“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:25)
Thanks to the merciful and all-wise providence of God, who carefully oversees everything, and thanks to the countless martyrdoms and sacrifices on the altar of freedom, today we have this wonderful and God-blessed state of ours, with clearly defined national symbols and a distinct Macedonian nation. No one has the right to take that away from us.
However, the firmest foundation of statehood is a sensible view of history and an unwavering adherence to truth and genuine historical facts. Truth, in fact, is the surest pledge for a bright future.
The goal of this analysis is to present certain aspects of the creation of the autocephalous Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric, as seen through the lens of one of the world’s best intelligence agencies, the American CIA. Namely, on the CIA’s website, under the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room), numerous documents and reports are published, including several related to the Macedonian Church question. These documents only supplement the already known historical truth, which is why we analyze them—to prevent their misuse and misinterpretation. But to make the comments on these documents clearer, we will provide a brief historical overview of the Macedonian Orthodox population’s struggle for ecclesiastical independence.
The sacred aspiration of the Orthodox Slavic population of Macedonia for the restoration of their native ecclesiastical hierarchy and the use of the Slavic language in holy services appeared early, perhaps from the very moment the Ohrid Archbishopric was abolished in 1767. However, this unstoppable drive of the people’s soul burst forth like a powerful spring during the national Revival of the 19th century, when our revivalists and educators resurrected the idea of restoring the autocephaly of the Ohrid Archbishopric as the Mother Church of the Macedonian people. The Revival was both an ideological and a national movement. It aimed at the spiritual revival of the people, as well as the creation of a national church. Almost every significant Macedonian revivalist and social figure from the 19th century longed for and mourned the loss of their own ecclesiastical hierarchy. The poet Rajko Zhinzifov from Veles expressed this inner longing in his poems “Ohrid” and “Prayer” as a prayer to God:
“Send them a spiritual shepherd
to tend the Slavic flock
with the people’s spirit, the spirit of freedom,
to comfort the old and the young.”
***
And let Cyril’s teachings
thunder and comfort,
holy service and enlightenment
to nourish the people.
The Struggle for Ecclesiastical Independence
The well-known revivalist, educator, writer, and clergyman Partenij Zografski from Galichnik, in the introduction to his translation of the Life of St. Clement by the Blessed Theophylact of Ohrid, published in Constantinople in 1858, nostalgically writes about the Slavic character of the Ohrid Archbishopric, expressing deep sorrow for the lack of teachers and the absence of the “native language in the schools and churches” at that time. Regarding the impoverished Slavic flock in Macedonia, he mournfully sighs, “Ah, these poor souls are worthy of great pity…”
The Macedonian literary figure and fervent advocate for national education, Konstantin Miladinov, also wrote with deep feeling about the former greatness of the glorious Archbishopric. When publishing a decree from Archbishop Paisius of Ohrid, concerning the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric, Miladinov explained the reason for making it public: “And since in our present generation, after our sorrowful intellectual downfall, every remnant is a priceless jewel for our adornment, we feel obliged not to miss the opportunity to publish this treasure.” Continuing with a brief overview of the history of the Ohrid Archbishopric, he concludes: “The territory of that Archbishopric was very vast” (K. Miladinov, Ohrid Archbishopric, Moscow 1860).
Our church-national leaders from the time of the Revival resurrected the memory of the Ohrid Archbishopric to demonstrate the historical legitimacy of their struggle for church independence. This struggle reached its pinnacle with the establishment of the Exarchate in 1870. The ideal of our people for an indigenous church hierarchy was finally realized. This is expressed with great enthusiasm by the notable Grigor Prlichev in his speech for the formation of the Exarchate, delivered in Ohrid on March 8, 1870, before a large crowd: “Blessed be the Lord, who has visited and delivered His people! … For 108 years, we were sunk in dark gloom, but today a bright day has dawned for us, a joyful day, a great day, a holy day, a joy above all joys, a feast above all feasts…” (Published in the Constantinople newspaper Pravo on April 4, 1870).
The Macedonian figures who fought so passionately for their own national church governance joyfully embraced the creation of the Bulgarian-Macedonian Exarchate, actively participating in this process. They viewed the Exarchate as a historic path to church freedom. Moreover, some of them even saw the Exarchate as a resurrection and continuation of the former Ohrid Archbishopric. Thus, the renowned educator and national teacher from Ohrid, Kuzman Shapkarev, in a letter dated August 17, 1879, addressed to Archimandrite Methodius Kusev (later an exarchal bishop of Stara Zagora), originally from Prilep, mentions the idea that was present in the church circles at the time—to name the Exarchate the Ohrid Archbishopric. However, it was clear to everyone that the political and historical circumstances of that time would not allow this, especially since the Sublime Porte in Constantinople was determined not to lose the Macedonian territories at any cost; an independent Archbishopric based in Ohrid would, in essence, mean the complete loss of control over the Macedonian lands.
