Metropolitan Joanikije's inauguration in Montenegro

Metropolitan Joanikije was inaugurated as the new head of the Montenegrin branch of the Serbian Orthodox Church at a monastery in Cetinje on Sunday.

The ceremony held in the former capital of the small Balkan nation. Metropolitan Joanikije and the church's Patriarch Porfirie had arrived for the inauguration via helicopter amid heavy security.

Montenegrins remain deeply divided over their country’s ties with neighboring Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church, which is the nation’s dominant religious institution. Around 30% of Montenegro’s 620,000 people consider themselves Serb.