TikToker Sanja Ivanović converts to Orthodox Christianity, says baptism 'saved' her

Croatian TikToker Sanja Ivanović, followed by more than 37 thousand people, has spoken publicly about a long spiritual and personal journey that ended with her converting to the Orthodox Church.

Raised in a Catholic family in Germany, Ivanović says she formally left the Church more than a decade ago and spent years searching for inner peace while battling a deep sense of unrest.

Describing the toughest stretch of her life, she recalled a period of intense distress and material hardship: "I moved from Germany to Switzerland, then came to Montenegro and was overtaken by great sadness and pain. I struggled to survive because I was in a severe economic crisis. I felt that there was something stronger here, and what was stronger was not from God — it was literally from the devil. I really fell to my knees, screamed and said, 'Take this out of me, this is not normal what's happening.'"

Turning to a priest and a ritual

In search of help and relief, Ivanović turned to an Orthodox priest at the Holy Trinity Church in Montenegro. She says their conversation changed the course of her life.

"I went to the priest and told him: 'Take me, either me or that devil, I can't endure this anymore.' He answered that after the baptism I would be like a newborn. And indeed, from that moment doors began to open, step by step," she relates.

The 39-year-old decided to receive Orthodox baptism, which took place on April 26. She describes the ceremony as the start of a new chapter and says that afterward she set concrete spiritual goals, including learning the Cyrillic alphabet so she could read the Bible and prayers in Cyrillic script.

Alongside the change of faith, Ivanović also spoke about family roots and national identity. Though she has always identified as Croatian, she says family research revealed Serbian and Montenegrin ancestry. "So I'm not just Croatian, I'm also more. I felt that even as a child; I searched my whole life and couldn't find it. When I was baptized, I felt like I had come back to myself," she said.

Photo: press material from the event