PODGORICA, Montenegro — Police on Thursday prevented several hundred people from rallying outside Montenegro’s parliament building against a proposed law regarding religious communities and property.

Dozens of officers with helmets and shields stood behind metal barriers in Podgorica. Police said they banned the rally because it had not been announced in advance.

No incidents were reported as the protesters, including Serbian Orthodox Church priests, held prayers and sang religious songs. In a separate protest, several hundred people blocked a regional road in the country’s north, state television RTCG reported.

The draft law says religious communities would need to produce evidence of ownership of their property from before 1918, when Montenegro joined a Balkan kingdom.

The Serbian Orthodox Church says the law will strip it of its property, including medieval monasteries and churches. The government has denied that.

In a statement, the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro urged calm and said it will complain to international organizations because of what it called a “brutal threat to the freedom of religion in Montenegro.”

Officials said Prime Minister Dusko Markovic will meet Bishop Amfilohije, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, in an apparent bid to ease the tensions.

Montenegro’s population of around 620,000 is predominantly Orthodox Christian and the main church is the Serbian Orthodox Church. A separate Montenegrin Orthodox Church isn’t recognized by other Orthodox Christian churches.

Montenegro’s pro-Western president has accused the Serbian Orthodox Church of promoting pro-Serb policies and seeking to undermine the country’s statehood since it split from much larger Serbia in 2006.

Montenegrins remain divided over whether the small Adriatic state should foster close ties with Serbia.