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| |style="background:white"|<sup>1</sup><font size="1">MOC claims continuity with historical | |style="background:white"|<sup>1</sup><font size="1">MOC claims continuity with its historical | ||
| antecedent the Archbishopric of Ohrid headed by his Beatitude St. Clement of Ohrid as the first Archibishop of the the Macedonian Orthodox Church but also first ever Slavic Archibishop.|} | |||
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| The '''Macedonian Orthodox Church''' (]: | The '''Macedonian Orthodox Church''' (]: | ||
| Македонска Православна Црква; MPC, MOC) is an ] in the ] |
Македонска Православна Црква; MPC, MOC) is an ] in the ] has its roots in the establishment of the first slavic church on the teritorry of todays Macedonia, preceeding the Macedonian Empire of Samoil, during whose rule it was up-graded into Patriarhat. | ||
| The history of Christianity in Europe begins with Macedonia, as the first ever christian in Europe was Lidia of Macedonia that was christened by the Apostle Paul. However the first church organisation which was independent and covered the teritorry of Macedonia was created with the investiture of St. Clement of Ohrid for the first ever Slavic Bishop with deocese in the region of Ohrid (Kutmichevitsa) and the first Bishop, later Archibishop of the Ohrid Archibishophoric. During the following period up to the coronation of Samoil as Macedonian Emperor the Archibishophoric of Ohrid was enlarging its deocese and included at its peek Dubrovnik (todays Croatia), the whole of Zeta and Raska (todays Serbia and Montenegro), the deoceses of Albania, Sicily, Serdica (todays Sofia in Bulgaria) and the complete deocese of the ethnical Macedonian teritorry. It was during this period that the Archibishophoric of Ohrid was up-graded to Patriarhat. | |||
| Some century and a half later after the fall of the Empire of Samoil and his death, part of the deocese of the Macedonian church under the lead of St. Sava of the Serbs established the Pek Patriarhat, illegitimately, and with no recognition by the Ohrid Archibishop. This however, never lead to separation since during the rule of the Emperor Dushan of the Serbs who was crowned in Skopje, the capital of todays Macedonia, both churches co-existed harmoniously, when both archibishops participated in the ceremony of the coronation. | |||
| The fatal moment occures in 1762 when the Turkish Sultan adopted decree by the means of which the Ohrid Archipishophoric was abolished and the diocese was passed to the Patriarhate of Constantinopole. Latter in 20 century with the establishment of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, when the teritorry of Macedonia was included under the teritorry of the Serbs, as Southern Banovina, the antique diocese of the Ohrid Archibishophoric was bought for money from the Patriarhate of Constantinopole and therefore the Serbian Orthodox Church considers to be the mother church of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which having regard the spreads of christianity and slavic literacy is the mother church of all the Slavic Orthodox Churches. | |||
| In March 1945, the People's Republic of Macedonia was created as one of republics of ], governed by the ]. In ], a Resolution to create the Macedonian Orthodox Church was submitted to the ] who had since 1919 been the sole titulary. This resolution was rejected, but a later one, submitted in 1958, proposing the Ohrid Archdiocese of Saint Clement as a Macedonian Orthodox Church was accepted by the Serbian Orthodox Church on ], ] under strong pressure from the Communist authorities. Dositheus was appointed the first archbishop. The Macedonian Orthodox Church at that time only held autonomous status but during the Third Clergy and Laity Assembly on ], ], in Ohrid, the Macedonian Orthodox Church was proclaimed as autocephalous contrary to canon law. | In March 1945, the People's Republic of Macedonia was created as one of republics of ], governed by the ]. In ], a Resolution to create the Macedonian Orthodox Church was submitted to the ] who had since 1919 been the sole titulary. This resolution was rejected, but a later one, submitted in 1958, proposing the Ohrid Archdiocese of Saint Clement as a Macedonian Orthodox Church was accepted by the Serbian Orthodox Church on ], ] under strong pressure from the Communist authorities. Dositheus was appointed the first archbishop. The Macedonian Orthodox Church at that time only held autonomous status but during the Third Clergy and Laity Assembly on ], ], in Ohrid, the Macedonian Orthodox Church was proclaimed as autocephalous contrary to canon law. | ||
Revision as of 18:11, 23 March 2006
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| MOC claims continuity with its historical
antecedent the Archbishopric of Ohrid headed by his Beatitude St. Clement of Ohrid as the first Archibishop of the the Macedonian Orthodox Church but also first ever Slavic Archibishop.|} The Macedonian Orthodox Church (Macedonian: Македонска Православна Црква; MPC, MOC) is an Eastern Orthodox Church in the Republic of Macedonia has its roots in the establishment of the first slavic church on the teritorry of todays Macedonia, preceeding the Macedonian Empire of Samoil, during whose rule it was up-graded into Patriarhat. The history of Christianity in Europe begins with Macedonia, as the first ever christian in Europe was Lidia of Macedonia that was christened by the Apostle Paul. However the first church organisation which was independent and covered the teritorry of Macedonia was created with the investiture of St. Clement of Ohrid for the first ever Slavic Bishop with deocese in the region of Ohrid (Kutmichevitsa) and the first Bishop, later Archibishop of the Ohrid Archibishophoric. During the following period up to the coronation of Samoil as Macedonian Emperor the Archibishophoric of Ohrid was enlarging its deocese and included at its peek Dubrovnik (todays Croatia), the