In an historic move, the schismatic Orthodox Church of FYROM, which broke away from the Serbian Orthodox Church in1967, has requested canonical recognition from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which enjoys a primacy of honour in all of Eastern Orthodoxy.
The development comes after a petition submitted by the Church in Skopje, along with FYROM prime minister Zoran Zaev’s letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos, in which he requests that the Orthodox Church in his country be placed in the canonical order of the Church, with or without the name Macedonia.
The petition of the Church in Skopje requested recognition of autocephaly, or independence, but the Archbishopric of Ohrid is canonically under the Serbian Patriarchate. It is unclear what the Ecumenical Patriarchate can do in this case.
The move is seen as a good will gesture by Zaev in the context of the FYROM naming negotiations, as the festering issue had been a source of contention in the Orthodox world for a half century.
Vartholomeos appears to have persuaded Zaev of the need for the schismatic Orthodox Church in FYROM to return to the canonical order of the Church, according to which its title is Archbishopric of Ohrid.
The name of the Church, which claimed autocephaly (independence) uncanonically, over the last decades was Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archbishopric of Ohrid.
The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate yesterday issued the following announcement:
“The Holy and Sacred Synod, convening today under the presidency of His All Holiness, examined the petition of the schismatic Church of Skopje, supported by a letter from the Prime Minister of FYROM, His Excellency Mr. Zoran Zaev, that the Ecumenical Patriarchate undertake an initiative to return that Church to the canonical order, under the name Archdiocese of Ohrid, and decided to undertake the matter and do what is necessary, in accordance with the inviolable terms of the historic-canonical jurisdiction and privileges of the first-throne Ecumenical Patriarchate.”
