint Sava Saint Sava (, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; Glagolitic: ; ; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1235/6), known as the Enlightener or the Illuminator, was a Serbs, Serbian prince and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monk, abbot of Studenica Monastery, Studeni ...

, who was consecrated as the first Serbian archbishop by Patriarch

Manuel I of Constantinople Manuel I Sarantenos or Karantenos or Charitopoulos (; died May or June 1222) was the Patriarch of Constantinople from May 1217 to May/June 1222. Biography He seems to have been called "the Philosopher", George Akropolites says he was "a ph ...

and who was residing at that time in

Nicaea Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

. On that occasion, the region of ''

Budimlja Budimlja () is a large town in the municipality of Berane, Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = ...

'' in the upper Lim valley was detached from the old Eparchy of Raška, and on that territory the new ''Eparchy of Budimlja'' was created, centered in the Monastery of Đurđevi Stupovi, previously founded by Stefan Prvoslav, cousin of Saint Sava. In 1346, the Serbian Archbishopric was raised to the rank of

patriarchate Patriarchate (, ; , ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, referring to the office and jurisdiction of a patriarch. According to Christian tradition, three patriarchates—Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria—were establi ...

, and on the same occasion the Eparchy of Budimlja was raised to the titular (honorary) rank of

metropolitanate A metropolis, metropolitanate or metropolitan diocese is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. Eastern Ortho ...

. In the middle of the 15th century, during the Turkish invasion and conquest, several dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church suffered great devastation, including the Eparchy of Budimlja. The Serbian Patriarchate was renewed in 1557 by patriarch

Makarije Sokolović Makarije Sokolović ( sr-cyrl, Макарије Соколовић; died 1574) was the Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch from 1557 to 1571. He was the first head of the restored Serbian Patriarchate of Peć, after its lapse in 1463 that r ...

, with the Eparchy of Budimlja remaining under its jurisdiction. During the

Austro-Turkish war (1683–1699) The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Venice, Russi ...

relations between Ottoman authorities and their Serbian subjects deteriorated further. As a result of Ottoman oppression and destruction of churches and monasteries,

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

Christians and their church leaders, headed by Serbian Patriarch

Arsenije III Arsenije ( sr-cyr, Арсеније; ) is a Serbian given name, a variant of the Greek name ''Arsenios''. Diminutives of the name include ''Arsen'', ''Arsa'' and '' Arso''. It may refer to: *Arsenije Sremac (died 1266), second Archbishop of the S ...

, sided with the Austrians in 1689 and again in 1737 under Serbian Patriarch Arsenije IV. In the following punitive campaigns, the Ottoman armies conducted systematic atrocities against local Christian population in Serbian regions, including the region of Budimlja in the upper Lim valley, resulting in

Great Migrations of the Serbs The Great Migrations of the Serbs (), also known as the Great Exoduses of the Serbs, were two migrations of Serbs from various territories under the rule of the Ottoman Empire to the Kingdom of Hungary under the Habsburg monarchy. The First ...

. By that time, the Eparchy of Budimlja was abolished, and its territory incorporated into neighboring eparchies. In 1938, the historical title of bishops of Budimlja was renewed for

auxiliary bishops An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

, and the diocese itself was renewed in 1947 as the ''Eparchy of Budimlja and Polimlje'', and reorganized in 2001 as the ''Eparchy of Budimlja and Nikšić''.

Territory

Today's Eparchy of Budimlja-Nikšić covers 12 municipalities of Montenegro:

Andrijevica Andrijevica (Cyrillic: Андријевица, ) is a town in Montenegro in the northern region and it is the seat of Andrijevica Municipality. According to the 2023 Census of Montenegro, it had a population of 988. History The town of Andrijev ...

Bijelo Polje Bijelo Polje (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бијело Поље, ) is a town located in the Northern Montenegro, Northern Region of Montenegro, situated along Lim (river), Lim River. It has an urban population of 12,900 (2011 census). It is the ad ...

Žabljak Žabljak (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Жабљак, ) is a small town in Montenegro in the Northern Montenegro, northern region. It has a population of 1,723. Žabljak is the seat of Žabljak Municipality (2011 population: 3,569). The town is in ...

Mojkovac Mojkovac ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Мојковац, ) is a town in Montenegro in the northern region. It has a population of 2,506 (2023 census). Mojkovac is the centre of Mojkovac Municipality, which has a population of 6,824. Geography The mu ...

Nikšić Nikšić (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Никшић, ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 32,046 (2023 census) located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot of Trebjesa ...

Petnjica Petnjica () is a town in Montenegro in the northern region, and the center of Petnjica Municipality. Petnjica regained its municipality status on May 28, 2013, which it previously had from 1945 to 1957, when it was merged with the Berane Municip ...

, Plav,

Gusinje Gusinje (, ; ) is a small town in Montenegro in the northern region. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 1,673 and is the administrative center of Gusinje Municipality. Name Two alternative etymologies have been proposed ...

Plužine Plužine (Cyrillic: Плужине, ) is a town in Montenegro in the northern region. In 2023 it had a population of 1,102. Location The municipality of Plužine is the seventh municipality in Montenegro in terms of area. The municipality is lo ...

Rožaje Rožaje ( Bosnian: ''Rožaje''; , ; , ) is a town located in the Northern Region of Montenegro, situated along the Ibar river. The town is the cultural center of the Bosniaks in Montenegro. As of 2023, the town has a population of 13,608 inhabi ...

, and

Šavnik Šavnik (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Шавник, ) is a town in Montenegro in the Northern Montenegro, northern region and administrative center of the Šavnik Municipality. It is located at the confluence of three rivers - Bukovica (Komarnica), ...

Heads

Titualar bishops of Budimlja (and Polimlje): * Nikolaj (Jovanović), titular bishop of Budimlja (1938 - 1939) * Joanikije Lipovac, titular bishop of Budimlja (1939 - 1941) * Valerijan (Stefanović), titular bishop of Budimlja (1941 - 1947) * Makarije (Đorđević), diocesan bishop of Budimlja-Polimlje (1947 - 1956) * German (Đorić), bishop administrator of Budimlja-Polimlje (1955 - 1956) * Andrej (Frušić), titular bishop of Budimlja-Polimlje (1959-1961) ''(Eparchy merged into Metropolitanate of Montenegro, Brda and the Littoral)'' *

Joanikije Mićović Joanikije II ( sr-cyrl, Јоаникије, secular name Jovan Mićović, sr-cyrl, Јован Мићовић; born 20 April 1959) is a Serbian Orthodox metropolitan bishop serving as the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral and the pri ...

, titular bishop of Budimlja (1999–2001) Eparchy of Budimlja and Nikšić renewed in 2001: *

, as the diocesan bishop of Budimlja-Nikšić (2001-2021) *

Metodije Ostojić Bishop Metodije ( sr-Cyrl, Методије, secular name Ljubiša Ostojić, sr-Cyrl, Љубиша Остојић; born 1 April 1976) is a Serbian Orthodox bishop from Montenegro who has served as the head of the Eparchy of Budimlja and Nikšić ...

, diocesan bishop of Budimlja-Nikšić (since 2021)

Monasteries

Monasteries in the Budimlja-Nikšić diocese are:Будимљанско-никшићка епархија: Манастири
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References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Official website

SOC (2019): Thousands of faithful participating in the procession in honor of St. Basil of Ostrog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eparchy Of Budimlje-Niksic Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro Religious sees of the Serbian Orthodox Church