TheCatholic Church in Montenegro (Montenegrin:Католичка црква у Црној Гори,romanized: Katolička crkva u Crnoj Gori;Albanian:Kisha katolike në Mal të Zi;Croatian:Katolička Crkva u Crnoj Gori) is part of the worldwideCatholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of thePope inRome.
There were 20,000 Catholics inMontenegro in 2020, and they formed 2.8% of the population.[1] Most Catholics are ethnicAlbanians,Montenegrins, andCroats.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Montenegro and toBosnia and Herzegovina isArchbishopFrancis Chullikatt.
Within Montenegro theLatin Church Catholic hierarchy consists of theArchdiocese of Bar. TheDiocese of Kotor is geographically located inMontenegro, but it is administratively part of thechurch in Croatia and is subject to theArchdiocese of Split-Makarska of that country.[2] The territory of the Diocese of Kotor (Venetian:Cattaro) corresponds to the territory ofAlbania Veneta of theRepublic of Venice, lost toNapoleon I in 1797 (Albania Veneta was mostly Catholic).
Caritas Montenegro is the social arm of the Catholic Church in the country.
There are very few Greek Catholics ofMontenegro, and no diocese. The Greek Catholics are assigned to the pastoral care of theLatin Church clergy of the Catholic Church in Montenegro.[3]
According to the 2011 official census, of the total 21,299 Catholics in Montenegro, there were:[4]
The highest concentration of Catholics is in the Diocese 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:
TheKotor Cathedral is designated as a World Heritage Site.[5]
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