Amfilohije

As Tanjug learns from the well-informed church circles, the special meeting is a possibility even though the Church's stance "on the issue remains clear and unchanged".

The Church's position, announced after the May meeting, is that Serbia must not lose Kosovo.

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) spoke during liturgy he served in Banja Luka on the occasion of Serb Republic (RS) Day - and days after one of his top bishops, Amfilohije, caused a storm by expressing his fear the president's policy would lead to "the betrayal of Serbia and Kosovo."

The decision of Bishop Timotej of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, MPC, to attend the opening of a new Serbian Orthodox church in Bar in Montenegro has raised new hopes of a thaw between the two churches.

Several thousand people, led by pro-Russian opposition parties in Montenegro, gathered in the capital Podgorica on Wednesday to celebrate the Serbian Orthodox New Year while protesting against the country's membership of NATO.

The Serb opposition group in Montenegro, the Democratic Front, announced a new anti-NATO protest for Wednesday against the country's impending membership of the Western military allaince.

Christmas is a time for coming together - but not in Montenegro, where the followers of the two rival Orthodox churches - as usual - gathered to light their Christmas Eve Yule Logs in different places.