Patriarch of Serbia

P. no. 373
17 May 2004

To
The Government of the Republic of Macedonia

A request for registration of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric into the registry of the religious communities in the Republic of Macedonia

Respecter President of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Kostov

The Holy Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church requests from the Assembly and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia to allow in Your country the basic human rights to a freedom of religious confession, guaranteed by the international conventions, as well as by the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, and accordingly, to register the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.

The Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric is a canonical Orthodox Church on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, and its Prelate, the Metropolitan of Veles and Povardarje and Exarch of Ohrid kyr kyr John, is in liturgical and canonical unity with the Prelates and fullness of all Orthodox Churches.

If in Macedonia there can be registered and freely act numerous religious organizations, it is impermissible to consider the Ohrid Archbishopric as illegal and to pursue and imprison its members, although it is the only canonical and widely-recognized Orthodox Church on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia.

The Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia reached a declaration for support of the MOC. Without further probing into the fact that the declaration is contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia we wish to draw the attention to the fact that it is contrary to the international conventions on the religious rights because this declaration gives support only to a certain religious group, and those who do not wish to belong to it, as is the case with the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, are treated with disdain, they are humiliated and their basic human rights are tramped on.

By not registering the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric and by not legalizing its existence, a possibility is opened for the police to treat its members brutally, to persecute them, to humiliate them, to maltreat them, to raid their homes and to imprison them whenever they want, to be more precise, whenever there is an order to do so.

To avoid the further intensifying of the situation, we ask of You, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, to allow most urgently for the clerics and believers of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric to enjoy the guaranteed human rights through the registration of their Church as a legal entity by which it will allow it to legally organize its spiritual work, as well as to gain property.

With a hope for positive solution of this request, we remain with respect.

Archbishop of Pec
Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci
and Patriarch of Serbia
+ Pavle
President of the Holy Assembly of Bishops