ARCHBISHOP OF OHRID AND METROPOLITAN OF SKOPJE

Protocol No. 41 from 18 July 2005

To
His Holiness
The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Kyr Kyr Aleksij II

Your Holiness,

God who has revealed Himself to us in Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, deigned our humbleness with the position of the 84th Archbishop of the ancient cathedra of the Archbishops of Ohrid and the title Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje.

His Holiness, the Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci and Patriarch of Serbia kyr kyr Paul, according to the Agreement reached in Nis in May 2002, on 24/13 May 2005 has confirmed the election of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric from 25/12 December 2003, and the appointment of our humbleness to be the Prelate of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, and Chairman of the autonomous Synod of Bishops thereof. On that same day 24/13 May 2005, the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church gave to us, the Prelate of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, a Tomos for church autonomy of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.

With this LETTER OF PEACE, we address Your Holiness in order to inform you on the aforesaid and to ask for Your holy prayers for our humbleness, both in the Liturgical thanksgiving as in Your other pleadings and prayers.

The Church we are the Prelate of had been in schism with the fullness of the Orthodox Church for full thirty-five years. After the self-proclaimed autocephaly in 1967, which was not recognized by any of the Orthodox Churches in the world, the so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church was declared a schismatic organization by the Serbian Orthodox Church. The liturgical and canonical communion with the bishops and the clergy of the abovementioned schismatic organization was ceased.

After long years of negotiations, Your Holiness being fully informed about, delegations of Bishops of both the churches signed an Agreement in the city Nis in Serbia, in May 2002. It mainly resolved the ecclesiastical status of the so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church, which was to be autonomous, with the broadest possible autonomy, and the name of the Church was to be Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, with the option to use Macedonian Orthodox Church in the internal reference.

This agreement was accepted by the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in May 2002; however, under the immediate pressure of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, the same was rejected by the Synod of the so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church. In order for Your Holiness to understand better the reason why the Government of the Republic of Macedonia exerted such pressure not to accept the Nis Agreement, we informed You that the so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church was formed by the communist Government of the time so that it would be able to control the Diaspora in the USA, Australia and Europe through the Church on one hand, for the Diaspora had an anti communist disposition, as well as to create a schism and weaken the Orthodox Church of the then Socialist Yugoslavia. Most of the Bishops of the schismatic organization were appointed by the communist Government of the time not to be faithful to the Church and to shine with their piousness and education on the cathedras they had been appointed to, but to serve faithfully to the communist regime that had appointed them.

After all the possibilities for a canonical solution of the schism were exhausted, His Holiness, the Patriarch of Serbia, sent a summon to each of the Bishops of the so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church separately, to the clergy, to the monastics and to God’s congregation so that they would accede the liturgical and canonical unity with the Serbian Orthodox Church, and through it with the fullness of the Orthodox Church, without giving any conditions.

Only we responded to this summon, at the time Metropolitan of Veles and Vardar Valley, together with all the clergy, who gave us their signatures, the monastics and the believing people of the Metropolis entrusted to us by God. Only a few days after our accession to unity with the Serbian Orthodox Church, the police of the Republic of Macedonia, without a court order, which is, on their own accord, entered the building of the Metropolis where we used to live and work, and expelled us in the street together with the monastics that lived in the building.

From that time on, there has been an unheard of abuse of our person by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia. We were put into temporary arrest several times; we were sentenced to a year of a suspended sentence just because we entered a temple to baptize a little girl; masked and armed people, sent by the police of course, lit a fire to the house where we lived; the police expelled to the streets the monks and nuns from the four monasteries which left the schism and acceded the canonical Church; the Government demolished the monastery church which was being built on a private property; and finally, the Court of Appeals reached a binding sentence for our imprisonment to eighteen months based on the accusation that we “instigated national and religious hatred”.

Regarding our sentence, we will send Your Holiness another letter, because this LETTER OF PEACE should not be burdened with all the mindless and heinous actions undertaken by the authorities of the Republic of Macedonia against the Archbishop, the Bishops, the clergy, and from recently, against the pious people of he Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric.

Your Holiness, let us introduce You to the aforesaid pleading You to inform of the same the brother Bishops of the Holy Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow, headed by You, on the information to which you were previously introduced by His Holiness, the Patriarch of Serbia kyr kyr Paul. Among all the rest, we inform you that by virtue of Decision АSno. 81/rec.183 from 25/12 may 2005 reached by the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the ceasing of the liturgical communion with the Bishops and the clergy of the so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church started in 1967, now includes the people who support this schismatic organization as well.

In the end, we would like to assure You that by the measure of the grace bestowed on us by God we will try to confess the faith of the Apostles, the martyrs and the confessors of the Church of God. Strengthened by God’s love and supported by Your prayers we will try to show that the confession of the faith of salvation is necessary in all the epochs, everywhere and in all sorts of conditions. We will keep the mystery of salvation which shined upon us with the revealing of the Holy, One-essential, Life-giving and Inseparable Trinity as the most precious gift and we will try to pass it to those summoned by God so that others will be taught in it.

May He, the Holy Trinity, together with the Most Holy Mother of God and the choir of all the angels and saints be at our aid after Your holy prayers to the rest of the days of our life.

Embracing You brotherly in the love of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ we remain a faithful brother and con-celebrator to Your Holiness.

ARCHIBISHOP AND MITROPOLITAN
+ John of Ohrid and Skopje