The Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric (OOA; Serbian and, Pravoslavna ohridska arhiepiskopija (POA)) was an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archbishopric of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) with jurisdiction over the territory of North Macedonia. Its creation was initiated in 2002, and formalized in 2005. In 2023, after the reconciliation of the SOC and the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC), the OOA was integrated into MOC. On 28 June 2023, the Holy Synod of OOA made an official announcement, stating that it has fulfilled its mission, and noting that OOA hierarchs have collectively joined MOC. The Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric has been refused registration by the State Religion Commission of North Macedonia on the grounds that one group may be registered for each confession and that the name was not sufficiently distinct from that of the MOC. The Archbishopric claimed inheritance from the Ohrid Archbishopric of Justiniana prima and all Bulgaria, established in 1019 by Byzantine Emperor Basil II by lowering the status of the autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate and abolished in 1767 by the Ottomans. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church also claims inheritance from the Ohrid Archbishopric of Justiniana prima and all Bulgaria. Numerous international organizations have criticized the authorities of North Macedonia for their moves towards the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric and Archbishop Jovan VI, raising the possibility of a threat to religious freedoms. In May 2023, upon the decision of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of SOC, the process of integration of OOA with MOC was initiated, and OOA bishops were given canonical permission to join the jurisdiction of MOC. Further steps towards integration were made on June 20 by the Synod of MOC, initiating the creation of new dioceses for OOA hierarchs.

Creation

In attempt to restore its canonical status and gain recognition from the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Macedonian Orthodox Church negotiated with the Serbian Orthodox Church, and these negotiations led to an eventual agreement signed in Niš in June 2002, thus known as the Niš Agreement. The agreement was signed by all bishops of both delegations. However, the bishops of the delegations of the Macedonian Orthodox Church were exposed to severe criticism for signing this agreement, and although they attempted to defend it for a short time, the Synod of the MOC rejected the agreement. The Serbian Patriarch Pavle then summoned all bishops, clergy, monastics and faithful people to enter in liturgical and canonical unity with the Serbian Orthodox Church. Jovan Vraniškovski, Metropolitan of Veles and Povardarie, and all priests of Veles agreed to respond to this call, and all signed a document of agreement. On 23 September 2002, Metr. Jovan was appointed Exarch of all the territories of the Ohrid Archdiocese by the Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church. On 25 December 2003, he was elected Chairman of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, after it had been constituted. On 24 May 2005, he was confirmed by Serbian Patriarch as Archbishop of Ohrid and Metropolitan of Skopje in accordance with the Niš Agreement. On the same day, there was an announcement of the Patriarchal and the Assembly's tomos for autonomy of the Ohrid Archbishopric, with Archbishop Jovan as the Chairman of the Holy Synod of Bishops.

Persecution

Upon entering in the canonical and ecclesiastical unity with the Serbian Orthodox Church, and through that with the whole community of Orthodox Churches, Archbishop Jovan was expelled by the police, without a court order, from his residence and cathedra in Veles on 7 July 2002. In the same manner, illegally and without a court order, the monks of four monasteries, were expelled from their monasteries, i.e. homes, in January 2004, immediately after joining the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric. A fifth monastery, Saint John Chrysostom in the village Nižepole near Bitola, 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, in February 2004. Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric buildings were raided by the police. The Church in the Saint John Chrysostom monastery was demolished by the state authorities on 15 October 2004. The chapel St. Nectarios of Aegina, after being broken into and vandalized on several occasions, was at the end completely demolished on 12 July 2005. The priest who served at that chapel, Fr. Borjan Vitanov, was beaten up twice. Additional complaints of harassment have been reported. Archbishop Jovan was sentenced to 18 months of prison in June 2005 for "[i]nstigation of ethnic, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance". The verdict stated the conviction relied on these three points: He served 220 days in prison before the Supreme court declared the last two of the three points to be unconstitutional and his sentence was shortened to 8 months. Archbishop Jovan was sentenced for the second time, on charges for Embezzlement, and as a second defendant was sentenced to a higher prison term of 2 years than the first defendant (who was sentenced 1 year and 3 months) in 2006. He served 256 days before being released. The declaratively secular state legalized its identification with a specific religious community Macedonian Orthodox Church, through the Parliament’s "Declaration for support of the autocephaly of the MOC" reached on 23 January 2004. The Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric is denied registration by the state authorities.

International reactions

Abolition

On May 15th, 2022 at the first session of the annual meeting of the Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, an Encyclical on the Occasion of the Centennial Celebration of the Re-establishment of the Serbian Patriarchate was adopted and signed by all bishops of SOC, including all four bishops of OOA. At the second session, held on May 16, the Council decided to resolve various disputes with the Macedonian Orthodox Church, thus healing the long-standing schism. On May 19, a historical concelebration was held in Belgrade, by bishops of MOC and SOC, including bishops of OOA. On that occasion, archbishop Jovan (head of OOA) held a speech, expressing the support of OOA to the restoration of ecclesiastical unity. On May 24, during the visit of Serbian Patriarch Porphyry to Skopje, the decision of SOC to recognize autocephaly of MOC was announced, and concelebration was held by hierarchs of MOC and SOC, including hierarchs of OOC. On that occasion, Patriarch emphasized in his speech that the Holy Council of Bishops (SOC) had set a task for the Synod to resolve all remaining technical and organizational issues. Some of the most important organizational issues were related to the future status of OOA, but no concrete decisions on possible organizational unification of OOA and MOC were announced. Due to those circumstances, OOA hierarchy did not attend the publication of the patriarchal tomos on the autocephaly of MOC, which was handed over in Belgrade, on June 5. On June 19, patriarch's envoy Jovan (Ćulibrk), Bishop of Pakrac and Slavonia, met in Skopje with hierarchs of OOA on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of episcopal service of Bishop David (Ninov) of Stobi, but in spite of that, OOA hierarchy did not participate in any event organized by MOC on the occasion of the visit of Serbian Patriarch to North Macedonia, which took place on June 20 and 21st. During the session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of SOC in May 2023, the process of integration of POA with MOC was initiated. Its bishops were given dispensation from the jurisdiction of SOC and were directed to join the MOC jurisdiction.

Structure

Dioceses on the territory of North Macedonia were: During its existence, the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric was headed by Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid. He presided over the Holy Synod of Hierarchs of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, consisting of him and 3 more bishops. The Holy Synod of bishops was constituted on 23 December 2003 in the monastery of Saint John Chrysostom. Members of the synod were:

Literature