The present article appeared yesterday on Religion in Praxis. Reprinted with permission.

Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church (left foreground) and Archbishop Stefan of the Macedonian Orthodox Church (right foreground) concelebrate the Divine Liturgy at the cathedral church in Skopje. (From the website of the Serbian Orthodox Church.)

How can a conflict that appeared to be unsolvable for over half a century gets to be resolved in less than a month? What has changed in the perception among the hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) to greenlight and unanimously back the autocephaly request of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric (MOC-OA)? These are the questions that we would not get clear answers today as the process leading to today’s historic decision to grant autocephaly to the MOC-OA by the Serbian Orthodox Church has been kept in secret and far from the public. While the pace of developments has been astonishingly fast, the political context in which this decision was taken may serve as a pointer to some of the answers to the questions above.  Read More

.

Archbishop Stefan (Veljanovski) of Ohrid and Macedonia

Church of St. Clement of Ohrid. Cathedral (Sobor) of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Skopje, North Macedonia.

✠

This weekend in Sremski Karlovci, the Serbian Orthodox Church will be celebrating 100 years since the re-establishment of the Serbian Patriarchate. The 1920s were instrumental in the shaping and forming of what we today refer as the Serbian Orthodox Church. After the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, the Ecumenical Patriarch issued a tomos of autocephaly in 1922, confirming the unification of the various ecclesiastical units in this part of the Balkans under one Serbian Church.

Many things have changed since 1922, but the tomos issued a century ago is still in force. This provides the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) with ecclesiastical jurisdiction rights that span seven independent states. The Ecumenical Patriarchate’s (EP) decision of May 9, 2022, which restores the ecclesiastical canonicity of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbisphric (MOC-OA), directly affects the future of the SOC’s right to claim jurisdiction over North Macedonia. Read More

✠

To All Patriarchs, Metropolitans, Archbishops, and Bishops of the Orthodox Church

Our Masters, Archpastors, and Shepherds in Christ

As Bright Week draws to a close, I greet each and every one of you with the joyous proclamation of the triumphant resurrection of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ from the dead:

Christ is risen! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Хрїстосъ воскресе! Христос воскрес! Hristos a înviat!

!المسيح قام ქრისტე აღსდგა!

May your hearts be filled with the Uncreated Light shining forth from the grave, for Christ is risen, and death has lost its sting! Christ is risen, and Hell is no more victorious! Christ is risen, and Hell is overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave! For Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen. Read More

Archpriest George Kovalenko

Ukrainian peace activist and hero

✠

One morning a few weeks ago, I was awoken at 4:00 a.m. with an urgent message from a priest in Russia: their anti-war activities had put them on the radar of “Center E,” a secret police inside Russia which investigates religious extremism and terrorism. Arrest and imprisonment was a real possibility, a frightening prospect given the many accusations of torture inside Russia’s prisons.

This priest is a friend of mine, and a good man who wished harm on no one. However, in Russia it is illegal to oppose the war, with fines of up to $45,000 and prison sentences of up to fifteen years. Russia had outlawed the seventh beatitude, which blessed the peacemakers. Read More