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| Joint liturgy of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Macedonian Orthodox Church in Skopje, May 2022. |
The dispute between the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) and the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) has officially become a thing of the past since Saturday, May 20.
The Archbishopric of Ohrid of the Orthodox Church of Macedonia joined the Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church - Archbishopric of Ohrid, which is the final phase in overcoming the disagreements between the SOC and the MOC, REL informs.
The Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church announced on Saturday, at the end of its session, that it has made a decision to integrate the Archbishopric of Ohrid of the Orthodox Church of Macedonia - Archbishopric of Ohrid into the Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, according to the REL news agency.
The disagreement between the two churches occurred when the Macedonian Orthodox Church separated non-canonically from the Serbian Orthodox Church, declaring itself fully independent, which was not recognized by the Serbian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox churches, as reported by Beta.
After a long-term refusal by the Macedonian Orthodox Church to return to its previous status, the Archbishopric of Ohrid was formed as an autonomous entity within the Serbian Orthodox Church.
In last year's assembly, the Serbian Orthodox Church issued a Tomos (ecclesiastical act issued by the Patriarch and Synod) through which it recognized the autocephaly of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, but the status of the Archbishopric of Ohrid remained to be declared.
For this reason, as stated in the announcement, "The Assembly made a decision to grant canonical release to the hierarchy of this autonomous church from the Serbian Orthodox Church and its integration into the Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, in accordance with the holy canons and constitutions of both our local churches, as well as the agreement reached earlier by the Synods of all three church structures."
Within the church circles, prior to this assembly, the integration of the Archbishopric of Ohrid into the Macedonian Orthodox Church was mentioned as the most possible solution, with the division of dioceses in North Macedonia so that the bishops of the Archbishopric of Ohrid would have their own dioceses.