Sofia, June 22, 2022
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has resumed canonical and Eucharistic communion with the Orthodox Church of Northern Macedonia. The decision was made on June 21, 2022 at a meeting of the Holy Synod, the press service of the BOC reports.
“The Bulgarian Orthodox Church—the Bulgarian Patriarchate—welcomes with gratitude to God and spiritual joy the decision to cease the schism, and enters into canonical and Eucharistic communion with the Orthodox Church of Northern Macedonia. The question of the name of the Orthodox Church of Northern Macedonia is to be considered,” the Synod's decision says.
The bone of contention is the name. As the Union of Orthodox Journalists reported on June 8, Metropolitan Seraphim of Nevrokop stated on Bulgarian National Radio, “In the matter of recognizing the autocephaly of the Macedonian Church—the Archdiocese of Ohrid—the Bulgarian Orthodox Church must defend historical truth.”
He pointed out that the Archdiocese of Ohrid was created as Bulgarian and for Bulgarians, and that was the case for a long period of history. “We will experience bitterness because of the conflict with which the history of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is intertwined. Some of this bitterness we will accept, some we will not accept. Time will tell; but we need to defend the historical truth,” Metropolitan Seraphim said.
