Primate of Macedonian Orthodox Church added to diptychs of Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Kiev, November 23, 2022

Abp. Stefan of Ohrid. Photo: Wikipedia Abp. Stefan of Ohrid. Photo: Wikipedia By decision of the Ukrainian Holy Synod today, the name of the primate of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric has been added to the diptychs of the primates of the Local Orthodox Churches to be commemorated at the Divine services, reports the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Information-Education Department.

The Synod of the canonical UOC met at the Holy Dormition-Kiev Caves Lavra this morning under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, who will from now on commemorate His Eminence Archbishop Stefan of Ohrid in the services.

The UOC thus recognizes the MOC as both canonical and autocephalous.

Recall that after the UOC’s Council in May in which it removed all connection to the Russian Orthodox Church from its statutes, Met. Onuphry began to commemorate the diptychs of the primates of the Local Churches during the Divine services, according to the practice of Orthodox primates.

The UOC’s decision comes less than a month after the Council of Bishops of the Polish Orthodox Church decided to recognize and enter into communion with the Macedonian Church.

Thus far, the canonicity of the MOC has been formally recognized by (in addition to the Patriarchate of Serbia which granted it autocephaly) the Synods of the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Bulgaria, Russia, and Antioch, and the Churches of Greece and Poland.

Whereas the Russian, Polish, and now Ukrainian Churches explicitly recognize the autocephaly of the Macedonian Church, the Church of Greece explicitly rejects it on the grounds that only Constantinople can grant autocephaly, though it nevertheless accepts the Macedonian Church as canonical.

MOC hierarchs and clergy have also concelebrated with hierarchs and clergy from the Churches of Jerusalem, Romania, the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and the Orthodox Church in America, though their Synods have not formally addressed the issue.

Thus far, there have no been Synodal decisions from or concelebrations with hierarchs or clergy of the Churches of Alexandria, Georgia, Cyprus, and Albania.

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11/23/2022

See also
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The Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric celebrated the glorification of a new saint this weekend. Macedonian and Serbian hierarchs in N. Macedonia to discuss integration into MOC Macedonian and Serbian hierarchs in N. Macedonia to discuss integration into MOC Macedonian and Serbian hierarchs in N. Macedonia to discuss integration into MOC Macedonian and Serbian hierarchs in N. Macedonia to discuss integration into MOC
The hierarchs of the newly autocephalous Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric intend to meet with the hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s own Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric in the near future to discuss their integration into the MOC. Macedonian Church: We must fully preserve Macedonian identity Macedonian Church: We must fully preserve Macedonian identity Macedonian Church: We must fully preserve Macedonian identity Macedonian Church: We must fully preserve Macedonian identity
Following its session yesterday, the Macedonian Holy Synod issued a response to the new French proposal, calling for society to unite and for any protests to be carried out peacefully.
Comments
george11/30/2022 1:09 pm
you are all fighting for nothing, its recognised canonically under OHRID ARCHDIOCESE!
Carlos11/28/2022 4:59 pm
I find that the Greeks are as pedantic as the Anglo-Saxons. You tell me about the semi-historical Trojan War (where, by the way, the real hero was Hector, rather than the homosexual Achilles) as an example, a war that comes from a time when there was no Greek national identity.

Greece as a Nation-State was born in the 19th century, the century in which most of the Nation-States were born, except for those that were born at the end of the 18th century (France, United States, Haiti). To form these nation-states, national identity became a monolithic and homogeneous concept.

If we went back to the times of the Great Schism, all the Greeks in the Empire would feel like Romans. The current Greek identity combines historical facts with fictions invented by politicians.

Greek was spoken in Macedonia, yes, which, like all non-standardized languages, was a set of dialects where one of the most prestigious prevails over the rest. The Greeks were not born from a specific grandson of Noah, but several peoples with different identities became homogenized by living in the same region.

At first it would only be Achaia (that is why the Iliad speaks of Achaeans), then it included Macedonia, Thrace and a good part of present-day Turkey. Later, just as Macedonia and Thrace became Hellenized, today North Macedonia is Slavic.

