Amid the joyous ringing of Church bells, a con-celebratory liturgy was co-officiated on Thursday by the Patriarch of Serbia, His Holiness Porfirije, and the Archbishop of Ohrid, His Beatitude Stefan, at the historic St. Sava Cathedral of Belgrade.
Archbishop Stefan arrived in the Serbian capital on Wednesday at the head of a delegation of bishops and hierarchs of the now canonical Archbishopric of Ohrid, where they were warmly welcomed.
His Holiness, in a short video uploaded to social media, underlined that “…as the bells of the Church of St. Sava ring out, so do our hearts with joy, because of this blessed day. Welcome, dear brothers. Welcome our brother Archbishop Stefan. Welcome to the community of love. We are brothers”.
In a related development, the president of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, on Wednesday addressed a letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, thanking the Primate of the Mother Church for a decision by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to restore the canonical status and enter into eucharistic communion with the Orthodox Church of his country.
Pendarovski’s land-locked country in the southern Balkans lies due north of the northern Greek province of Macedonia. The latter approximates to historical Macedonia of antiquity and occupies more than half of geographical Macedonia.
In his letter, Pendarovski said he believes that the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s recognition of the Church of Ohrid “…restored the historical injustice committed against our Church and its faithful and healed the deep wounds caused by decades of isolation.”
He also expressed hope and expectation for an ultimate settlement of the administrative status of Church of Ohrid in the near future, through the granting of a Tomos of Autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, stressing that this is a major national priority for his state.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate earlier this month announced that it accepts, in Eucharistic communion, “the hierarchs, the clergy and the people of this Church under Archbishop Stefan.”
The announcement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate made it clear, however, that it excludes the term “Macedonian” and any other derivative of the word “Macedonia” for the Church’s name.
