The Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church stripped Metropolitan Jovan of the Veles-Vardar region of his church functions and ordered him to retire to a monastery, RFE/RL’s South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported from Skopje on 6 July.
RFE/RL – 8 July 2002 – Jovan, who recently reached an agreement recognizing the authority of the Serbian Orthodox Church, said he does not recognize the Macedonian Church’s decision or its jurisdiction over him.
Irinej, who is the Serbian Orthodox bishop of Nis, said the Macedonian synod’s treatment of Jovan shows that further talks with the Macedonian Orthodox Church are pointless.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church declared its independence of the Serbian body in 1967 in a move designed to strengthen Macedonian national identity and weaken Serbian influence there. The breakaway church has not been recognized by any other Orthodox church.
Talks have been underway recently between the Serbian and Macedonian churches in hopes of reaching an understanding and ending the Macedonians’ isolation.
In the Macedonian emigration in the United States, some churches owe allegiance to the Macedonian Orthodox Church, while others are linked to that of Bulgaria.
This news item was originally published by RFE/RL, (Un)Civil Societies, Vol. 3, No. 28, 11 July 2002. Copyright © 2002. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
Related articles:
> Macedonia: Church deal divides public opinion
> Macedonia: Bishop accused of treason
[Some of the links below are no longer active, but this list is kept for reference purposes – some content may be found by using the Wayback Machine of Internet Archive – 20.08.2016]
Website of the Macedonian Orthodox Church:
http://www.m-p-c.org/
Includes an historical overview in English, with translation of the texts of the 1958 Church Assembly and the 1967 decision of the proclamation for autocephaly:
http://www.m-p-c.org/History/history.htm
Website of the Macedonian Orthodox Bishopric of Strumitca (English version):
http://www.mpc.org.mk/html_a/aenglish.html
Macedonian Orthodox Church – American Diocese:
http://www.macedonianchurch.org/
A listing of parishes within the jurisdiction of the Macedonian Orthodox Church outside of Macedonia:
http://www.macedonia.co.uk/mcic/aboutmacedonia/religion/eparhii.asp
“The church of Sv. Gorgi (St. George), Fitzroy, Victoria (Australia), established in 1960, was the first church community outside of Yugoslavia to affiliate with the Macedonian Orthodox Church.”
http://www.arts.unimelb.edu.au/amu/ucr/student/1996/v.stefanov/religion/1church.htm
More material on the Macedonian Orthodox Church in the “Religion” section of the Macedonian Cultural & Information Centre (see the bar on the right side of their page):
http://www.macedonia.co.uk/mcic/aboutmacedonia/religion/religion.asp