Following your nationalist logic, if the European part of Turkey became independent, would it be forbidden to use the name Thrace?
Panagiotis11/28/2022 3:24 am
Per Wikipedia: Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a King of the ancient GREEK Kingdom of Macedon..... He spoke GREEK as did ALL of his ancestors. His tutor was Aristotle. Are some of the North Macedonians now going to claim that Aristotle was not Greek? Just pathetic. GREEK was the only language spoken in GREEK Macedonia. The Slavs did not arrive in this area until many centuries after the death of Alexander the Great! His father was Philip II of Macedon who was a member of the Argead dynasty who founded the ancient Kingdom of Macedon. The Argead dynasty was an ancient Macedon Royal House of Dorian GREEK provenance. The dynasty originated in Argos of Peloponnese in southern GREECE. Therefore his father was GREEK!!! His mother was Princess Olympias, daughter of King Neoptolemus of Epirus. King Neoptolemus was of the ruling GREEK Molossian Aeacidae Royal Dynasty. Epirus is a GREEK province in Northwestern GREECE. King Neoptolemus was the son of GREEK ACHILLES, hero of the GREEK army at Troy, and Princess Deidamia, daughter of King Lycomedes of Scyros, an island in GREECE in the Aegean Sea in Central GREECE, prefecture of Euboea. Therefore his mother was GREEK!!! Greek Papa plus Greek Mama equals Greek Child!!! Is that so hard to figure out? God Almighty! It simply amazes me, people trying to deny the Greek people of their heritage. Unbelievable. It is pathetic that some North Macedonians claim to be of the same people as Alexander the Great. The fact of the matter my friends is that North Macedonians are mainly descended from BULGARIAN people, pure and simple, and that is why they speak a BULGARIAN dialect. The Bulgarians say this, and the Serbs say this, and the Greeks say this, and the Albanians say this. It would be good to stop believing in the North Macedonian NONSENSE!!!.... I think it is only a matter of time before Bulgaria takes over so-called North Macedonia. The ethnic Albanians living in North Macedonia may also decide to breakaway. Maybe the North Macedonians should be more concerned about this??? Just my humble opinion.
Carlos11/27/2022 8:36 pm
Today there is a National State called North Macedonia and it has a Slavic culture, what does it matter? Many states are named after ancient nations with no direct relationship to them except for territory (Egypt, Mali). It would be good to stop believing in the Greek Miracle. Don't forget that nations are imagined communities. Greece was not a Nation-State until the 19th century (and under the Byzantine Empire, whose real name was the Eastern Roman Empire, the Greeks saw themselves as Romans), also do not forget that the Macedonia of Alexander the Great was not Greek but a Hellenized kingdom. The same could be said of Thrace. The polis saw the Macedonians as little better than barbarians. While it is true that Alexander the Great spread Hellenistic culture throughout the world, it is still true that he was not 100% Greek.
john11/27/2022 3:55 pm
the macedonian orthodox church was recognised and got autocaphely and its canonically under ohrid archdiocese, the article and most communities just call it the macedonian orthodox church but its originally recognised under ohrid archdiocese
Panagiotis11/25/2022 2:34 pm
Should be: "But I guess some North Macedonians KNOW more than everybody else". Google Voice Error printed "No".
Panagiotis11/25/2022 4:13 am
There was NO Macedonian Slavic nation in 1913! The territory at that time was under Ottoman occupation, and the MAJORITY of people in Macedonia region returned to Greece in 1913 were ethnic GREEKS! Macedonia is Greek and will always be Greek. All references in the BIBLE to MACEDONIA are to GREEK Macedonia and not to Slavic North Macedonia. There were NO Slavs in the Balkans when the Bible was written! There were NO Slavs in the Balkans at the time of Alexander the Great! The Slavs did not arrive in the Balkans until CENTURIES AFTER Alexander the Great. The Slavic North Macedonians are NOT of the same people as Alexander the Great! Alexander the Great was pure Greek and descended from Greeks . If you doubt me then research his genealogy which is Royal and you will see ALL his ancestors were GREEK. All of the ancient Macedonians during the time of the Macedonian Empire AND during the time the Bible was written were ALL GREEK. I am sick and tired of hearing this North Macedonian nonsense. Serbs, Bulgarians, Greeks, etc correctly state that Slavic North Macedonians are in fact descended mainly from BULGARIANS, and that is why NORTH MACEDONIANS speak a dialect of BULGARIAN LANGUAGE. The Bulgarians say this, the Serbs say this, the Greeks say this, but I guess some North Macedonians no more than everybody else. God Almighty give people knowledge, and open up their eyes and their ears!!! Just my humble opinion.
Alex11/24/2022 4:35 pm
Steve, maybe so, but in very short time, the other (autocephalous) Orthodox Churches will recognize the autocephaly of the Macedonian Church. As for Istanbul (Constantinople), who really cares what they think or recognize* about the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)? *Note: The Russian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Polish, and Czech and Slovak Orthodox Churches thus far, recognize the OCAs status as an autocephalous church.
Menas 11/24/2022 2:48 pm
@Steve, it’s also interesting that, to date, many Churches have recognized the MOC in a short time. Meanwhile, one a handful of Greek Churches have recognized the OCU schismatics, and even then it is contested in those Churches
Steve11/24/2022 4:40 am
Alex, if you read this article, the autocephaly of the MOC is only recognized by Russia, Poland, Serbia, and now Ukraine. As with America's OCA, Constantinople only recognizes their canonicity, not their autocephaly.
Gloria11/24/2022 1:43 am
Alex, regarding the Greeks, they are afraid to recognize anything Macedonian, due to the fact that, back in 1913, with the Treaty of Bucharest, they occupied two thirds of the original territory of Macedonia. To this day they negate the existence of Macedonian minority there and keep pressuring the country of Macedonia to change its biblical name… Unfortunately, the Greek Church has also allowed itself to be guided by politics, rather than God’s law.
Alex11/23/2022 10:02 pm
Interesting that the bishop of Istanbul (Constantinople) recognizes the autocephaly of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, yet the Church of Greece does not. Typical case of the left hand versus the right hand not knowing what is what, and the typical goofiness of the Greeks!
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