Agathe Hug. On September 3, 2011, I will go to Holy Mass in the Original Shrine in my boots. I would do it even if the temperature reached 40º C (104ºF) in the shade, and I would prefer to go barefooted. Why? Because spiritually I will climb the Black Mountain- that is I will walk to Montenegro.
First one must be aware that the word, Montenegrin, is not equivalent to resident of Montenegro. This is more complicated! The Montenegrins are an ethnic group whose members speak a certain Slavic dialect derived from the Serbo-Croatian language that is also called a Montenegrin language. The Montenegrins live mostly in Montenegro, but also in Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. The residents of Montenegro could also be Croatians, Albanians, Serbians, Bosnian, Muslims, or Romanians and Gypsies.
Montenegro is the classic example of how belonging to an ethnic group can determine religion and faith. The residents of Montenegro that are generally Catholic are of Croatian or Albanian ethnicity. The bishop of Kotor belongs to the Episcopal Conference of Croatia and the majority of the Catholics in his diocese speak Croatian. In the Archdiocese of Bar, the second one in Montenegro, half of the Catholics speak Albanian. Only 0.97% of the population is Croatian, and there are 4.9% Albanians in total according to the 2011national census. There are approximately 21,000 Catholics in a population of approximately 625,000 inhabitants. The Serbs who live in Montenegro generally belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church, or they define themselves as atheists, and approximately 3% consider themselves Muslims, Slavs, or Bosnians. Just as in the Ottoman Empire and then in Yugoslavia, religion was used as the defining criteria of nationality. In Bosnia Herzegovina for a long time, Muslim (or Slavic speaking Muslims) was a name used for the Bosnians; in part; it is still this way in Serbia and Montenegro.
Schoenstatt in Montenegro
The diffusion of Schoenstatt in Montenegro has its difficulties. Sister M. Ramona works there. She says that there are fifteen Pilgrim MTAs. The MTAs were sent from Croatia, which is undoubtedly logical according to the explanation given relative to the ethnic groups and religion. She says the situation is difficult, as one can imagine.
The scarce population of Montenegro, which mostly lives in the mountains, recalls the commitment of the Pilgrim MTA “when Mary went to the mountains”. And surely She crosses them frequently, since there are only forty-eight residents per Km2.
Sister M. Ramona will probably collaborate with the preparation of the Holy Mass in covenant in Montenegro, and perhaps the Croatians here in Schoenstatt will also attend in solidarity.
Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio/Melissa Janknegt, Elgin, USA
