Vatican State Secretary Tarcisio Bertone and Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Luksic signed in the Vatican on Friday an agreement regulating relations between the Holy See and Montenegro, which is the first such agreement the Vatican has signed with a country whose population is predominantly Orthodox, news agencies reported.
The signed concordat gives the Roman Catholic Church in Montenegro and its institutions legal personality and regulates the management of seminaries and provision of spiritual guidance to Roman Catholics in the Montenegrin armed forces.
Bertone said the Catholic Church was not seeking any privileges, particularly not to the detriment of other religious communities, but wanted to have its legal position defined for the general well-being of the country.
Luksic said the concordat bore proof of Montenegro's commitment to the fundamental ethical, spiritual and cultural values it shared with the Holy See and the entire European community.
The Holy See has diplomatic relations with a number of Orthodox countries, but this is the first concordat signed with such a country.