The Exarchate was received with great approval by almost the entire Slavic Macedonian population. With its native Macedonian high and low clergy, it successfully carried out its pastoral mission, nourishing the spiritual flock with the saving word of the Gospel, in the mother Slavic language. Additionally, the Exarchate developed extensive publishing and educational activities, establishing numerous national schools, where many of our future clergymen, intellectuals, freedom fighters, ideologues, national leaders, and architects of Macedonian statehood and identity were educated and taught.
However, following the Serbian occupation of the Vardar part of Macedonia after the Second Balkan War in 1913, and finally after the end of the First World War in 1918, the Serbian Church, in cooperation with the royal army and gendarmerie, violently imposed its jurisdiction on the newly acquired territories, disbanding the native Exarchate church hierarchy in the process. During that time, Exarchate bishops and a large part of the clergy were either exiled, martyred, or forced to accept the new church authority in order to survive. Exarchate schools were closed or repurposed as Serbian ones, and Serbian clergy and teachers were brought in, whose primary goal was the Serbianization of the Macedonian population. To achieve this, Macedonian monks were expelled, and Serbian monks were installed in Macedonian monasteries, who played a key role in the assimilation of the faithful in Macedonia. The memory of the Ohrid Archbishopric and its former church independence was systematically erased, and nationalist propaganda reached the point where the Serbian church authorities issued special decrees banning the celebration of the feast of the Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, and especially of St. Clement of Ohrid, in an attempt to sever any ties with the Ohrid church and cultural tradition.
It is necessary to mention here the testimony of the Macedonian revolutionary Todor Stankov from Prilep: “In Macedonia, that feast (i.e., the commemoration of Saints Cyril and Methodius – ed.) from time immemorial and until the last moments of national awakening, was a national holiday (emphasized by the author himself – ed.) and was celebrated in every place with the greatest solemnity, as a national expression of unity and common purpose in the national aspirations and desires for political freedom… Even now, although the Serbs have proclaimed the Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles to be true Serbs (emphasized by the author – ed.) and the feast to be a church holiday, the Macedonian, unable to openly express his joy and national consciousness (emphasized by the author – ed.) as before, is content to secretly pass on to the new generation, through stories and memories, the significance of that day for Macedonia, thus keeping alive the national consciousness and spirit of the people, oppressed in every possible way by the despotic enemy regime” (Todor Stankov, The Celebration of the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Turkish Times in Macedonia, Sofia, n.d., 4).
In the context of the above paragraph, the memories of Ilija Stanoev (born in 1892) from the village of Dvorishte, Berovo, as recently published by Mihail Beldedovski, are also of great interest. Recalling the Serbian occupation of Macedonia after the First World War, Grandpa Ilija writes:
“The new occupiers, from the very first days, began destroying everything that was Bulgarian, as they called it, because they didn’t even want to hear about Macedonian. ‘Macedonian doesn’t exist!’ they told us. They didn’t recognize such a thing. They destroyed books, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs… They introduced the Serbian language in schools and churches, brought in Serbian teachers and priests. The Bulgarian priests were persecuted and imprisoned. Some were even killed. They began giving Serbian names to babies in the churches. They also renamed adults, adding the suffix ‘ić’ to their surnames. They carried out other acts of denationalization. Even the hats people wore, their caps, were a problem for them. They forced them to throw them away and replace them with Serbian ‘šajkača’ caps… Out of fear of being imprisoned, people started fleeing to Bulgaria” (Mihail Beldedovski, Maleshevski Mournings: Betrayals and Murders, Skopje 2016, 32).
All this caused great discontent among the faithful Macedonian people, who, upon losing church independence, immediately began to fight for its restoration. Among the many historical sources that inform us about this process of re-establishing an autocephalous church hierarchy in Macedonia are the already mentioned reports of the CIA, to which we now turn our attention.
CIA Documents and the Macedonian Church Question
In the report dated August 29, 1952, numbered CIA-RDP82-00457R013700160010-6, paragraph three states: “Ever since the annexation of Macedonia into Yugoslavia in 1913 and the incorporation of its Church into the Serbian Orthodox Church, local Orthodox believers have desired to establish their own separate Orthodox Church, independent of Belgrade, using Bulgarian (at that time, the Macedonian standard language had not yet been codified) instead of Serbian as the church language. During the thirty-year rule of the Karađorđević dynasty, which represented Serbian domination and centralization, the desires of the Macedonians were significantly ignored. Tito’s government, representing communist, anti-religious centralism, saw the unity of the Serbian Orthodox Church as an obstacle to the regime. Thus, Tito took up the cause of a separate Macedonian Church to weaken the Serbian Orthodox Church and hinder its resistance to his regime, creating difficulties for it.”
