Today
Today, the Macedonian Orthodox Church has about 1200 churches in Macedonia organized in 10 eparchies, whose bishops make up the "Holy Synod of Bishops", headed by the "Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia". At its session in 1994, the Holy Synod stated that
| “ | "The autocephalous status of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the interest of the Macedonian people and state are holy and inalienable values, which it has no intentions of ever giving up." | ” |
After Archbishop Mihail was elected in as head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church in 1993, he stated that the church wanted to cooperate with neighboring Greek, Bulgarian, and Serbian churches. He hoped that:
| “ | we will find understanding after we give our true information about the restoration and autocephaly of the Ohrid Archbishopric and the activities of our dear Macedonian Orthodox Church... the Macedonians are an ancient nation, we are an ancient church, we did not create a church, we renewed our illegally abolished Ohrid Archbishopric. | ” |
The church also pays special attention in preserving the national identity and cultural traditions among Macedonian expatriates in Western countries. Many Orthodox churches who are recognized with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople admit the faithful of the Macedonian Orthodox Church to holy communion. The hierarchy of some churches serve with the Macedonian Orthodox priests, but will not serve liturgically with the hierarchy.
Read more about this topic: Macedonian Orthodox Church
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