Mihailo Dedeić (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Михаило Дедеић; born 8 November 1938) commonly referred to by his birth name Miraš Dedeić (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Мираш Дедеић), was the second head of the non-canonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church.
Mihailo Dedeić (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Михаило Дедеић; born 8 November 1938) commonly referred to by his birth name Miraš Dedeić (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Мираш Дедеић), was the second head of the non-canonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church.
The Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC; Montenegrin: Црногорска православна црква, ЦПЦ, romanized: Crnogorska pravoslavna crkva, CPC) is a canonically unrecognized Eastern Orthodox Church. Formed in 1993 and registered as a non-governmental organization, Antonije Abramović was appointed as its first metropolitan. In 2023, after some controversy, the current metropolitan, Boris Bojović, succeeded Miraš Dedeić in the role. It claims succession to an older autocephalous Montenegrin Church, which existed until the unification of the Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of Montenegro, later to join the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918.
The Montenegrin Orthodox Church has been recognized as a religious organization by the Government of Montenegro since 2001. According to a 2020 poll conducted by CEDEM, approximately 10 percent of Montenegro's Eastern Orthodox Christians have opted for membership in the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, while approximately 90 percent have opted for or stayed with the Serbian Orthodox Church, in the canonical or widely-known Eastern Orthodox Church. Notably, the creation of the MOC has been opposed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Patriarch Bartholomew I has stated that "we will never give autocephaly to the so-called 'Montenegrin Orthodox Church'" and that its then-leader Dedeić was suspended by Constantinople for adultery and embezzlement.