Macedonian Orthodox Church - Struggle For Autocephaly

Struggle For Autocephaly

The very first modern assembly of Macedonian clergy was held near Ohrid in 1943. In 1944 an Initiative Board for the organization of the Macedonian Orthodox Church was officially formed. In 1945 the First Clergy and People's Synod met and adopted a Resolution for the restoration of the Ohrid Archbishopric as a Macedonian Orthodox Church. It was submitted to the Serbian Orthodox Church, which since 1919 had been the sole church in Vardar Macedonia. The resolution was rejected, but a later one, submitted in 1958 at the Second Clergy and People's Synod, was accepted on June 17, 1959 by the Serbian Orthodox Church under pressure from the Socialist authorities. Dimitrija Stojkovski, a Macedonian, was appointed the first archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Macedonia under the name Dositheus II. The Macedonian Orthodox Church at that time only held autonomous status.

After the Serbian Orthodox Church agreed with the decisions in the resolution, the agreement was celebrated in a common liturgy by the Macedonian priests and the Serbian Patriarch German in Skopje, a sign that the Serbian church recognized the autonomy of the Macedonian church. In 1962 Serbian Patriarch German and Russian Patriarch Alexy visited the Macedonian Orthodox Church during the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius. It was on this occasion that the Macedonian Archbishop celebrated his first liturgy with heads of other Orthodox churches.

At its third synod in 1967, on the bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, the Macedonian Orthodox Church proclaimed its autocephaly and independence from the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Serbian Holy Synod denounced the decision and condemned the clergy as schismatic. Despite various Orthodox and ecumenical efforts, the autocephaly of the Macedonian Orthodox Church is not recognized by other national Orthodox churches in defense of Serbian opposition.