How close is the Macedonian Church to recognising the OCU?
The Synod of the Macedonian Church has set up a commission to study the canonical status of the OCU. What does this mean?
From the very beginning of the Macedonian Church's restoration of communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and later, after receiving autocephaly from the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Macedonians have consistently and clearly stated their non-acceptance of the OCU. Moreover, they did this not only in personal statements or conversations but also at the synodal level. Now it seems that the rhetoric seems to be changing. What is happening?
The position of the Serbian Orthodox Church on the OCU
On March 21, 2023, Dumenko sent a letter to Archbishop Stefan, the Primate of the Macedonian Church, expressing his desire for "communion". Almost immediately, on March 28, 2023, the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, at its regular session, responded to Dumenko, stating that it refuses to serve with the "hierarchy" of the OCU until the final resolution of the issue of its status at the level of world Orthodoxy. It is important to emphasize the last words – "at the level of world Orthodoxy", not solely at the level of the Macedonian Church. One of the most authoritative church resources in North Macedonia commented on this refusal by recalling the blackening of crosses on the domes of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra after representatives of the OCU arrived there.
At the same time, having received a document on autocephaly from Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia, Archbishop Stefan stated that the Macedonian Church "humbly awaits" the Tomos from the Phanar, which is not in a hurry to issue this Tomos, limiting itself for the time being only to a document on the restoration of eucharistic unity.
Why doesn't the Phanar grant a Tomos to the MOC?
The answer to the question of why the Phanar is "in no hurry" with the Tomos for Macedonians was given on 9 February 2024 by Metropolitan Timotej of Debar and Kichevo, who said that the Phanariots insist on the OCU recognition, which the Macedonian Church cannot agree to. According to him, "There are certain issues that we cannot accept from a canonical point of view at the moment, but they insist on what is unacceptable, in our opinion and by canons."
The bishop emphasized that the OCU is "an uncanonical Church" and its hierarchs "were ordained without grace." Metropolitan Timotej emphasized that it is the position of the Macedonian Church in not recognising the OCU that "is the main reason for the delay in receiving the Tomos, and at the moment negotiations (with the Patriarchate of Constantinople – Ed.) and visits are in a state of stagnation".
The words of Bishop Timotej were confirmed by one of the Greek resources, stating that the Phanar is very dissatisfied with the "position of Skopje hierarchs" regarding the OCU "and in the current circumstances is not intending to take any action" in the matter of granting the Macedonian Church the Tomos of autocephaly.
The Greeks emphasized that "everything indicates that the position of the Ohrid Archbishopric (that is, the Macedonian Church – Ed.) is aimed at supporting Russian-Serbian plans for a new way of granting autocephaly bypassing Constantinople and the practice from which all autocephalous Churches emerged, except, of course, the Ancient Patriarchates and the Archbishopric of Cyprus."
Moreover, a Greek media outlet close to the Phanar hinted that the "position on the OCU" of the Macedonian Church "will heavily depend on the results of the elections in the country". In other words, the vector of state policy (directed either towards the support of Russia or towards the West) will directly influence the recognition or non-recognition of Dumenko.
Pressure on the MOC from the authorities
Once again, we cannot consider the words of Greek journalists referring to some "people who know the situation in Macedonia well" as mere rumours because the current authorities of the country are actively demonstrating their attitude towards the "church question".
For example, following the Bulgarians, the authorities of North Macedonia have banned the entry of Archimandrite Vassian (Zmeiev) into the country, accusing him and three other Russian diplomats of "actions violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations". What these actions are – we do not know.
However, we know that Fr Vassian was a frequent guest in Macedonia. It is his influence that local nationalist-minded media attribute to the reluctance of the country's hierarchs to recognise the OCU. Allegedly, the decision of the Synod of the Macedonian Church not to concelebrate with Dumenko is the work of Archimandrite Vassian.
At the same time, numerous visits by the country's Prime Minister to the Phanar, the active work of the Phanariots themselves with Macedonian authorities, as well as the influence of the State Department on this issue, about which we wrote earlier, are not taken into account for some reason.
MOC and ROC- is there a "connection"?
It is necessary to understand that within Macedonia, there is a sufficient number of politicians who want to remove the Church of the country "from the sphere of influence" of the Serbian Church. They are convinced that too close contacts with Serbs not only harm the interests of Western-oriented politicians but also indicate connections with the Russian Orthodox Church. In this context, both the authorities and the media sensationalize everything that even indirectly indicates these ties even if it concerns purely spiritual matters. For example, the joint service of Macedonian hierarchs with Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of the ROC at the anniversary of Patriarch Porfirije's enthronement caused great dissatisfaction.
Macedonian media believe that at the moment, "all the energy of the Russian Church is directed towards preventing the granting by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Tomos of autocephaly to the Macedonian Church and turning it into a ROC’s satellite Church." Any statement that the truth in the situation with the OCU is on the side of the canons, not the Phanar, immediately turns into accusations of sympathy for Russia, which in essence, even prevents the possibility of dialogue on this topic.
It is precisely the desire to somehow control this process that can explain the decision of the Macedonian Orthodox Church that all bishops must notify the Synod of serving with representatives of other Local Churches both in Macedonia and abroad. Firstly, the Synod members should not learn about this from the media. Secondly, there will be an opportunity to recommend to the hierarchs "not to give reason to those seeking reason", that is, not to provoke the already highly excited public with their participation in joint services with bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Commission of the MOC on the OCU: why?
At the same time, the authorities of Macedonia do not hesitate to do everything possible to push through the issue of recognising the OCU. Moreover, they are influencing Macedonian hierarchs not only through their officials but also through outsiders.
For example, during Archbishop Stefan's recent visit to Rome, a meeting was arranged for him with the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash – one of the main lobbyists and ideologists of the OCU. Furthermore, as reported in Macedonian media, Yurash "was a guest at all important public events of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, including the service at the tomb of Saint Cyril, which is an exceptional tribute of respect towards Macedonia and the MOC."
What Yurash and Archbishop Stefan discussed can be understood from the post of Macedonian journalist Andreja Bogdanovski: "How did the conversation between Archbishop Stefan and the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Vatican, Yurash, who is a strong supporter of the OCU, go? Stefan conveyed to Yurash that for the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the OCU is an uncanonical church and that he will wait until the ROC first recognises Epifaniy’s OCU so that the MOC can extend a hand to the OCU."
So, literally the next day after Archbishop Stefan's return to Skopje, the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church decided to set up a commission on the issue of recognising the OCU. This decision seems to contradict what was decided a year earlier – not to co-serve with Dumenko until he is recognized by the world Orthodoxy.
What could this mean? It should be noted that the creation of the commission does not necessarily mean a reconsideration of the position. For example, the Bulgarian Church set up a similar commission in 2019, and so far, no decisions on recognizing the OCU have been made. We think that the same applies to the commission of the Macedonian Church – immediate results should not be expected.
At the same time, one cannot ignore the fact that the Macedonian Church is under tremendous pressure regarding the "Ukrainian issue" – both from the authorities (read the State Department), from the nationalist-minded public and the Phanar. In this situation, it is very difficult to resist. But considering the position of Archbishop Stefan himself, as well as the stance of the vast majority of Macedonian hierarchs, we hope there will be no uncanonical decision to recognise the OCU.
