Bartholomew met with the head of the MOC-OA

 

 Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met in Istanbul with the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Ohrid Archbishopric Parthenius, whom The Greek City Times described as "important for normalizing Skopje's schismatic church's relations with the Orthodox world."

The Metropolitan of Skopje, accompanied by monks and nuns from four holy monasteries, was received in a "warm atmosphere" for a conversation with Patriarch Bartholomew at the Patriarchal Church of St. George.

 "The meeting took place at a time when processes are under way to resolve the church issue in Skopje, as the local church, which calls itself" Macedonian ", is characterized as schismatic and seeks recognition of its autocephaly," the paper said. recalls that this is the first case of its kind in which a Metropolitan of the MOC-OA has been officially received by the Ecumenical Patriarch.

The media in Skopje made the meeting widely public, noting that the definition of "archbishopric" remains a thorn in the side of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

 "The self-proclaimed Macedonian Orthodox Church is the schismatic church in Macedonia that emerged after the separation of the Serbian Church," the paper said. Its first archbishop was ordained by the Serbian patriarch.

However, in 1967 she declared her independence, as a result of which the extraordinary Synod of the Serbian Church in September of that year declared her leadership schismatic.