Macedonian Church

Patriarch Neofit said this for the news.bg website.

"When these details around the name of Macedonia have been clarified, the issue of the church will certainly be launched," Neofit said.

At the same time, he announced that the Bulgarian Church will discuss the autocephaly of the Ukrainian church and assessed that this is an important issue.

If the Ukrainian Orthodox Church receives recognition of its independence from Moscow from the Ecumenical Patriarch, the similarly isolated Macedonian Church hopes for a similar breakthrough.

As the battle hots up over whether a number of countries in the region should get their own Orthodox Churches, Serbian Patriarch Irinej has written to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople warning him about the danger of introducing the principle of giving ecclesiastical independence, or autocephaly, to new states or nations.

The Bulgarian Holy Synod decided late on Monday to refuse an invitation from Macedonian Archbishop Stefan and not attend celebrations for the 1000th anniversary of the creation of the Ohrid Archbishopric on May 27 in Macedonia's second city.

In canonical terms, the FYROM (Macedonian) church issue cannot be resolved without the leading role of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC).

This is according to Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who spoke for the SPC broadcaster TV Hram.

This is according to Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who spoke for the SPC broadcaster TV Hram.

Vraniskovski, a controversial priest serving a jail term for embezzlement, may have hopes of an imminent pardon, a well informed source from the Macedonian Justice Ministry told BIRN.

Metropolitan Hilarion Alefeev of Volokolamsk, seen as one of the most influential figures in the Russian Orthodox Church and head of its external relations department, urged Macedonian leaders to release Vraniskovski in order to help the country's church settle its status in the Orthodox world, a well-informed source from the Macedonian Church told BIRN.

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