From this report, it is clear that Tito’s communist regime merely exploited the already existing Macedonian cause for an autocephalous Church as a political measure against the hegemony of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), rather than inventing the autocephaly of the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) itself. This is also well concluded by the eminent American historian on Yugoslavia, Dennison I. Rusinow, in his report (AUSF Reports, Southeast Europe Series Vol. XV No. 3 (Yugoslavia) 1968, p. 18, published by FOIA under number CIA-RDP08C01297R000400240004-0), titled: “The Macedonian Question Never Dies.” In it, he states: “Their struggle for a separate Macedonian Orthodox Church, which was partially successful in 1958 and fully realized last year (1967), traces its origins to 1944 and is by no means purely a ‘creation’ of the regime and party to please Macedonian comrades, as the Serbian Orthodox Church seems to believe.”
The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric is not a communist creation of Tito (who, in fact, was in some ways compelled to sanction its independence), but the result of nearly two centuries of sacrificial struggle by the Orthodox people of Macedonia for their own national Church. This struggle was crowned with a glorious martyrdom and sacred martyr’s blood.
The Macedonian Revolutionary Organization also took an active role in the restoration of the autocephaly of the Ohrid Archbishopric. Continuing in the report from August 29, 1952, paragraph four states: “VMRO, an underground organization supporting union of Macedonia with Bulgaria, showed no interest in church matters until 1945. Since then, it has become one of the strongest supporters of an independent, autonomous Macedonian Orthodox Church. VMRO infiltrated its members into the ranks of Tito’s communists in Macedonia with instructions to strengthen the creation of a separate Macedonian Church. Macedonians, especially the Bulgarian minority, sought to establish an independent Archbishopric in Ohrid, a Macedonian Holy Synod, and, more importantly, to use Bulgarian as the language of their Church instead of Serbian.”
Furthermore, in part of paragraph 5, it states: “Since Macedonian ecclesiastical separatism goes hand in hand with national secession, Tito’s regime does not fully support them and allows the Macedonian Church to remain a dream for the Macedonians. On the other hand, Tito’s regime permits the Macedonians to openly play with this idea while causing serious difficulties for the Serbian Orthodox Church, whose power and influence over the Serbs he seeks to break at all costs.”
The last page, along with the notes of this document, are restricted from access, so we can only speculate what else is hidden within and who played what role in this matter. However, it is more than clear that Tito and his regime were confronted with a fait accompli regarding the creation of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, leaving them with no choice but to use the situation for their own political goals.
Moreover, the fact that the Serbian Orthodox Church’s (SOC) denial of recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric (MOC-OA) does not stem from any ecclesiological reasons but is purely political is evident from another CIA report dated 07.03.1947, numbered CIA-RDP82-00457R000400170007-6, where, in paragraph 2, it states that Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo “received a delegation from the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which requested autonomy for their Church. Rejecting the delegation’s request, Gavrilo stated that, as far as he was concerned, there is no such thing as a Macedonian people; therefore, an autonomous Macedonian Church cannot exist either.”
Sadly, this stance still prevails among a large part of the Serbian church and state authorities. We have witnessed individuals from the Serbian government retracting the recognition of the constitutional name of our country.
Political Interference in Ecclesiastical Affairs
The goal of this analysis is not to offend our beloved Orthodox brethren from Serbia or the Serbian minority living in Macedonia, nor the many spiritual children of our Monastery and several of our brother monks of Serbian origin. On the contrary, we remain prayerfully united with them in the love of Christ, and it is precisely for this reason that we publish this commentary. Excessive nationalism leads to divisions, schisms, hatred, alienation… and above all, it harms those who practice it the most, darkening their souls and separating them from the light of God’s love.
It is truly unjust now, when God has graciously allowed the creation of an independent Macedonian state, with a people of Slavic-Macedonian consciousness and political independence, to deny their canonical right to have their own independent church hierarchy, as an equal member in the body of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Christ. Especially in a time when Christian moral values in the world, and Christianity itself, are seriously threatened, we should strive for historical reconciliation and work on mutual unity and brotherly love.
Finally, as a monastic brotherhood that has tirelessly worked for over two decades to witness to the truth, we believe that the hierarchs of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church should be braver and more decisive in recognizing the autocephaly of the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric. Historically and canonically speaking, MOC-OA is deeply connected with the former shared Exarchate, especially since it arose from its flock and territories in Macedonia (which were forcibly and unjustly taken away by Serbian authorities), and the main protagonists for the restoration of the autocephalous Macedonian church hierarchy were either trained by or supporters of the Exarchate.
May the all-merciful Lord have mercy on us, the unworthy, and send enlightenment into the hearts and minds of those who hold the key to resolving the historical injustice regarding the autocephaly of our most holy Ohrid Archbishopric, restored in the face of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
