The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-04-24
UNKNOWN MONTENEGRO
MISSIONARY TELLS THE STORY
or IT'S ANCIENT CATHOLIC.
GREATNESS AND or IT'S PRES
EMIT NEEDS.

GREATNESS AND OF IT'S PRES
EMIT NEEDS.
Antiyari, the only diocese in Mon
|tenegro, and extending over the whole
of that kingdom, has a long and glori-
GUS history to look back upon, writes
Rev. F., M. Schneider in Catholic
Missions" For many years prior to
1871, the time of the Turkish invasion,
it was the grand primatial See of the
Pancient kingdom of Servia and could
boast of having twelve archiepiscopal
and numerous episcopal Sees subject
to it, all of them with flourishing
churches and numerous fiocks.
, With. the Turkish domination in 1871
came, the, constant persecution by the
Turk of the. Catholic, the spoliation
and confiscation of church property
and the destruction of the churches. !,
Proverbially, no grass grows where
the Turk has set his foot: hence we
find the f1ourishing ancient See of An
ception, almost a desert in 1873, when,
after the Turco- Montenegrin war and
the Congress of Berlin, Antivari was
incorporated in the principally of
Montenegro, and the then Prince, now
King Nicholas of Montenegro, pro-
claimed liberty of worship in country
in which previously for long time it
was forbidden even to have holy Mass
in public.
No wonder that after so many years
of oppression the Church in that coun-
try showed but few signs of life; the
surprise is that there should be found
here and there even a handful of Cath
olics adhering to the ancient faith.
In 1900, at the request of King Nicho-
las, Pope Leo XIII officially reaffirmed
it's ancient rights and privileges,
among them the title of Primate Of
Servia, to the See of Antivari which
then exercised jurisdiction over ten
thousand souls in twelve parishes and
six missions far separated from one
another.
Although the Catholic religion is
tolerated by law, yet any one who has
been in Eastern countries where Mo-
hammedans are in the majority, or
where the so-called orthodox religion
is the state religion land both is the
case in Montenegro knows that the
Catholic Church, even if not oppressed
| by open persecution, is in most diff
cult position, due to hostile environ
ments. In 1899, | CHANGED to visit
Cattigne, the capital of Montenegro,
and there the only outward sign of
our holy religion to greet the eye were
the roofess walls of the Church of St.
Anthony of Padua begun eight years
previously, but left unfinished for lack
| of means.
Even now that church building can
not be used for divine service; the
few poor Catholics there had to be
glad of the opportunity of attending
Mass and receiving the consultations
of religion in the modest dwelling of
Father Dobrecic, their Jealous and
gentle pastor who was well versed in
nine or ten languages.
In order to exc out his existence he
had to go to work to earn living by
accepting position as professor of
languages in the government lyceum.
Since then Father Dobrecic has been
made Archbishop of Antiyari. The
Balkan war of four years duration has
wrought havoc in his poor diocese
and he finds his burdens increased
nous saying: ''War is HELL" he can,
to some extent, imagine some of the
difficulties with which the new Arch
bishop has to contend.
One-half of the men were killed in
the war; their widows and orphans
look to their priests for sustenance,
and the priests appeal to their Arch
bishop: "The little ones have asked
for bread, and there is none to break
it unto them"
This poor archdiocese has no mensa
episcopalis, no plus funds for the main
| tenance of its churches, no benefices,
no resources whatever Of it's own: it
has no seminary, no orphanage, no
hospital except small one in Cat
tigne, and no charitable institution for
the relief of the widespread misery.
The Catholics are very poor, whilst
the local governments, impoverished
| by the long wars, could not If they
would afford any help. OF all the Bal
kan missions, Antivari is the poorest,
the more so as it does not stand un-
der the protection of some foreign
power to afford it moral support and
material aid.
The archiepiscopal palace at Anti
vari is unworthy of the name; it was
so much damaged by recent earth
quake that thirty-six thousand francs
are needed for the most necessary re-
pairs. Podgoritza is the largest city
in Montenegro: its only Catholic
| Church, dedicated to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, was begun ten years ago and
is now in ruins.
In some of the villages the solitary
church or chapel was begun but stands
unfinished; in others, the church and
missionary's residence were partially
or totally destroyed by fire and pillage
in the war between the Turks and the
Malissors and can hardly be rebuilt
except with foreign aid. On account
of long-continued neglect most of the
other priests houses and little mis-
sion churches are in dilapidated con-
dition.
Before the war there were about ten
thousand Catholics scattered through