Catholic Church in Montenegro


The Catholic Church in Montenegro is a part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are 21,299 Catholics in Montenegro, and they form three and a half percent of the population. Most Catholics are ethnic Albanians and Croats as well as some Montenegrins.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Montenegro and to Bosnia and Herzegovina is Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto.

Organisation

Latin Rite Catholics

Within Montenegro the Latin Rite Catholic hierarchy consists of the Archdiocese of Bar. The Diocese of Kotor is geographically located in Montenegro, but it is administratively part of the church in Croatia and is subject to the Archdiocese of Split-Makarska of that country. The territory of the Diocese of Kotor corresponds to the territory of Albania Veneta of the Republic of Venice, lost to Napoleon I in 1797.

Eastern Rite Catholics

There are very few Greek Catholics of Montenegro, and no diocese. The Greek Catholics are assigned to the pastoral care of the Latin-rite clergy of the Catholic Church in Montenegro.

Demographics

According to the 2004 official demographic data, of the total 21,972 Catholics in Montenegro, there are:
The highest concentration of Catholics is in the Archdiocese of Kotor, covering coastal areas long under Venetian influence and largely made up of Croat Catholics. The rest of Montenegro is covered by the Archdiocese of Bar, in which there were a total of 12,165 Catholics, mainly Albanian Catholics, in 2006, in the following settlements: