section: news
22.05.2013
US State Department International Religious Freedom Report for R. Macedonia for 2012
The US State Department published its regular International Religious Freedom Report for 2012, for R. Macedonia.
As usual, a large number of the domestic journalists, which Freedom House names “political appointees”, staging an atmosphere of a full absence of religious freedom violation, cover only the part of the report that says that “the government generally respected religious freedoms”.
Below, we are highlighting some parts of the Report that the domestic public did not have a chance to learn about from the Macedonian media.
The US State Department in its latest report, among other issues, points out that members of other religious groups asserted that the government favored the MOC by granting it public properties free of charge, providing funding for the construction of new churches and moreover, they are accusing the ruling coalition’s dominant ethnic Macedonian party of politicizing religious issues for its own political gain by appealing to the religious beliefs and identity of the country’s majority and by using the MOC as a tool to that end.
In the US State Department Report due attention has been paid to the persecution of the canonical Orthodox Church in R. Macedonia, the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric. The report underlines that the members of the Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid, recognized by the Serbian Orthodox Church as the sole legitimate autonomous Orthodox Church in Macedonia (and that means that all topical orthodox churches consider the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric a part of the Catholic Orthodox Church), alleged that the government subjected them to media harassment and undue monitoring due to their religious beliefs.
The report also notes the latest politically motivated court persecution, which has been expanded to several Bishops, monastics and faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, indicating that – in May 2012 the Ministry of Justice accused several members of its members of “money laundering”, after which the authorities transferred Archbishop Jovan to the detention prison of Suto Orizari. The report states that the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric claimed that the prison conditions were unacceptable. The same claim has been made also by the US State Department in its latest Human Rights Report for Macedonia (http://poa-info.org/news/2013/04/20130422.html).
Finally, the US State Department concludes that the Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid did not recognize the MOC’s self-declared autocephaly.
We remind that more than forty years, not a single other topical orthodox church has recognized the self-declared, from the time of the communism (1967), autocephaly of the MOC, hence in the Orthodox World, MOC is considered a schismatic religious organization!
The complete report is found on the following link: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208340
section: news
12.05.2013
Freedom House: R. Macedonia continues the decline
In the latest Freedom House report on the freedom of the press, R. Macedonia, after last year’s drastic fall of 19 places, continues the decline and now marks a fall of additional 5 places in the rankings, which sets it even further away from all other countries in the region, including Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia, with whom it shared the same place until recently, but now is found 24 places below them.
In its reports, as most acute problems Freedom House names, in the following order: the corruption of the judiciary, the lack of freedom of the media and having no religious freedoms.
In the part about the religious freedoms, in all its reports, without exceptions, there is a mention of the problem of, as it is said, the breakaway Macedonian Orthodox Church with the canonically recognized Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
Like in the other reports of the international community about the situation of the freedoms and human rights in R. Macedonia, it is characteristic that the Constitution and the laws ensure the freedoms, but that is not being respected in practice. All this is undoubtedly indicating the religious persecution of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric which is performed exactly through the violation of the guaranteed rights and freedoms of the citizens members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
section: news
27.04.2013
The court process postponed again! The health state of Archbishop Jovan deteriorated!
On April 26 the current year, the politically motivated court hearing against Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, the rest of the Bishops, monastics and faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, was once again postponed! The last court hearing of this process was held on December 11, last year, and since then, five months in a row, the court hearings are being postponed, with the purpose of imposing pressure upon Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric!
At the event of the appearance before the court yesterday, it was determined that the health state of Archbishop Jovan has been seriously deteriorated and that one month ago a specialist doctor has issued his findings that Archbishop Jovan should undergo surgery. It was concluded that the opinion of the specialist doctor had been approved by the court, but the investigative prison where Archbishop Jovan is being held in detention, locked in a cell for 23 hours per day, for one whole month is not provided him with the basic health protection!
Obviously, the ultimate goal of the pressures that the unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) and its schismatic archbishop are imposing, is the final destruction of Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric. The pressures consist of the following: the unrecognized, state-sponsored MOC and its schismatic archbishop are the sole reason for all accusations, rigged court processes and imprisonments of Archbishop Jovan in the last ten years, and recently their demands are expanding to include the whole of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric! In the meantime, the government is facing international reports on the violation of the basic human freedoms in R. Macedonia, expressed exactly through the selective police and judiciary persecution!
section: news
22.04.2013
The persecution on religious basis in R. Macedonia – continues!
The US State Department published its regular Human Rights Report on R. Macedonia.
The biggest accent is put on the government’s failure fully to respect the rule of law, primarily reflected in the interference in the judiciary and the media, in the selective prosecution of political opponents of the country’s leaders and significant levels of government corruption. The report stresses the existence of police impunity and the political interference in the judiciary, its favoritism, inefficiency and corruption that slowed the delivery of justice.
As one of the most acute problems, the report does not omit to mention the mistreatment of detainees and prisoners by the police and the prison guards, the poor conditions and overcrowding in the state prisons, as well as the delayed access to legal counsel by detainees and defendants. The report clearly indicates that the country’s prisons and detention centers do not meet international standards, they are in dilapidated condition, and the prisoners are held – as it is stated – in deplorable, dangerous and unhygienic environment, while most of the prisoners are locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day.
The US State Department report also quotes the report of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture which particularly criticizes the treatment of the prisoners and requests that they are not held in the equivalent of solitary confinement.
We remind that His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje, having serious health problems, for one year and five months is being held exactly in such conditions (locked in a cell for 23 hours a day) for which the Council of Europe concludes that they “equal solitary confinement”!
The US State Department report further highlights that the law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, but that is not being respected, and the arbitrary arrest and detention remained an open problem. The report states that although the Constitution and the laws provide for an independent judiciary, the government exercised political pressure and intimidation on the judicial branch. Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid in the last ten years is being imprisoned for the sixth time by the mentioned judiciary, against him series of politically rigged court processes are lead, and the last year a great number of monastics and faithful people of the Archbishopric were spectacularly arrested and detained with handcuffs on their hands. Also, through the rigged court processes, in 2012, the period covered by this US State Department report, the state persecution on religious basis has expanded against other Bishops, priests, monastics and faithful of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
In regard to the freedom of speech, the US State Department again notes that although the Constitution and the laws provide for freedom of speech and press, the government do not always demonstrate respect for this right in practice, and government pressure on the media is a continuing problem!
The consequences of not respecting the human rights which are guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws of R. Macedonia, the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric and its Prelate, Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, are suffering for more than one decade. More than one decade in regard to the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric through one-sided informing, with very few exceptions, a systematic campaign of hate speech is being conducted.
The torture on religious basis of the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, through the continuous politically motivated imprisonments of Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, through the court processes against almost all Bishops, against the monastics and the faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, as well as through the illegal denial of its registration in the Macedonian courts – continues!
The report is available in full on the following location: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/204523.pdf
In addition to this information, we are reminding of the following video material:
section: news
28.03.2013
The Archbishop of the schismatic MOC (Macedonian Orthodox Church), Stefan is attempting to trade with the sufferings that Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje is undergoing for the unity of the Church
Today (28.03.2013), for the fifth time, the trial of Bishop Marko of Bregalnica, Bishop David of Stobi, two priest-monks, two abbesses and ten layman of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, who are accused by the state organs of R. Macedonia, together with His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje, for the alleged crime of “money laundering” is postponed! The court is not officially stating for what reason there has not been any court hearing for whole four months, since the last court hearing held on 11.12.2012!
Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid for more than one year is being placed in detention, he has been denied the right to be visited, not even by his mother nor his sister, who have been accused for the same deed. Hence, it is very hard to authentically learn about is his health condition in the current moment. But, from the last contacts we had with him, on the court hearing four months ago, we know that his health has been seriously deteriorated!
Recently, from certain people of good will in the prison, we found out that Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid is being by various means put under constant pressure to waive the service of Archbishop, which has been entrusted to him by God, for the benefit of the schismatic archbishop Stefan. A proof for this is also visible in the frequent continuous postponements of the court process, which have their purpose of causing disheartenment and disappointment due to the uncertainty of the situation not only to Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid – who has no one to encourage him in the prison, but God himself – but as well to the rest of the accused, whose pastor has been imprisoned.
These methods are not unknown to the totalitarian regime which has governed our homeland for decades, and it is more than certain that it has not been changed until this day. Nevertheless, it is miserable, meanly and even disgusting that such totalitarian methods are being most likely suggested, and if not suggested, then certainly supported, by the archbishop Stefan of the schismatic MOC. While the problem with the schism of his church remains unsolved, he is fighting, using utterly immoral methods, for the place of the archbishop, which he does not deserve by any means. Neither by his abilities, nor by his character, nor by his behavior, and the least by his education. In what kind of misery of the spirit should one be dwelling in order to – by means of imprisonment – force the other one to leave to him something that does not belong to the schismatic archbishop, it is not very difficult to assume. At best, that person could be named obnoxious!
By the means of pressure that is being put upon Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, through the authorities of R. Macedonia, Stefan is attempting to gain church-wide recognition of his uncanonical election. It is known to everyone that Stefan was not elected canonically for his service, but was set an archbishop of the schismatic MOC by the political party that was at rule at that moment.
We believe and pray that Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid will not succumb to the pressures, but whatever happens, it should be known that the Archbishopric of Ohrid is not only Archbishop Jovan, but it has a full church structure: Bishops, priests, monks and laymen. As for the question for which Archbishop Jovan is being put under pressure, by imposing upon him ruthless terror in a situation in which he is being helplessly imprisoned, the other members of the church structure of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric should also agree. And they would, not only disagree, at least while they have clear minds and strong faith, but they have already, one-heartedly with all Orthodox Churches in the world, stated that without freeing of Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, there can be no talks for the situation of the schismatic MOC, nevertheless for the position of Stefan in the case of an eventually established unity. The unseriousness of Stefan, in attempt to gain a position for himself, even before the problem with the schism is solved, can be compared with the proverb: “he who is not accepted in the village, asks for the hand of the priest’s daughter!”
section: news
15.03.2013
Another postponing of the court process. Archbishop Jovan will spend four months in detention without being brought to a trial that has already been started.
The authorities in R. Macedonia, eleventh year in a row, upon the demands of the schismatic Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC), are performing state persecution on religious basis against Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric! The mentioned persecution is most illustratively demonstrated with the long, rigged court processes against Archbishop Jovan and the refusal for registration in the courts of the pan-orthodoxly recognized Church in our homeland – the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
Characteristic of the current state of the latest court persecution against the Archbishop, Bishops, monastics and faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric were the persistent, indicative delays of the court hearings, which seems to have as background the insisting of the synod of the schismatic MOC, with the purpose to cause as much harm as possible to Archbishop Jovan!
The last court hearing was held on December 11 last year. After the hearings on January 16, and then on February 20 were postponed, now also the hearing on March 14 is postponed!
Why are the court hearings being postponed? Why is Archbishop Jovan spending four months in a dark and stifling room with a visibly deteriorated health, without being brought to trial? Why is he continued to be held in detention when the hearings are not taking place? Where does the interest originate from, to simply not perform the started court process in such a long time period?
To the ones that insist on the detention, the answer to these questions seems undoubtedly clear: the longer Archbishop Jovan is found in the present, cruel condition, the more likely is his destruction!
section: news
12.03.2013
The authorities are not bringing Archbishop Jovan to trial for more than three months!
On March 12, 2013, one year and three months are concluded since Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje is found in detention!
The last court hearing in the latest staged court process on religious grounds against the Archbishop, the Bishops, monastics and faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric was held on December 11, 2012.
Despite the recommendations by the European Union for not prolonging the court proceedings, this process has been persistently delayed; namely, it was first scheduled for January 16, 2013, but it was cancelled! Then, also the hearing scheduled for February 20, 2013 was cancelled. Archbishop Jovan is in detention, the Bishops, monastics and the faithful people are regularly reporting to the court, hence they are not the reason for the delaying of the court process!
An impression is being made as if there were a political decision for delaying the court proceeding with the purpose of prolonging the torture of Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid through the severe detention regime in which he is found. Because, what is the legal basis for keeping someone for such a long time in detention, in order to take him to trial, while the court is continually delaying the trial! More than three months Archbishop Jovan has not been brought to trial! The pressures upon him in the detention regime are being carried out by various means: he is placed in a small and stifling room, with little light, without health care and without a permission to receive visits! No one of his closest people has visited him since June 11, 2012!
Through the constant opening of new court processes and through the imprisonment sentences, as coming from the times of the party-rule, and also – according to the new analysis of Professor Mirjana Najcevska – through the illegal handcuffing of the citizens members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric before the eyes of the truth-loving domestic and international public, the authorities of R. Macedonia are performing state pogrom on religious basis against the members of one canonical and pan-orthodoxly recognized Church.
section: news
19.02.2013
Regarding the torture on religious basis which is being performed upon Archbishop Jovan by means of prolonged detention
On 14.02.2013 the analysis of prof. Mirjana Najcevska, regarding the media in the developed democratic countries and their role as controllers of the authorities in the aspect of the respect and protection of the human rights, was published. The analysis was prepared as part of the USAID project for strengthening of the media in Macedonia – Component Service for validation of the media facts, implemented by Metamorphosis. The analysis is provided through the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of the analysis are responsibility of the author and they do not reflect the stances of Metamorphosis, USAID or the U.S. Government.
In the analysis, prof. Mirjana Najcevska is treating the important role in the implementation of the verdicts of the European Court for Human Rights, which the media has in the developed democratic countries, and at the same time is elaborating the state in which the media in R. Macedonia are found, in regard to the mentioned subject.
Among the other points of the analysis, prof. Mirjana Najcevska concludes that in the media there is not even an attempt for connecting the current processes which are being led in the courts, with the existing verdicts of the European Court for Human Rights. As it is pointed out in the analysis, despite the fact that there are verdicts of the European Court for Human Rights which address the detention as means for violation of the European Convention on Human Rights by the judicial organs of R. Macedonia, the journalists are not even in one of the current cases of prolonged detention, and such is the case of Archbishop Jovan according to the analysis, attempting to interconnect these data and are not raising the question of the appropriateness of the applied measure.
Although for Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid there is an effective verdict for two-and-a-half years of imprisonment, state torture on religious is being performed upon him, and he is being held in severe detention regime since June 11, 2012!
In the last ten years, as soon as one court process against Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid finishes, a new one is immediately started against him, and he is being imprisoned for the sixth time. Amnesty International has declared him a prisoner of conscience! Last year, the persecution on religious basis was extended upon other Bishops, monastics and citizens members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric. The international reports note that in R. Macedonia there are problems of disrespect of the religious freedoms of all citizens equally, fact that would have to be overcome if R. Macedonia intents to become a part of the advanced democracies! In the Macedonian media, with rare exceptions of objective journalists, the religious persecution is being silenced, and the journalists which Freedom House names political appointees, are most often spreading hate speech against the pan-orthodoxly recognized Church in R. Macedonia – the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric!
The Analysis of prof. Mirjana Najcevska is published in whole on the following address: http://www.plusinfo.mk/mislenje/752/ANALIZA-Mediumite-za-presudite-na-Evropskiot-sud-za-chovekovi-prava
section: news
12.02.2013
Archbishop Jovan – one year and two months in detention!
Today, February 12, 2013, one year and two months are fulfilled since Archbishop Jovan was put in detention!
Archbishop Jovan has already been sentenced to a prison term of two years and six months. In the past ten years, in continuity, as soon as one court process ends, a new court process is started against him, which indicates that as if there were a political decision for a religious persecution against the Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, until their extermination! In the last ten years, Archbishop Jovan has been imprisoned for the sixth time!
This time, the new court persecution started while Archbishop Jovan was already in prison, thus with the excuse that a new court process is ongoing against him, the authorities are illegally and persistently keeping Archbishop Jovan in detention! We have already pointed out that against the convicted former minister Ljube Boskovski, as well as against other prisoners, new court processes are ongoing, but as opposed to Archbishop Jovan, those people are not found in the strict detention, but in the Idrizovo prison! Only against one man different orders are being executed, as if there were a purpose of silently killing him, and that man is the Prelate of the pan-orthodoxly recognized Orthodox Church in R. Macedonia, Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid!
We appeal to the whole democratic public for demonstrating humanity, for respecting the legislative and for making efforts for ceasing of the persecution on religious basis, which is being carried out against Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, persecution upon which foundations it is not possible to build the future of R. Macedonia as an advanced democracy!
section: news
31.01.2013
“Reporters Without Borders”: R. Macedonia is among the countries with the greatest fall in the freedom of expression
The renowned international organization “Reporters Without Borders”, which stands for complete freedom of information, published its regular report on the freedom of the press in the world.
In the chapter that treats the big falls, it is being stressed that R. Macedonia has sunk for more than 20 places in regard to the freedom of expression. As a reason for the fall, among other things, the deterioration in the environment for journalists is noted.
Apart from the very few bright and honest exceptions, due to the political interventions, the working environment for the subjective to pressures journalists, who for more than 10 years in regard to the Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric are using solely hate speech, are indeed worsened.
At the same time, the politically appointed journalists which are slandering the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric (“it is not allowed that the funeral of a member of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric is performed by the parachurch of Vraniskovski”, “Ljubco is defending the schismatic Vraniskovski”, more than 10 years the following phrase is being repeated: “the project ‘Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric’ has failed” etc., etc.), have never provided space in their media, neither for a denial, nor for – against the law – even a paid advertisement. In the last 11 years in which Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid is being imprisoned for the sixth time, and new staged court processes are being initiated against the other Bishops, monastics and faithful people, not once has a public debate being opened, but instead, only the worst type of qualifications are being used for the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric by the journalists – political appointees, through which not only the freedom of expression is being endangered, but the basic human rights of the citizens as well.
All this contributes for the great fall of the freedom of expression in R. Macedonia and for the media darkness which exists also in regard to the ecclesiastical problem and the violation of the religious freedoms in the country. As an illustration of the mentioned media darkness it is sufficient to bring forth the fact that R. Macedonia in the report of “Reporters Without Borders” is ranked on the 116th place, while the press – for example – in Kosovo is ranked on the 85th place! Out of the European countries only Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and Belorussia are ranked lower than R. Macedonia.
“Reporters Without Borders” as an essential reason for the degradation of the freedom of expression is naming the intention of the Macedonian parliament “to legalize censorship”, which in regard to the violation of the religious freedoms of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric exists already for a long period, with the journalists – political appointees. Other reasons for the fall of the freedom of expression in R. Macedonia, according to “Reporters Without Borders” are: judicial harassment based on often inappropriate legislation, the lack of access to public data, the grey economy’s hold over vital parts of the media.
R. Macedonia is falling in the list of the freedom of the press of the “Reporters Without Borders” for several years.
The report in whole can be read on the following address: http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html
section: organisation\Bishopric of Strumitsa
23.01.2013
Bishop David of Stobi: 1700 years of the Edict of Milan! Free Archbishop Jovan!
On this occasion, in the present brief overview of the current situation, regarding the disrespect of the religious freedoms in our country, we will condensedly speak exclusively about the sociological aspect of the mentioned problem. As a motive we have the following: the history notes that this year marks the 1700 years since the declaration of the Edict of Milan. Essentially, the Edict is a decision, a decree of religious tolerance and abolition of every persecution on religious basis.
However, 17 centuries later, our reality witnesses that a state persecution on religious basis is still present in our midst! This persecution has been detected many times and with evidence by the international community, by the institutions that are protecting the religious freedoms in the world, and it is left as an indication of the sociological maturity of the consciousness and the conscience of the ones performing this persecution! And, of course, as a shame of our community in whole! But, obviously, ignoring the persecution is not making it cease! It is, clearly, being manifested on a daily basis throughout the decade-long torture of Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid by the state apparatus, and through the unlawful refusal to inscribe the Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid in the court register of churches! In the past years, as a reaction to the mentioned issue, all topical Orthodox Churches, as well as a large number of other Christian denominations, are addressing the official representatives of our country, requesting a sooner abolition of the religious persecution. The persecution, which seems to be “invisible” for certain people here, remains forever visibly incarved in the church history worldwide! For the persons that have a sound system of values, the mere persecution of only one man, persecution of the preciousness of one personality, is sufficient to change the course of the history for the good of all mankind.
Contemporary Europe finds the example of the renowned theologian Deitrich Bonhoeffer – who refused to be a member of the German state church of the Reich, for which he was many times imprisoned in various camps, and hanged at the end – still fresh. Today, in the European Union there is no religious persecution. Should Archbishop Jovan be the new Bonhoeffer in our country, in order for everyone to remember that with the present torture he is suffering, the contemporary society is persistently degrading itself to the level of functioning only by the instincts, at the same time forgetting that the modern society accents the human dignity, liberty and responsibility, something that merely meets the preconditions for the subsequent free development of the human personality, and through that, the development of the society!?
Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that today, as opposed to the times when the Edict was declared, we live in a secular society, that from a sociological perspective, in the modern community has the following characteristic: the religious affiliation is a private and personal matter, and it is not in any way obligatory or state imposed!
Contrary to the stated, in our midst today something especially negative is being put in force, and that is the ideological use of Christianity.
John Locke will underline that the state is a community of people that has its purpose in preserving, providing for and supporting the civil and cultural values, while the church is a gathering which is based solely on the free will, and has its purpose in expressing the worship of God. Hence, atheism should not be identified with secularism.
We are aware that eleventh year in a row, the purpose is to silently kill Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid. It is not by chance that while he is being put in cruel prison conditions (these conditions are known to us), a new, staged, court persecution against the remaining Bishops, monastics and citizens, members of the Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid, is being started. Do the citizens of our homeland, today, in the 21st century, the ones who do not belong to the sole state-registered church which has the prefix “Orthodox”, and which is obviously – since it is the only one allowed – being in a totalitarian manner imposed by the state apparatus as obligatory, do those citizens, who are not part of the registered church, have the right to register their canonical church to which they belong, or would such a request for them mean an immediate initiation of imprisonment sentences and endless court processes, until their annihilation from the face of the earth? Emile Durkheim in due time indicates that ethics cannot be subjected to the temporal external pressure, which the state imposes upon certain individuals, expressing at the same time his unease exactly in regard to the threat of increased dependence of the individual on the society, and the bad influence that it could have upon the autonomy of the personality.
Hence, we are in need of implementation of the law for respecting of the religious freedoms; the governing of the law is essential! The legislative should find the appropriate balance, so that there would be no protests and no objections. Because, protests arise when certain groups are found to be outside the legal provisions. In the case of our Archbishopric, the state itself is violating the law for registration of the churches and the religious communities! The persecution continues before the eyes of the international community, which has also been put to a test, due to the long delay of the justice in regard to us! The cruel disposition of the authorities in this decade, and the merciless imprisonments of Archbishop Jovan are in front of You! We are here! Outside of the legal provisions, but not by our choice!
This year all Christians in the world, at different places, through creative meetings will celebrate the declaration of the Edict of Milan! Learning from the history the experiences that one courageous decision carries throughout the centuries – the Edict of Milan – our country would need no less courageous personalities in order for our society to be able to call upon the civilization gains – such as the Edict – with clear consciousness; and, hence, not be a passive observer of the history, but to worthily celebrate it, with the final termination of the shameful persecution of Archbishop Jovan!
In the contrary, there would always be the choice of stiff existence and dumb observation of the presentations of the experience of the sociological analysis for the state of hell as the inability to love the other, the one who is different!
section: news
30.11.2012
The representative of the schismatic MOC, Vanco Umlenski, stated before the court that the request for prosecution of Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric persists
On November 28, 2012, in the Court of First Instance in Skopje was held the new, politically staged court hearing against the persecuted Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and against the remaining persecuted Bishops, priest-monks, nuns and believers of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
The main characteristic of the mentioned court process was the involvement of the representative of the schismatic Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC)! So, again, in this court process, the schismatic MOC is found to be the main carrier of the persecution against Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
Initially, the expertise proved that Archbishop Jovan had not embezzled any funds. Therefore, he was twice acquitted, and the third time a political verdict for imprisonment was spoken out! Very indicatively, the court has not yet answered whether the funds for which they are accusing him, Archbishop Jovan has gained for himself or if he had spent them inappropriately!
Although it is clear that Archbishop Jovan has not gained any funds for himself, having no sense for everything stated above, upon a question by the Public Prosecutor whether MOC has been paid damages, the schismatic priest Vanco Umlenski, born 1979 answered that MOC has not being paid damages in the amount of, as he said: 270.000 Euros! At the same time, the judge forbade the lawyer of the defense to pose questions to the representative of the MOC!
Hence, there is a very obvious conspiracy between the court, the Public Prosecutor and the representative of the MOC, for continuation of the persecution of Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric until its destruction! Archbishop Jovan for who knows what time in the last 10 years is being convicted and trialed for the same funds! The judge also refused to abolish the illegal detention measure for Archbishop Jovan, and to have him transferred to a regular prison, with the sole purpose of weakening his health and causing him even greater damage!
The schismatic MOC is on one side declaratively striving to return to the catholicity of the Orthodox Christianity, but on the other side, despite the countless appeals by all Orthodox Churches that by the persecution against Archbishop Jovan in the past years, it has achieved nothing and will not achieve nothing in that direction, it still persists in the persecution of Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, a persecution that is unheard of in the European democratic societies!
section: archbishop\epistles
+Jovan
by the grace of God Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje to the Church he is appointed by God to oversee and to all the Churches of the oecumene assembled in the body of Christ through the link of the Holy Spirit, from Skopje Prison where he is imprisoned even for the sixth time during the past ten years,
Hereby forwards the following
Second Circular Epistle from prison
When we acquire the love of Christ and the virtues, properly is to bear persecutions for Him as well, and to accept even an exile, even to hear the most impertinent defamation for ourselves, and yet to rejoice for all that, blessed Nicholas Cabasilas says. When divine love kindles in a man, and when virtues are lit in him, he is ready to bear not only sufferings, to suffer not only molesting and prison chains, but he is ready even to rejoice to them. Joy however, is not given according to merit, it is not a reward for deeds, but grace, wonderful and perfect gift of God’s grace caused only because the Father has chosen us to bring us into His joy (Matt. 25:21-23). Yet again, those who have entered into the joy of the Father, rejoice with the joy of Christ as well. So what does Christ rejoice in – He rejoices in those who are His and thus He rejoices in Himself intrinsically.
For you who are members of His Body and rejoice with His joy, you will easily recognize the joy which we are happy in. Put in chains for Christ again, we send you this second epistle written in prison to ask you to remember our chains and not be ashamed of us, because we are still chained by them.
When the divine Paul urged Timothy not to be ashamed of his prison (2Tim. 1:8), he did not do it to rebuke him because he was ashamed of Paul’s chains, but to encourage him to accept and endure his own chains, if need for it aroses. If somewhat may be allowed that Paul had a bit of doubt in the reluctance of some who were still not strong in their faith, and were fed on milk food (1Cor. 3:2), and at his first confession before the court no one backed him and all had left him (2Tim. 4:16), and therefore he told Timothy that the Spirit that God gave us is not a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love and of a sound mind (2Tim. 1:7). We are not admitted to doubt you because you supported us at the first and at the second and so on, until the sixth confession of faith of ours before the civil courts in the Republic of Macedonia.
Thus, we do not write this letter with the intention to cheer your masculinity in the faith shown in your testimonies while we are in prison, but we send it to share with you the joy that our Lord rejoices in, joy that pours from the chains of Christ, and rejoices everyone who participates in bearing them one way or another. Those who prefer His chains before to any kind of physical liberty, they will understand our joy with which our heart rejoices when we remember you and your care for us. None other than the one that is wounded by the foolish love of God, does not know how to discover and recognize the joy that poured from suffering, sorrow, difficulty, imprisonment, persecution. However, he who has opened the heart to receive the grace of God and let to be wounded with that inconceivable love, not only allows to be wounded by it often, but appreciates the wounds caused by such love above everything.
Those who know that the temptations suffered for Christ increase the gift of joy, envy us for the shackles we are chained with in Skopje Prison, certainly not with a pathological envy, but with a jealous one. And such envy is not the same as the malevolent envy of those who are in every way trying to hinder us to achieve the goal aimed at the unity of the Church. Hence, the first ones envy undesigningly with envy that is recognized as a zeal for God, while the other ones envy us with malice and a genuine desire to harm, disdaining even the chains for Christ, just because they have became ours at the moment.
And what with it? One thing is of importance, the apostle says: “What then? Notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice” (Phil. 1:18). He who understands will understand what follows: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
Someone can receive the death as a benefit only if the hardly bearable humiliations, mockeries, defamations, persecutions and imprisonments for the sake of Christ are received with joy (1Cor. 4:9-13). And only if he does not respond revengefully, angrily, with hatred and jauntiness to the injustice he bears in his virtues. For every kind of virtue darkens in contact with hatred. That is why the Apostle assures the Corinthians that mockeries should be responded with kind words, persecution with patience, slanders with friendly words.
The weapon of spiritual warfare is the weakness of the cross, the weapon which many people in this world do not believe cannot bring victory. In fact when it seems that we have lost all the power, then we are the strongest (2Cor. 12:10). Therefore we, who have chosen that way of struggle, are considered to be foolish, just as it was in the days of the apostles (1Cor 1:23-24). Who has suffered longer than the blessed Paul? Imprisoned many times, scourged with unimaginable cruelty, many times in danger of being killed. Gone through various kinds of perils in the city, in the wilderness, in the sea (2Cor. 11:23-29). ). But did that not contribute deeply inside him for engravement of the knowledge that temptation leads to patience and patience to tried character and tried character to hope. Hope, however, none of us will make ashamed (Rom. 5:3-5).
Can still a villainous say that Apostle Paul was so far from God and that the wrath of God had turned against him, so the aforesaid had happened to him? On the contrary, he had stood it with joy because God was with him. “My grace is sufficent for thee”, he said, “for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2Cor. 12:9). Blessed is the man who endured the temptations with hope. Because, if he endured them without confusing of the faith in what was promised, he will gain the reward of eternal life that God has promised to those who love Him (Jam. 1:12).
No ordeal is over the extent of the one who has been tempted. God who is connoisseur of our hearts and knows the depths of the human soul, knows everyone’s spiritual strength and abilities separately, so does not allow the temptations we endure to exceed the threshold of our endurance. He who believes, with every temptation that he receives simultaneously receives the exit from it as well (1Cor 10:13). But the exit is not always obvious from the very beginning. It is hidden in the tapestry of hope and patience and revealed when we prove to be patient in our hope (Jam. 1:4).
Sure, it is not God that sets us before temptations. Our wrongly directed will leads us to temptations (Jam. 1:13-14), but we can be set before trials and without the participation of our will by those who envy us, hate us, or set taking away what we own as their goal. Sometimes it means that neither the will of God nor a fault of ours is the reason we endure temptation, but in this case the crown that is prepared for us is greater than the one we would have gotten if we endured the temptation we have fallen in through wrong direction of our autonomy. It can be called suffering when others pull us into temptation. However the award for suffering that we have endured with gratitude and without defiance and that we have not darkened ourselves hating those who pushed us into unwanted suffering is greater than the one given for life adorned with virtues.
The blessed Job is an Example for this. When did he prove himself more worthwhile for the crown, when he shone with virtues: hospitality, pity, mercy, philanthropy, justice, diligence, gentleness, wisdom, restraint, and many more, or when he proved to be patient when suffering he had done nothing to deserve, and yet attacked because of the envy of the devil? Certainly the virtues of Job are undisputed and quite sufficient for the crown, but the endurance of the unjustly caused sufferings made him seven times more worthy. The endurance of suffering are the harder part of the fight in which great patience is needed to win, and great love for God is necessary as well.
When we suffer unfairly for the love of Christ, we actually become partakers of His unjust suffering, but at the same time, He becomes a participant in our pain. It is this oneness with Christ that gives us the greatest comfort in suffering. Our life is hidden in Christ and we have already died in Christ (Colos. 3:3), as he died for us once. But when the authorities in our country realized that the one who died in Christ was born again as a captive of His love, that suffering in prison cannot cause him no pain or wound, decided to reach for the most loved ones, for the precious Bishops and honourable presbyters, for the monks and the nuns, not omitting the flock nor the frail elders among them. They pressed charges against them, to make them accomplices in the misdeeds that they have assigned firstly to us, falsely and without any remorse. Thus they made themselves equal to the persecutors of the Church of the old times and become the persecutors of Christ Himself, for he who persecutes the members of His body, which is the Church, persecutes Him who dwells in each of us individually and in all of us together.
And if the chains of the prison had not broken us or kinked us with their weight, the pain caused by the sufferings of our brethren: the bishops, the clergy, the monastics and the faithful, slashed us as a sharp sickle and twitched us in bitterness as by drinking a cup of wormwood. Much more painful is the pain caused by the suffering of those we love, than the pain of our own suffering. Anyway, for one who has already died in Christ, it is the love for the loved ones that does not allow him to die himself really and completely. He who loves is put at the disposal of the one whom he loves and waits for the moment when need to die for his loved one arises. So teaches us the Saviour, who told us that there is no greater love than to give our life to the one whom we love (John 15:13).
And yet He told us more: “And fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28). Our persecutors cannot harm our souls, although they already succeeded to harm the bodies of some of us. In spite of the help of the Government and its power, they failed to shake our faith in Him whom we wait to come and dress us in a new body, worthy for the preciousness of our souls with which our Lord embellished us. And when God is with us, who can be against us? God had not pity even over His only-begotten Son, the blessed Paul says, but He delivered Him over to death for our sake. So if He delivered to suffering His most beloved one for us, it means He will not stay carefree and idle when someone will try to reach out, not only for our body but four our soul as well.
We May be accused and slandered with false accusations and inappropriate defamations, tried and condemned, be imprisoned and persecuted, our physical sufferings may be multiplied with the power of coercion to which every irresponsible earthly authority may resort, up to the limit of unbearableness, but can they thus separate us from the love of Christ? Can sufferings, narrowness, persecution, famine, nakedness, dangers or martyrdom separate us from Christ? - Apostle asks the Romans. And he answers as everyone of us would answer who is wounded and enslaved by the foolish love of God: “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).
So do not worry too much, nor for our shackles, nor for our persecutions that seem never to see their end. Here we have no permanent city of residence and we long for the one to come (Heb. 13:14). Try not to be alarmed either because of false accusations used against some of you aiming to make you accomplices in the defamations directed at us, or to abase our devotion to God and the Church. God teaches us not to make thoughts about what we say when we are brought to justice. He will enlighten us in that hour what to say, because we are not the ones who will face the court, but the Spirit of the Father will speak through us (Matt. 10:19-20). We who are in the Church and whom God had gifted with all the charisma of the Holy Spirit, because even the smallest participation in charisma makes us participants in all its graceful gifts, and it is inherent for us to speak the truth because it is life itself for us. However, take it as previous knowledge of ours by virtue of our not so little experience with the courts in our country and their unjust and unlawful judgments against us. When the decisions of the courts are more influenced by the political situation, as it happens with all court cases related to the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric in the last 10 years, then justice is deprived and truth substantially harmed. Although it is established precisely to judge with justice and truth, courts judge us as if they intend to do just the opposite.
So, it seems that there will be no exit from this situation, but let us not despair. We are vessels made of clay; weak, brittle, crumbling, and according to some, probably worthless, but we have unsurpassed value before God (2Cor. 4:7). Let us lay all concerns before Him because He cares for us (1Pet. 5.7). The more we participate in the sufferings of Christ, the more we receive His support. Even when going through grief for unjust suffering that sometimes get by us in life; it is for our support and salvation. And when God supports someone who suffers, He supports those through the bond of love participating in the sufferings of the one who suffers.
So as the Corinthians who through the bond of love participated in the sufferings of the apostle Paul, and he therefore rightly expected to be helped by God (2Cor. 1:3-11), we expect and pray God to ignite your faith in His promise, to strengthen your faith and support you in the fight against temptations that pushed you to the malice of the schismatics, and finally deliver you from what would outpass your strength to persevere and win.
But those who have tasted the pain caused by the suffering which pushed them to the malice of their enemies, do not need further interpretation. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” (Ps. 118:8), and it is better to seek refuge in the Lord than to have hope only in man or in the rulers of this world (Ps. 118:8-9). Cruelty and insensibility of people can sometimes be greater than that of the devil, so David, inspired by God, accepted as better to fall into the hands of God, and to be punished by Him, than to fall into the hands of man and be a prey of human revenge (2Sam. 24:14).
Promises given by a man are inconsistent, variable and often depend on personal gain. God given promises are met with confidence, certainty and in due time, when the Lord decides it is the safest. What God promises, He seals and signs by the blood shed on the cross. Therefore, when we feel like to sigh bent double under the burden of suffering, lacking somebody else to rely on except God, let us sigh without disappointment: “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee” (Ps. 73:25).
God, however, will certainly hear and comfort us, especially if we manage to show the most perfect example of what has been commanded to us: to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44). To pray for the wellbeing of your pursuers, to ask for God’s blessing on them and not to curse them (Rom. 12:14). Oh, what grandeur, oh what excellence! To respect the authorities seem somehow natural after what the apostle Paul says (Rom. 13:1-7), and even to pray for them (1Tim. 2:2), but to pray for enemies, including among them even those rulers who are hostile to the Church, is indeed paradoxical. But isn’t the Church full of many other paradoxes? Isn’t it incomprehensible paradox the very incarnation of the hypostasis of the Son of God? Is not it a the immaculate conception of Christ and His supernatural birth by a Virgin a paradox? Isn’t becoming a member of the body of Christ eating bread and drinking wine, and thus participant in the life of God a paradox?
So, love your enemies, even when it is indeed paradoxical to ask for the mercy of God for them, but it is this paradox that makes us to resemble to God the most. The judgment and the vengeance belong to God. He said vengeance and remuneration belong to Him. God would justify the one who is wronged (Deut. 32:35-36) and it is a fearful to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31). He punishes the unjust always, and even when He punishes them, doesn’t He always do it with a visible punishment. For if we punish all the culprits in a row and when it is done by a visible punishment, then what will be left for the final judgment?
In this world, beloved brethren, both the good and the evil suffer. But though suffering is equal for those who deserve it and for those who have no guilt, still the difference between them does not cease, says blessed Augustine. There is a difference between those who suffer even when there is a resemblance of suffering, and even if the pain is the same, neither the condemnation, nor the assistance from God are the same. For as gold shines in the same fire where the reed burn, or under the same baking lid spikes break, and corn is done, so the same force hitting the good ones tries, cleanses and fixes them, while it punishes, breaks and destroys the evil ones. Hence, for the same trouble evil ones curse and blaspheme God, while the good ones pray and celebrate Him. So the matter is not how great the sufferings are and what are they, but how one endures them.
Lastly, aren’t the most blessed ones precisely those who are mocked, persecuted and detracted with false pretences for Christ (Matt. 5:11)? The top of the beatitudes is neither the meekness, nor the purity of heart, nor spiritual peace or peacemaking, not even the righteousness. The top is the gift to persist unfair ridicule, persecution and detracting for the life in Christ. And when a person reaches that peak, then joy alone follows, it does not come according to merit or as a reward for great feats, but as mentioned earlier, comes as grace, as beautiful and perfect gift of God’s grace.
This epistle, my precious and beloved in the Lord brothers and sisters, I send from the detention section of Skopje Prison where we are detained for almost 10 months now. Conditions in which we are accommodated are brutal, during the summer months we were without water almost all day long, with little food and almost no medical care, confined for 23 hours and 1 hour in the day we can go out in the fresh air. Any shipment that we receive is searched in detail, and we wait for months for the court to allow that anything written in a foreign language to be presented to us. However, man is an icon of God and has gifts to be adaptable to external conditions, so sooner or later, each of the detainees accepts the above described harsh reality and live in it and with it. Most of the detainees have not been convicted yet; they either wait for the day of hearing, or wait for the verdict. Precisely this uncertainty is something that is the most difficult thing while in detention. One gets used to the small space of only a few square meters shared with roommates in the cell, becomes able to adapt to life in moisture between the mouldy walls, even the lack of food and health care cannot affect him as can the waiting for the hearing and the passing of the judgment of the court shake him and discourage him.
Condition of the detainees could perhaps be compared to the one of the evil ones after death while awaiting the interim judgment. They will serve the final sentence even later, even after the final judgment, but the very awaiting for the sentence is already a punishment. If evil ones say that even before getting the deserved hell, they wait for it in a state of hell, so it can be said that detainees are in chains, often heavier than the ones they will receive after the trial and verdict.
So, after all that I have written we ask you in a manner as Paul asked the enlightened ones: “remember those who are in bonds as though you were bound with them, and those who suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body” (Heb. 13:3).
Remember us, but do not worry too much about us. Unjust suffering freed many from sins they have committed consciously or unconsciously. So that this suffering of ours, if it is for sin that we have committed against someone, then it is fair, but if we do not suffer for our sins, then this pain of ours bring us closer to Christ and to you just more empathetically. Unjust suffering, my beloved in the Lord, is the shortest way to the depths of the knowing of God. Of course if that suffering is accepted willingly, without defiance, disagreement, and even more so, with joy. Through suffering, especially when it is unjust, we discover and confirm how much we are actually close to God, or to put it better, how much he has approached us.
God becomes close to us and we are close to Him, when we participate in His sacrifice for the life of the world with our suffering. Our sacrifice alone is not sufficient to reconcile us with God; the sacrifice for Christ is necessary, but the sacrifice we endure can sometimes reconcile us with each other. If this little sacrifice that we offer to God voluntarily contribute to fully reconciling with the schismatics and to bridge the existing schism, then all that we endured during the last 10 years, among other things several imprisonments, evictions and more, is just our small stake for what is most precious to the Church, and that is its unity.
We supplicate only God the Father, to strengthen you and fortify your unity with His beloved Son, assembled in one body through the action of the Holy Spirit, to celebrate together God in Trinity, waiting for the coming of Christ, because Christ died and we sheltered our life together with Him in God. And when He – who is our real life, appears, then we will appear with Him glorified by His presence (Colos. 3:3-4).
September 21 / 8, 2012
Nativity of the Theotokos
Detention section,
Skopje Prison
Yours in the Lord
Archbishop of Ohrid and
Metropolitan of Skopje
Jovan
section: news
01.11.2012
The court process against Archbishop Jovan, the Bishops, monastics and believers of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric has begun
On November 1, 2012, at 10 AM, in the Court of First Instance Skopje I, in Skopje, the new staged court process against Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, against the Bishops Marko of Bregalnica and David of Stobi, against the priest-monks Mojsej and Irinej, abbess Kirana, prioress Olimpijada, nuns Magdalina and Pelagija and against another ten believers of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric has begun.
The state persecution against Archbishop Jovan is reaching big proportions. Until now he has been imprisoned for “inciting national, racial and religious hatred”, for “evasion”, for “autarchy”, and among all these accusations, the latest one is being to the list, for alleged “money laundering”! The political tendency of all these convictions in the past ten years can be summarized in the recent statement of Metropolitan Amfilohij of Montenegro, during his visit in Skopje, that “if they could, the authorities of R. Macedonia would pronounce a death sentence for Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid!”
The judicial Golgotha of Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid began in 2002, since when as soon as one court process against him is finished, in continuity, a new one is started, hence in the last ten years he has been imprisoned six times, and he has been serving prison sentences for five years. Archbishop Jovan indicated that the act of coming to the pan-orthodox unity with the Serbian Orthodox Church and with all topical Orthodox Churches is neither an act of treason, nor it is unpatriotic. On the contrary, that was the only way for the Macedonian Orthodox Church to be in unity with the other Orthodox Churches, which is being proven also today, and that he did that, as he said: “in order for my people and Church to not remain excluded from the Orthodox Churches”.
The prosecution accuses Archbishop Jovan that the funds which he has allegedly taken from the Macedonian Orthodox Church 14 years ago, were later distributed by him to his followers, who then used them to buy property for the Association for improvement of the civic and religious freedom “Anastasia”, having in mind that the state persecution is being manifested also in the fact that the court is persistently denying registration to the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, rejecting in that way, the implementation of the new, European legislative.
Archbishop Jovan underlined that since he and his followers were evicted from the objects in which they had lived, with God’s help, they had barely managed to raise funds to buy a place for worship, and now the authorities are demonstrating envy for the “only sheep”, as mentioned in the Old Testament story of the prophet Nathan, told to King David, and therefore the authorities are giving all efforts to “legally” take from the Archbishopric the small property which it has.
In the verdict against Archbishop Jovan for “evasion” of the Court of First Instance in Veles, the essential statement is missing: has he gained the mentioned funds for himself, or has he only operated with them as if they were his own. Archbishop Jovan stated that it takes only a superficial overview of the expertise to confirm that it is not possible that he has gained for himself the funds of whole four year budgets, in the period between 1998 and 2002. Thus, Archbishop Jovan asked: “who could gain for himself the amount of four year budgets, and be discovered no sooner than four years afterwards? What was done in the dioceses with which I operated in those four years? Were they locked and closed? It is impossible to gain even one year budget, and not four!”
The authorities of R. Macedonia for whole ten years are rejecting the requests for registration of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, and that is being done with one sole purpose – to have always, when needed, the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric to point towards, as an illegal entity before the laws. Due to the fact the authorities are refusing to register the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, the members of the Archbishopric are forced to find ways to survive, of course, within the legal framework in R. Macedonia.
The Archbishop highlighted that all of the accused undoubtedly state that they are members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric. And, undoubtedly, before the investigation court had stated that they wanted to help the Church they belong to, by their personal funds, as all believers worldwide are doing. Is R. Macedonia the only place where such help by the believers for their own Church, with their personal funds is considered a criminal act?
Archbishop Jovan stated that his life path is bound to R. Macedonia, and only a vicious mind could suggest that if he was eventually released from detention, he would flee from the country. Had he wished to leave his own homeland, it is well known to the public, that he could have chosen not to return to R. Macedonia, at least until the prison sentence was outdated. But, as he said, he came back because he knew that God was with him, and that God was not abandoning him even in the prison. As he said, he knows that maybe to some people his acts seem as confronting to the authorities, he is not confronting the truth, and thus his conscience is clear. In political trials everything is decided “from above”, which renders useless all arguments.
Archbishop Jovan highlighted that he was obliged before the history to demonstrate that he had fought, and if it seems as if he were losing, that was not something that depends on him. Has not Christ – according to men’s criteria – lost, with His “weakness” on the Cross, and the suffering? But with that “weakness” he accomplished in this world that which is impossible to be imposed by force.
The staged court process against the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric continues.
section: news
20.10.2012
The president of R. Serbia, Mr. Tomislav Nikolic requested amnesty for Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid
Before his upcoming official visit to R. Macedonia, the President of R. Serbia, Mr. Tomislav Nikolic, gave an interview for one Macedonian media in which he also speaks of the persecution against Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric. In his interview he stresses that a court problem could be made up for every citizen and indicates the pointless measures of state persecution against Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, and that is the use of the courts and the prosecution, instead of sitting down to talk, in order for the problem to not remain unsolved.
The President of Serbia Mr. Tomislav Nikolic also underlines that he wants to help, and not deepen the problem, highlighting that the way is not through the arrests and prisons.
Hate speech on religious basis: on the forthcoming defocusing of the public
Since 2002 until today, in continuity, endures the political-media campaign against the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric: verdicts for imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan have been pronounced, new court processes are being staged, through the media are regularly being slandered and gossiped about, the ones that belong to the canonical Church in R. Macedonia. Hence, Freedom House would note that: “Although the constitution provides for freedom of the press, the media are often aligned with particular political interests that render them less than independent. Political appointees, rather than professional journalists, are frequently named to senior positions in state-owned media, from which the majority of the population obtains its information.” Having in mind that the liberty of conviction is the basic benefit the advanced democracies, the campaigns and the slandering obviously tend to be burden upon the reputation of our country! What for?
One whole decade in continuity, when the Macedonian government from both political proveniences is forced to impose a decision, unpopular among its electorate body, such as: legalization of the University in Tetovo (which it previously publically opposed); entering in coalition with political parties, which were previously claimed to be “terrorists”; failure to enter NATO etc, etc, one would note that it is exactly then, by some unbelievable coincidence, that the “firing from all media arms” against the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric commences. It takes only a simple check of the internet news archives to see the authenticity of this conclusion. The herementioned spinning of reality, for the hungry-for-news public, indicates that the most appropriate food is to first, in the arena, scandalize exactly the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric! Of course, there is no sign of the democratic right and the basic civic decency to allow the Archbishopric to express its own opinion in the media which are treating her! According to the statements of some journalists, conveying the stance of the Archbishopric has been prohibited “from above”! What would they do if one day those “from above” are after them?
The leading discourse which currently feeds the Macedonian public is that, from one side, the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric is a “minor phenomenon”, comprised of two or three people, which is totally irrelevant for the society, and from the other side, it is a “major” and “terrifying” threat for the Republic of Macedonia which could “devastate” our nation, thus in combating her, all journalist, security, judicial forces should be joined with the purpose of creating an unbearable hate that could very easily turn into a real physical pogrom against the members of the Church. But, obviously, it is not possible that the canonical Church is at the same time both “worthy of disregard” and “favorite center of attention” to the politicized journalists. The simultaneous emergence of two mutually excluding opinions is more likely to resemble one well-known symptom!
The same approach, the same political-media savaging with slanders and intrigues of the widest spectrum, the same hatred, cameras and provocations, should be expected also in regard to the latest staged court process against the Archbishop, against Bishops, against monastics and believers of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, a court process which is announced for the forthcoming autumn.
Recently, a journalistic text was published which indicates that the domestic intelligence services have provided the media with dosed documentation for some alleged spies, with the purpose of drawing away the attention of the public!
It should be known in advance, that in their fishing in troubled waters, instead of facing their true enemies, the intelligence services through certain politicians and journalists, from time to time, as they find it necessary, they would open “the file named Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric”, they would make theater with “scandalous findings” and provide “first category scandals” etc. The newspapers and the television channels would race each other – who would “discover” more. Various sorts of “experts” would offer “precious” services.
But, all this has happened and will happen with the sole purpose of – defocusing of the attention of the public from the essential problems that the politicians are facing. Because, is it possible that the state apparatus has solved all its problems and doubts, and hence the time has come to deal with the Orthodox Church in the Republic of Macedonia, is it possible that the turn has come for the nuns, which are filmed handcuffed in the courts!
Yes, the “church scandal”, the small-town desire to voayeuristically peek into the yard, into the life of the other, that is a truly “wonderful” way to draw the public attention away from some political scandal, or to calm down the reactions upon some anti-national measures.
The predictions are becoming reality! None of the “scandal exposures” has occurred by coincidence! The proper time has been chosen, according to the methodology of being in power, at any price, as a goal for itself!
Those that are truly knowers of the orthodox theology, or the authentic Christian values, are recollecting and are choosing to live what Christ has suffered, exactly from the politicians and the public of Jerusalem at that time! Without guild, Christ suffered public spitting, slandering, death!
The Lord said: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you”. All this is very well known to the orthodox Christians, but not to a large number of those who are being led by other interests and criteria in their lives. Unless one has fully lost his conscience, at least in the moments of death, each man is returning to that which defines his personality, has he been a persecutor, or the persecuted, has he loved or has he hated, has he been together with the persecutors, or has he been together with the ones who were slandered and hated!
For those politicians, judges, police officers, journalists, who raise their hands upon innocent people, orthodox Christians with no guilt for what they are accused of, there is a wise proverb by the holy fathers: it is a cloud, it will pass!
In accordance with the history, which is to a large degree a history of persecution of the Church, the orthodox Tradition testifies one undeniable reality, and that is that the people of the Church are like the flower: when they are being stepped upon, then they are releasing the fragrance, then they are scenting the most!
section: news
17.09.2012
The World Council of Churches Called upon the Government of R. Macedonia to immediately release Archbishop Jovan and to cease and desist persecuting the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric
The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, which consists of 349 member churches, on its most recent meeting from August 28 to September 5, 2012, issued a publication and reached a decision for reaction in regard to the persecution which the authorities of R. Macedonia are performing against Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
The publication of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches states:
I was in prison and you came to visit me... Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Matt. 25:36,40)
1. His Beatitude, Archbishop Dr Jovan of Ochrid and Metropolitan of Skopje of the Serbian Orthodox Church was arrested whilst crossing the border from Greece into the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on 12 December 2011. Unfounded charges were brought against Archbishop Jovan, following which he was tried and sentenced in absentia, without the basic right to defence, to two and a half years imprisonment by the Court of Appeals in Veles. Initially detained unlawfully at Veles, he was transferred to more solitary confinement in Idrizovo Prison on 16 January 2012. This is his sixth consecutive detention, despite two acquittals by the Municipal Court in Veles.
2. Amnesty International in 2005, predicated on the staged court cases and state persecution on religious grounds against Archbishop Jovan by the courts of FYROM, initiated ten years ago on the grounds of different religious beliefs, declared Archbishop Jovan a "prisoner of conscience".
3. The persecution against the Archbishop now continues and has been extended to include the intimidation of members of the Archbishop’s family, the interrogation of hierarchs, clergy, monastics and faithful of the Archdiocese of Ochrid with added threats of confiscation, whilst denying Archbishop Jovan the essential right to visitations and external communications.
4. The World Council of Churches (WCC) has denounced the arrest and unlawful detention of His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan of Ochrid and Metropolitan of Skopje at the request of His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The general secretary of WCC has written letters to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and to the President of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), expressing concern that Archbishop Jovan’s persecution over the past years constitutes a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of religion or belief, as guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Kolympari, Crete, Greece, from 28 August to 5 September 2012, therefore:
A. Decries the unlawful imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan and the continued persecution of the members of the Archdiocese of Ochrid, and the members of the Archbishop’s family;
B. Calls upon the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to immediately release Archbishop Jovan and to cease and desist persecuting the Archdiocese of Ochrid;
C. Urges the authorities in FYROM to recognize the essential right to freedom of religion or belief, as guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
D. Requests the member churches of the WCC to join in prayer and solidarity with Archbishop Jovan by writing letters of protest to the relevant authorities;
E. Encourages the CCIA to organize a solidarity visit and continue to advocate for the release of Archbishop Jovan.
section: news
10.09.2012
The Court of Appeals in Skopje to answer on two requests
More than two months have passed, and the Court of Appeals in Skopje has not yet answered on two requests, on which – according to the law – it is obliged to answer.
Namely, Vasil Georgiev, the lawyer of Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, requested that the Court of Appeals in Skopje reopens the court session, due to the undeniable fact that the Court of Appeals has, completely against the law, on in its session held on June 28 2012, disregarded the complaint on the convicting verdict against Archbishop Jovan, which the lawyer Vasil Georgiev has properly and in due time sent to the Court of Appeals, for which he also provides the corresponding documentation. The Court of Appels until now has not replied whether it will accept the request by the lawyer Vasil Georgiev for reopening of the session on which this time it should legally take into account the mentioned complaint!
Archbishop Jovan has also addressed the Court of Appeals in Skopje, requesting its statement on the question whether Archbishop has “gained for himself the funds in whole” for which he has been accused, or whether he has “operated with them as if they were his own!”
Depending on the answer by the Court of Appeals it will be determined whether he could have performed another criminal act, of which he is being accused now!
Here it should be mentioned that the regular yearly financial inspections of the MOC (Macedonian Orthodox Church, which to our great grief is still dwelling in schism), in the time period of four years, in which Archbishop Jovan was a Bishop in the MOC, had not found any irregularities in his financial operations! In those four years there were no accusations, no court processes against Archbishop Jovan, but rather the politically rigged court persecution has started after he left the schism and joined the liturgical and canonical unity of the whole Orthodox Christianity!
Hence, it should be noted that the automobile that had been used by the Eparchy of Veles in the time of Archbishop Jovan, the two tractors, each square meter of land under concession, the libraries, the equipped apartment in the archbishopric of the MOC, the marble pillars in the church “St Demetrios” in Bitola, the building “Malina” in Veles, the church economy “Voskresenie” and its two automobiles, as well as the whole remaining movable and immovable property for which Archbishop Jovan is being trialed and sentenced after fourteen years, have not even for a single moment been his private property, but on the contrary – it is until this day unalienable property of the MOC, so it is very clear that Archbishop Jovan has left the Eparchy in much better condition than the one he had found it in. Exactly for that reason, Archbishop Jovan has been twice acquitted by the Court of First Instance in Veles, while the third time the authorities had replaced the judge Valentin Zafirov and set judge Tanja Mileva only to read the political verdict for imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan.
Thus, the reallocation of the funds which is mentioned throughout the accusations against Archbishop Jovan, is with the purpose that the MOC, and nobody else, gains material goods, which means – there is no damaged party!
Therefore, the Court of Appeals in Skopje is due to answer whether the session will be reopened, and the complaint by the lawyer legally taken into consideration, as well as to make its stance on the question whether Archbishop Jovan has “gained the funds” or “operated with them”.
section: news
15.08.2012
Bishops Marko and David received by the President of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic
President Nikolic will actively support the respecting of the religious freedoms in the region
On August 14, 2012, in Belgrade, the President of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Tomislav Nikolic, has received the delegation of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, their Eminences Bishops Marko of Bregalnica and David of Stobi, and has directly learned about all the problems that the panorthodoxly recognized Church in Macedonia is facing.
The Delegation of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric requested from President Nikolic support and protection in the defense of the fundamental human rights and religious freedoms.
The Bishops of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric presented to the President of Serbia, both the latest prolongation of the detention, and generally, the persecution on religious grounds in whole, which His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje is facing in the last ten years. They closely acquainted President Nikolic also with the latest preparations for the staged politically-judicial persecution against the rest of the Bishops, monastics and faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric. The Bishops of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric at the same time expressed their hope for the sooner solution of the mentioned problems, for the wellbeing of all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia.
Public announcement from the Cabinet of the Serbian President
After the meeting, the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Serbia issued the following public announcement:
The President of Serbia, Mr. Tomislav Nikolic, today, August 14, 2012, received the representatives of the Ohrid Archbishopric, their Eminences Bishops Marko of Bregalnica and David of Stobi, the member of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Bishop Irinej of Backa, and the Bishop Porfirije of Jegar.
The Bishops of the Ohrid Archbishopric have presented the problems of their Church, the information about the unjust imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, and the endangering of the human rights and religious freedoms of the Bishops, priests, monks and the faithful people of the Ohrid Archbishopric.
President Nikolic assured his guests that he would actively support the full respecting of the human rights and religious freedoms, not only of the believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church, but of all people, of all nations and communities in Serbia, in the region and in the world.
Source: predsednik.rs
Public addressing of Bishop Irinej of Backa
After the meeting, His Eminence Bishop Irinej of Backa made a public addressing to the representatives of the media. In his addressing, Bishop Irinej stressed that this is not a case of high-profile political pretensions, but is exclusively a matter of protection of the fundamental human rights and freedoms. In continuation, the Bishop of Backa stated that under the guise of false accusations, staging of court processes and political persecution against the Bishops, priests, monks and faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric are being performed, only due to their religious beliefs.
section: news
30.07.2012
The Former Prime Minister of R. Macedonia, Ljubco Georgievski: Archbishop Jovan is a political prisoner
The Former Prime Minister of R. Macedonia, Ljubco Georgievski, in whose time, in 2002, the persecution against His Beatitude Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje Jovan began, in his latest interview for the weekly magazine “Fokus” (Nr. 891/892, 27.07.2012) is commenting the events related to the contemporary church proceedings in R. Macedonia.
In the mentioned discussion with the editor of the weekly magazine “Fokus”, the Former Prime Minister of R. Macedonia stresses that for him it is an undeniable fact that Archbishop Jovan is a political prisoner!
Ljubco Georgievski has previously stated that the case of Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric is a politically rigged process and that ultimately, the church issues in R. Macedonia should be solved through dialogue, and not by imprisoning Archbishop Jovan, the Bishops, monastics and the faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric (A1on, 30.05.2012)!
In R. Macedonia for ten years already, through trampling on religious freedoms, democracy is being deteriorated, and a politically-motivated state persecution is being performed upon Archbishop Jovan, against whom the state in continuity, as soon as one ends, starts a new court process, and more recently, court persecution has been initiated against the rest of the Bishops, monastics, and faithful people of the pan-orthodoxly renowned Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, with the purpose of her annihilation!
section: news
14.07.2012
Letter of support from the Holy Mount of Athos to the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric
Emblem
Holy Community
Of the Holy Mount of Athos
Protocol nr. F. 2/5β/1770 Karyes, 26.6/9.7.2012
Round seal: Seal of the Protaton of the Holy Community of Mount Athos
To: His Eminence David
Bishop of Stobi and
Administrator of Strumitsa
In Skopje
To Your Godhonored Eminence,
We are addressing you piously in the Lord
With profound pain the Holy Community of the Holy Mount of Athos has received the information through your announcement nr. 133/28.5.2012, as well as the subsequent notification of Abbess Kirana and her sisterhood, in regard to the initiated uncaused and unprecedented persecution against You, Bishop Mark, Abbess Kirana, nun Olimpiada, priest-monks Mojsej and Irinej, nuns Magdalina and Pelagia, as well as against a large number of Your relatives and friends, adhering in that way, to the years-long unceasing persecutions against His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje.
Through this letter of ours, sealed by the whole Holy Community, we wish in the name of all Hagiorites to express our heartily grief and support to You personally, as well as to the abovementioned suppressed members of Your Church, both clergymen and lay people.
We know, Your Eminence, the difficult position, in which the Holy Archbishopric and her faithful people are now found, following the latest imprisonment of His Beatitude Archbishop Jovan, hence we fully understand Your pain, due to the execution of the unjust persecutions, harassments and the uncaused attacks you are going through.
We also ask you to encourage yourselves in the firm conviction that the persecutions and the sufferings which you are undergoing for the unity and the canonical order of the Church, will bring you great reward from the Rightly-judging Lord, when He will give to everyone according to his deeds. Endure all that with patience and gratefulness “and when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory“, because His words through the mouth of the Apostle are true: “if we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him”.
In that way, You should, for the benefit of the clergy and the lay people of the Holy Archbishopric of Ohrid, but also for the benefit of the Whole Church, remain a worthy of emulation example of purification and self-sacrifice until the end, for the unity of the Church.
Fervently mentioning Your names before the present icon “Axion Esti” we pray that the Protectoress of our holynamed Place gives You deliverance from the present thorny temptations and that She comforts You with her Godmother grace, covering You all under her hood, thus bestowing the much awaited peace and unity of Your tormented Church.
Alongside, we ask You to share our humble prayers and support to the rest of the Hierarchs, priest-monks, nuns as well as faithful people of Your jurisdiction, and asking for your godconvincing blessing, we remain with due respect.
All Representatives and Prelates,
who are in the Community of the
Twenty Holy Monasteries of the Holy Mount of Athos
section: archbishop\announcements
12.07.2012
Archbishop Jovan sentenced again. Bishops, monastics, believers under court investigation. The proverbial Macedonian judiciary is killing the religious freedoms.
After the Information Service of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric announced that the deed for which the schismatic “Macedonian Orthodox Church” (MOC) is suing Archbishop Jovan is outdated, and the Court of Appeals has not reached a verdict, various interpretations and denials appeared in the Macedonian media.
Dominant was the news that there has been a decision, but it was not written yet!!! (Dnevnik, 09.07.2012, 12:13)
Other regime media hastened to report that even if the Court of Appeals had not reached a decision, that would not save Archbishop Jovan from being imprisoned, because a new, different charge was being raised against him!!! (Vecer, nr. 15036). Such stances testify that the state will infinitely make up various things with the sole purpose of making sure that Archbishop Jovan will not be released from prison!
However, the undeniable fact remains, that on June 28th, during the court process in Skopje, where Archbishop Jovan was present, the Court of Appeals neither reached, nor announced any decision, it only stated that the decision would be delivered in a written form! Such decision the court has not been delivered until this day, and the deed is already fully outdated!
The information services also stressed that the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric considers the Macedonian judiciary to be corrupted and subjected to political pressures, but they forgot to indicate that those qualifications have been fully quoted from the relevant reports, from the last several years, of the U.S. State Department and Freedom House, and the reformation of the Macedonian judiciary has been marked as a first and required condition for the integration of R. Macedonia into the contemporary democratic flows.
The corrupted Macedonian judiciary has rudely twisted, in whole, the procedure during the court process against Archbishop Jovan. Following, we will name only a few violations of the procedure!
The court prosecutes Archbishop Jovan solely due to his religious convictions
The court made an essential violation of the procedure by accepting the charges after the allowed time period (Article 48 of the Criminal Law), because the whole work of Archbishop Jovan was very clearly known to the synod of the schismatic MOC, exactly through their financial control in the Eparchies where Archbishop Jovan was a Bishop. The mentioned financial control, without exceptions, showed that Archbishop Jovan simply does not have irregularities in his financial operations. That can especially be seen through the final accounts that were checked and verified by the schismatic synod of the MOC! That is why the schismatic bishops had not raised charges against Archbishop Jovan during the time he was part of their synod. Hence, it is very obvious that the state-schismatic persecution against Archbishop Jovan begins in the moment he established the canonical and liturgical unity with the catholic Orthodoxy. In that way, the proverbial Macedonian judiciary is also violating Article 9 of the Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, according to which, everyone has the right to a belief, consciousness and religion, including the right to change his religion, as well as the right to publicly express his religion through religious services.
R. Macedonia annihilates the principle of secular society
The judiciary is violating the procedure also by initiating a court process for which the Court of First Instance in Veles is not relevant to trial Archbishop Jovan for the mentioned deed, because for that only an ecclesiastical court would be relevant, having in mind that “the decisions of the bodies of the religious communities have no effect outside of those same communities” (Official Gazette of R. Macedonia, Nr. 35, dating from July 23rd 1997, which was valid at the critical time, article 14), which strictly forbids the state to have powers in the church works. In the case of Archbishop Jovan, R. Macedonia is annihilating the principle of secular society and the Court of First Instance is placed in the position of an ecclesiastical court that makes judgments according to the Constitution of the schismatic MOC. In that way, one court instance, i.e. the Court of First Instance in Veles, is changing the state constitution, and that autocracy has been silently accepted by the legislative and the executive authorities of R. Macedonia.
The public prosecution did not prove who was damaged, which means – there is no damaged party
Also, nobody from the schismatic MOC is telling the undeniable truth that the automobile which was used by the Eparchy in Veles in the time of Archbishop Jovan, the two tractors, each square meter of land under concession, the marble pillars in the temple “St Demetrios” in Bitola, the building “Malina” in Veles, the church economy “Voskresenie” and its two automobiles, and all other movable and immovable property for which the schismatic MOC, after ten years, is accusing Archbishop Jovan, have not even for a single moment been his private property, on the contrary, they are even today inalienable property of the schismatic MOC, hence it is very clear that Archbishop Jovan left the Eparchy in a much better condition that the one he found it in. For that reason he has been twice acquitted by the Court of First instance in Veles, while the third time, the authorities had dismissed the judge Valentin Zafirov and set the judge Tanja Mileva only to read the political verdict for imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan.
Therefore, the reallocation of the funds which is mentioned throughout the accusation against Archbishop Jovan, is with the purpose that the schismatic MOC and no one else, gains material goods, which means that – there is no damaged party. The public prosecution did not prove which regulation had been violated by the work of Archbishop Jovan in the critical period. It is not clear what the Public prosecution and the Court understands by “gaining material goods for oneself”, when it is evident that everything has been gained for the schismatic MOC, and remained in the schismatic MOC, thus the question is raised: what exactly does the Public prosecution want to protect with this bill of indictment?! And who has been damaged when the schismatic bishops Agatangel and Timotej, who were both examined in the court, clearly testified that Archbishop Jovan did not take anything with him!!!
The Court violates the human rights of Archbishop Jovan
Also, violating the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, articles 3-b, 3-c and 3-d, in which it is determined that everyone should be provided conditions for the preparation of the defense, as well as the right to call and examine witnesses, the court first refused to call as witnesses the schismatic bishops Stefan and Peter, who, as opposed to Archbishop Jovan, had executive functions in the time when he was a vicar bishop; afterwards, although the expertise had been made in the absence of Archbishop Jovan, the court prohibited expertise in his presence; and at the end it deprived him of the time for his statement in regard to the mentioned expertise, i.e. it deprived him of the time for exposition of the defense.
Continuous accusations with the aim of destruction of Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric
In regard to the latest accusations for “money laundering”, it is completely clear that, according to the recommendations by the Court of Appeals, it is clear that Archbishop Jovan has not gained any funds for himself, but rather “operated with the funds of the schismatic MOC as they were its own”. So, it is obvious that he has not embezzled the funds, but everything that the schismatic MOC accuses Archbishop Jovan of, is today their property. In that case, such “money laundering” is possible only for the corrupted and subjected to political pressures judiciary!
Religious persecution – endangering of the future
All this testifies that the authorities in R. Macedonia, in the eyes of the international public are protecting the monopoly of the schismatic MOC, and are placing MOC above the laws, thus signing capitulation of the democratic values, which will surely have its consequences for the future of all citizens of R. Macedonia. The imprisonments and the continuous court processes, one after the other, are clearly demonstrating that the Macedonian authorities are determined by all means to destroy the religious freedoms in our homeland and with communistic methods covered with the guise of “independent court decisions” to wipe from the face of the earth Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
The complaint by the lawyer Vasil Georgiev to the Court of Appeals
section: news
13.06.2012
Ten years suffering for Christ
In the United States of America, the internet site “Free Archbishop Jovan” (see here) which informs the English speaking public about the state persecution on religious grounds in R. Macedonia, targeted against Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid, the Bishops, clergy, monasticism and faithful people of the canonical Church in our fatherland, the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, is active for several years.
The Orthodox Christians in the USA have expressed their view of the abovementioned persecution in a video clip which traversed the world. Here is the video:
section: archbishop\announcements
06.06.2012
Announcement to the domestic and the international public on the occasion of the latest state terror on religious basis in R. Macedonia against the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric
The domestic public had the opportunity to be informed about the latest state terror on religious basis carried out towards the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric single-sidedly and identically by the police and the media, which – according to the latest U.S. State Department Human Rights Report – together with the judiciary, are marked as the most problematic segments of the Macedonian society.
In continuation we will briefly indicate the reasons for the latest police searches and harassments, as well as the judicial measures against the Bishops, priest-monks, nuns and the faithful people of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
The Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric has on two terms – according to both the old and the new law – had the applications for its registration in the court register of churches and religious communities rejected. In regard to that case the Prosecution also refused to protect the lawfulness. The Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric is a pan-orthodoxly recognized Church that has its structure in which people are realizing various activities, and it is simply not possible that these citizens cease to exist only because the state – in the last 10 years – is unjustly terrorizing them on religious basis and refuses to register the Church.
For those reasons, the Association of citizens “Anastasia” was legally registered, its primary purpose being the enhancement of the religious freedoms in R. Macedonia. (Through the realization of its legally granted right, the establishment of the Association and its activities are in accordance with the Law for associations of citizens and foundations, and hence, according to article № 2, the Association has the right to income, to donations intended for the realization of purposes and activities, according to the Statute and the Law.) If the court allows for a registration, then the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric would not have a reason to accomplish its activities through associations of citizens. The Association “Anastasia” (which is founded by nuns), made a contract for purchasing of premises where the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric would be able to realize their religious needs. For that purpose, donors, members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, decided to aid the Association with their own funds. The public prosecution, on the other hand, fully unjustified, illegal, and without absolutely no proof upon which a suspicion for a criminal act of “money laundering” would be based, aims to present the donors’ funds as funds that Archbishop Jovan of Ohrid has misappropriated from the schismatic Macedonian orthodox church (MOC)! But what clearly shows that this is a case of state terror on religious grounds, among other things, is the fact that in the court process against Archbishop Jovan, it was insisted to the instructions of the Court of Appeals that the criminal act “evasion” does not suggest that someone had gained material benefit for himself, and the expertise, as well as the acquittal verdicts for Archbishop Jovan showed that he has not misappropriated any funds. Finally, the court is aware that the automobile of the Eparchy, the library, the marble pillars in Bitola’s temple of “St Demetrios”, the building “Malina” in Veles, the church economy “Voskresenie” and the whole movable and immovable property for which the schismatic MOC is accusing Archbishop Jovan, has not even for one moment been his private property, but instead, it is inalienable property of the schismatic MOC, for which – as we indicated – the Court of First Instance in Veles has on two terms acquitted Archbishop Jovan, and also the court in Sofia, Bulgaria, denied the extradition of Archbishop Jovan in R. Macedonia, wondering how at all could it be possible for Archbishop Jovan to have “embezzled” even those funds that he – as the active Bishop – has paid as personal income to the employees, and how could it be possible for him to “embezzle” even the paid bills for electricity and public services! Therefore, the court in Bulgaria refused his extradition with a rationale that “the financial embezzlement for which Archbishop Jovan is being accused of, are nothing else, but a political persecution on religious grounds”.
That this is a case of a staged state persecution, it could be clearly seen from the court decision for an investigative process in which, in neither of the accusations the expression presumably there is “money laundering” is used, but rather, the decision for the persecution looks as if the investigative bodies have already written the sentence. At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has placed – contrary to the law – all information in the public, with what a prejudge is made of a contradictory process which should be lead in the court. Also, the MIA should not have stated with certainty that there had been intentions for money laundering, because the evidences for such a case are being additionally collected and the formation of the accusation in process. Also, the court and the police are not respecting the presumption of innocence, and by publicly displaying the private data and by making the detentions with handcuffs on the hands and in front of video cameras, they have in a way already sentenced the donors of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric! On top of that, the police harassed and hit nuns. During the search it confiscated the registry books of the baptized and the married, the protocol books with the whole correspondence of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, of exclusively religious character, and many other documents and items, also of exclusively religious character! What has that to do with “money laundering”! The impression is undoubtedly that the state apparatus, with totalitarian methods is persecuting the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, without laws and trials.
In the European judiciary, in regard to money laundering, an additional, very precise expression is used: laundering of dirty money. That is money gained through drugs, prostitution and other illegal activities. In the Macedonian judiciary even the law itself is titled: Law for prevention of laundering of money and other income of criminal actions and financing of terrorism.
In this case, such funds neither exist, nor have been laundered. It is a case of donors’ personal funds, which they have, with a contract for the donation, on their personal will and wish, donated to the account of the association “Anastasia”, solely for the purpose of realization of their religious needs. For that purpose, the association “Anastasia” has signed a contract for purchasing of premises. In R. Macedonia there are many donors which are in any time ready to donate to the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric! Having in mind the newly aroused circumstances, we expect that the authorities start to imprison and terrorize all people who are members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric!
In that manner, the authorities of R. Macedonia are performing a selective implementation of the laws. The priests of the state-sponsored schismatic MOC for their activities, baptisms, marriages, funeral services, selling of candles etc. are not issuing fiscal receipts to the citizens, hence the state has no control over their incomes and the way those incomes are realized, but none of them has been spectacularly detained, as were the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, who are donating personal funds in a legal manner! Also, for the secular authorities all religions should be equal, but in this case, the MIA named the last action against Archbishop Jovan, the Bishops, priest-monks, nuns and the faithful people as “Schismatic”, with which it has deliberately and undoubtedly put itself in the service of the schismatic MOC, since only they consider Archbishop Jovan a schismatic. At the same time, it should be highlighted that the schismatic MOC does not have doctrinal and eucharistical unity with the Orthodox Churches in the world, which consider MOC a schismatic church, contrary to the Archbishop Jovan and the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, who have the doctrinal and eucharistical unity with all local orthodox Churches.
The Republic of Macedonia is the only country in Europe that – making a great injustice – in the last ten years has already for the sixth time imprisoned Archbishop Jovan, who is a Prelate of a recognized orthodox Christian Church. And while he is in prison, as many times before, it prepares a new accusation against him! Now, continuing to make injustices, it has taken the passports of and is starting a new court process in which it threatens with prison sentences other two Hierarchs – Bishop Marko and Bishop David, priest-monks Mojsej and Irinej, the abbess Kirana, the prioress Olimpiada, the nuns Magdalina and Pelagia and not a small number of citizens members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
The state pogrom on religious basis in 21st century Europe, in R. Macedonia, continues.
section: holy synod of bishops\correspondence
Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje
Protocol № 96 from 3rd March 2010
To: The Council of Europe, Strasbourg
Highly esteemed,
At the beginning of this addressing, we send You our greetings.
In continuation, we would like to very briefly inform You about the violation of the basic religious freedoms of the part of the citizens of R. Macedonia. We are acquainted with the fact that our country will be presiding the Council of Europe and we consider that it is necessary to draw attention to the paradoxical situation that an esteemed institution, such as the Council of Europe, will be presided exactly by R. Macedonia, which violates the basic religious freedoms of a part of its own citizens! Namely, in R. Macedonia exists the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric with a recognized autonomous status in the world of Orthodox Christianity, but persecuted by the state in its homeland. Her prelate, Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje k.k. Jovan, has served two prison terms because of his religious beliefs, and the court on two terms refuses the registration of the Archbishopric in the register of religious communities. In regard to the imprisonments of Archbishop Jovan and the refusal of registration of the Archbishopric to which, among the other nationalities, the Macedonian citizens of Serbian nationality also belong, the representative of the Serbs in the Government and Member of Parliament, Mr. Ivan Stoiljkovic stated: “it is not being mentioned that the Serbs in Macedonia cannot realize their religious freedom, granted by the Constitution” (Blic, 24th February 2010).
For a more precise insight into the above stated, in continuation we enclose a chronological overview of a part of the events, since the constitution of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric in 2002 until today.
- Upon entering in the canonical and ecclesiastical unity with the Serbian Orthodox Church — and through that with the whole community of Orthodox Churches — in June 2002, Archbishop Jovan was illegally and brutally expelled from his residence and cathedra in Veles, by the police, without a court order and without a period for moving out.
- In the same manner, illegally and without a court order or period for moving out, the monks of four monasteries, were expelled from their monasteries, i.e. homes, in January 2004, immediately after joining the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.
- The declaratively secular state legalized its identification with a specific religious community — the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC), through the Parliament’s “Declaration for support of the autocephaly of the MOC” reached on 23rd January 2004, thus favoring a single religious community at the cost of discrimination of the other religious communities.
- In February 2004, the monastery, “St. John Chrysostom”, in the village Nizepole, was broken into by armed and masked men, who — not finding the Archbishop Jovan they were after — harassed and threatened the nuns with machine-guns, cut their hair and set the monastery on fire. Until this day, the police has not found the perpetrators.
- The Church in the “St. John Chrysostom” monastery was illegally demolished by the state authorities on 15th October 2004.
- On 3rd November 2004 the State Commission for Relations with the Religious Communities and Groups refused the registration of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, without stating essential grounds for the refusal.
- On 22nd June 2005, Archbishop Jovan was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for “Instigation of ethnic, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance”. The verdict stated the conviction relied on these three points: 1) he agreed to be appointed as an Exarch of the Ohrid Archbishopric in Macedonia, 2) he participated in the ordination of the bishops Joakim and Marko and 3) he officiated at a religious service in an apartment owned by his parents. He served 220 days in prison before the Constitutional court declared the last two of these three points, upon which the sentenced was based, to be unconstitutional and his sentence was shortened to 8 months.
- In 2006, Archbishop Jovan was sentenced for the second time, on charges for “Embezzlement”, and as a second defendant was sentenced 2 years imprisonment, while the first defendant was sentenced 1 year and 3 months. He served 256 days before the Court of Appeals shortened his prison term, and he was released.
- The chapel “St. Nektarios of Aegina” in the suburb of Skopje, after being broken into and vandalized on several occasions, was at the end completely demolished on 12th July 2005, before the eyes of the police, which undertook nothing to prevent the incident.
- Bishop Marko was beaten up while serving at a public graveyard on 10th February 2007. The police refused to investigate the case.
- The clergy of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric is constantly being harassed at the border-crossings by the police. (See: http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=506)
- On 28th July 2009 the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric was for the second time refused registration, this time by the Court (which, according to the new religion law, took the responsibility for the registration of religious communities and groups).
- The clergy of other Orthodox Churches is not allowed to enter the country, for several years already.
- On 15th October 2009, Archbishop Jovan has been sentenced for the third time, on charges for “Embezzlement”, in a court process which lasted 8 years. As in the previous cases, he has first twice been acquitted by the primary court, but the court of appeals returned the case, until a newly appointed judge finally convicted him. He is to serve 2 years and 6 months prison term and to pay damage of 240.000 Euros to the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) for items that the expertise proved that have remained property of the MOC.
- Although in order to comply with the European legislation, a new law for registration of religious communities has been adopted in May 2007, that law practically never began to function. The application for registration of our Church, the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, as already pointed out, was rejected also according to that new law. On 20th July 2009, the Ambassador of United States of America in the R. Macedonia, Mr. Philip T. Reeker, stated: “A year ago, I described the law on religious organizations in Macedonia as a model for the region when I spoke in front of the United States Senate. We have over the past year made our concerns clear on the lack of implementation of that law at the highest levels of government.” (http://macedonia.usembassy.gov/bektashi_community.html) In addition, the US Mission to the OSCE reports that: “In Macedonia, the law favors the Macedonian Orthodox Church and Islamic Community of Macedonia, and discriminates against other religious groups... In Macedonia, the lack of effective implementation of the registration provisions of the 2007 Law on the Legal Status of Churches, Religious Communities and Groups helps to further an atmosphere of apparent discrimination against the non-establishment religious organizations.“ (http://osce.usmission.gov/media/pdfs/statements-at-hdim/hdim09_session02.pdf) Despite the new law has declaratively been adopted, in practice, in R. Macedonia today there are more religious communities that have been rejected registration, than ones that have been registered, by which the state is protecting the monopoly of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
The residence of Archbishop John in Veles, which was his only home, was broken into
and he was expelled by the police, without a court order and a period for moving out, 6th July 2002
Archbishop Jovan and the nuns in custody in a police station in Bitola, January 2004
the service of sanctification of the foundations for the church in the “St. John Chrysostomos” monastery in Nizepole, near Bitola. Metropolitan Ignatios of Demetrias and Almyros (Orthodox Church of Greece) and Metropolitan Kiril of Varna and Preslav (Bulgarian Orthodox Church) took part in the service together with the Bishops and clergy of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric on 18th September 2004.
The church in the “St John Chrysostom” monastery, before the destruction.
The church in the “St John Chrysostom” monastery, after the destruction.
The church in the “St John Chrysostom” monastery, after the destruction.
Archbishop Jovan taken to trial – such images of the Archbishop accompanied by policemen were frequently presented to the public by the media, even before any convicting verdicts were reached, only in order to present him as a criminal
Archbishop Jovan taken to trial – such images of the Archbishop accompanied by policemen were frequently presented to the public by the media, even before any convicting verdicts were reached, only in order to present him as a criminal
The chapel “St. Nectarios of Aegina” before the vandalization.
The chapel “St. Nectarios of Aegina” after the vandalization on 12th July 2005
The chapel “St. Nectarios of Aegina” after the vandalization. The signature of the vandals: МПЦ = MOC (Macedonian Orthodox Church)
Inside the Chapel — sacrilage of the Holy Altar.
The Ministry of interior affairs announces the refusal for entry in the country to Greek Orthodox clergymen intending to visit Ohrid
Many international institutions and organizations have also spoken out against this persecution. Following are only a few examples:
US Department of State constantly includes in its “Religious Freedom Report” and “Human Rights Report” information regarding the restrictions of the religious freedoms of the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, the existence of religious prisoners, the violation of freedom of movement, the police terror and demolition of a monastery, the prevention of OSCE from obtaining a copy of the decision upon which the demolition was carried out, the police interrogations of the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric etc. (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108458.htm, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90187.htm, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71394.htm, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51567.htm, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35470.htm etc.)
US Mission to the OSCE warned of “Violation of freedom of religion” and “encouraged the authorities to apply the law fairly”, advising “the government should avoid involving in religious disputes”, reminding that “Article Nine of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 19 of the Macedonian Constitution as well as Macedonia’s OSCE commitments, and international norms, all guarantee his right to freedom of religion.” (http://osce.usmission.gov/media/pdfs/2004-statements/fyrom_2-5-04.pdf).
Amnesty International declared the Archbishop Jovan “a prisoner of conscience”. (http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR05/001/2006/en/28018728-d44a-11dd-8743-d305bea2b2c7/eur050012006en.html)
The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights constantly reports about the violation of the religious freedoms and human rights of the members of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, among other issues, pointing out that the imprisonment of the Archbishop Jovan is “The most high profile of religious freedom violation” (http://mhc.org.mk/default-mk.asp?ItemID=577B948E52C7B648A9F4398C90B0A71C&arc=1, http://mhc.org.mk/default-mk.asp?ItemID=D269C890ADF91F4D8B26B40C32163802&arc=1 etc.)
The European Commission pointed out that “cases of violations of religious freedom exist” and emphasized that “the new law should provide more liberal procedure for registering religious communities” in its report. (http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2006/nov/fyrom_sec_1387_en.pdf)
Forum 18 reports that “Official discrimination continues”, “New Religion Law perpetuates discrimination” etc. (http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1335, http://forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1107 etc.)
Highly esteemed,
This is only a part of the persecution that the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric faces in the past eight years.
This information for continuation of the limitations of our rights is at the same time an appeal to all the persons being in position to assist the implementation of the Democratic laws and values regarding the respect of religious freedom for all the citizens in the Republic of Macedonia, without any ethnic or religious prejudice, as one of the basic conditions for integration in the Euro-Atlantic civilization trends.
With respect,
Bishop
† David of Stobi and Administrator of Strumica