whole of Zeta and Raska (todays Serbia and Montenegro), the deoceses of Albania, Sicily, Serdica (todays Sofia in Bulgaria) and the complete deocese of the ethnical Macedonian teritorry. It was during this period that the Archibishophoric of Ohrid was up-graded to Patriarhat. Some century and a half later after the fall of the Empire of Samoil and his death, part of the deocese of the Macedonian church under the lead of St. Sava of the Serbs established the Pek Patriarhat, illegitimately, and with no recognition by the Ohrid Archibishop. This however, never lead to separation since during the rule of the Emperor Dushan of the Serbs who was crowned in Skopje, the capital of todays Macedonia, both churches co-existed harmoniously, when both archibishops participated in the ceremony of the coronation. The fatal moment occures in 1762 when the Turkish Sultan adopted decree by the means of which the Ohrid Archipishophoric was abolished and the diocese was passed to the Patriarhate of Constantinopole. Latter in 20 century with the establishment of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, when the teritorry of Macedonia was included under the teritorry of the Serbs, as Southern Banovina, the antique diocese of the Ohrid Archibishophoric was bought for money from the Patriarhate of Constantinopole and therefore the Serbian Orthodox Church considers to be the mother church of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which having regard the spreads of christianity and slavic literacy is the mother church of all the Slavic Orthodox Churches. In March 1945, the People's Republic of Macedonia was created as one of republics of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, governed by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. In Skopje, a Resolution to create the Macedonian Orthodox Church was submitted to the Serbian Orthodox Church who had since 1919 been the sole titulary. This resolution was rejected, but a later one, submitted in 1958, proposing the Ohrid Archdiocese of Saint Clement as a Macedonian Orthodox Church was accepted by the Serbian Orthodox Church on June 17, 1959 under strong pressure from the Communist authorities. Dositheus was appointed the first archbishop. The Macedonian Orthodox Church at that time only held autonomous status but during the Third Clergy and Laity Assembly on July 19, 1967, in Ohrid, the Macedonian Orthodox Church was proclaimed as autocephalous contrary to canon law. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia and the end of Communist repression of the Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church has been in conflict with the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which has yet to gain recognition from the Patriarchate of Constantinople or any other autocephalous church. The issue of dispute is the anti-canonical method used to gain autocephaly, the issue of the Serb Orthodox minority (at least some 40,000 strong) and the question of some hundreds of Serb Orthodox shrines from the medieval Nemanjić period. The two Churches had been negotiating the details of a compromise agreement reached in Niš, Serbia in 2002 which would have given the Macedonians de facto independent status just short of canonical autocephaly. However, the agreement, signed by Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid (secular name Jovan Vraniškovski) from the Macedonian side, was rejected by the Macedonian government and the Holy Synod of MOC, and archbishop Jovan was called off. In turn, the Serbian Orthodox Church granted full autonomy to the Archbishopric of Ohrid, its embattled branch in the Republic of Macedonia, in late May 2005 and appointed Jovan as its Archbishop. The later chain events turned into a vicious circle of mutual accusations and incidents involving SOC and, partly, Serbian government on one side, and MOC, backed by the Macedonian government on the other. The Macedonian side regarded Jovan as a traitor and Serbian puppet. Jovan complained of a new state-backed media campaign against his Church. "They are creating an unstable, explosive atmosphere among the population and are virtually inviting people to lynch us," he told Forum 18 News Service . The government has denied registration of his Church , attacked its places of worship and launched a criminal case against him. He was arrested, removed from his bishopric and then expelled from the country. He returned in 2005 and, after attempting to perform a baptism, he was arrested, sentenced to 18 months in prison and jailed with "extremely limited visitation rights" . Later, in September 2005. he was also accused of embezzlement of church funds at the time when he still was MOC clergyman, the trial being in progress as of January 2006. In turn, SOC denied Macedonian delegation access to the monastery of Prohor Pčinjski, which was the usual site of Macedonian celebration of the national holiday of Ilinden (St. Elijah, August 2 2005 . Macedonian border police often denied Serbian priests entry into the country in clerical garb . Despite public appeals from both churches for "Christian brotherhood and unity", both sides did little to settle the dispute. On March 19th, 2006, after spending 220 days in prison, archbishop Jovan was released . OrganizationAs of 2005, the Macedonian Orthodox Church is headed by Archbishop Stephen of Ohrid and Macedonia. He presides over the Holy Synod of Hierarchs of the MOC, consisting of 9 metropolitans and titular bishops. Dioceses on the territory of Republic of Macedonia:
Outside the country, the MOC is pastorally active in 6 dioceses in the diaspora. The 13 dioceses of the MOC are governed by ten Episcopes, with around 500 active priests in about 500 parishes with over 2000 churches and monasteries. The church claims jurisdiction of about twenty living monasteries, with more than 100 monks. Decision For The Proclamation of the Autocephality of the Macedonia Orthodox Church
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