Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric
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| Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric | |
| Jurisdiction | Patriarchate of Pec (Serbia) |
| Diocese type | Autonomous Archdiocese |
| Founded | 2002, legalized 2005 |
| Current Bishop | Archbishop Jovan VI |
| See | Ohrid |
| Headquarters | Skopje, Macedonia |
| Territory | Republic of Macedonia |
| Language | Old Church Slavonic, Macedonian |
| Population | N/A |
| Website | Official Site |
The Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric (Macedonian: Православна Охридска Архиепископија Pravoslavna Ohridska Arhiepiskopija) was formed in 2002 following a failure in negotiations between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the canonically-unconstitutional and unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC). Whereas the Holy Synod of the MOC rejected the so-called Niš agreement, one bishop broke ranks and agreed to form the autonomous church under the tutelage of the Patriarchate of Pec. Macedonian Orthodox Church has issues with the Serbian Orthodox Church after the separation and self-declaration of autocephaly in 1967. After the negotiations between the two churches were suspended, Serbian Orthodox Church recognized a group lead by metropolitan John (Vranishkovski) of Veles and Povardarie ), a Macedonian church bishop, as the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
The church currently includes three high-ranking prelates:
- Archbishop Jovan (Vranišovski) of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje
- Bishop Joakim (Jovčevski) of Polog and Kumanovo
- Bishop Marko (Kimev) of Bregalnica and locum tenens of Bitola
- Vicar bishop David (Ninov) of Stobi
The Macedonian Orthodox Church has reacted by cutting off of all relations with the clergy of the Ohrid Archbishopric and preventing bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church from entering Macedonia. Furthermore, on October 15, 2004 the authorities proceeded to tear down a monastery being built in Nižepole near Bitola. The monastery was to have been the spiritual center of the Archbishopric.
The Archbishopric's language is Macedonian and all of its clergy are ethnic Macedonians.
Bishop Jovan was jailed for 18 months for "defaming the Macedonian Orthodox church and harming the religious feelings of local citizens" by distributing Serbian Orthodox church calendars and pamphlets [1]. The Macedonian State Religion Commission denies the group to be registered as a religious group saying that only one group may be registered for each confession and that the name was not sufficiently distinct from that of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Macedonian church had acquired documents confirming direct involvement of the Serbian government in financing the activities of the group, seen as interference in the internal affairs of another sovereign state by the Macedonian President Crvenkovski. Macedonian President also rejected the request of the Head of Serbian Orthodox Church for abolition of Zoran Vranishkovski (set as a main condition for resumption of negotiations between two churches by the Serbian Patriarch). Vranishkovski is convicted about misappropriate usage of a large sum of money donated to the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
[edit] External links
| Autocephalous and Autonomous Churches of Eastern Orthodoxy |
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