Today, March 13, 2023, the Year of Our Lord, the President of the country, Mr. Stevo Pendarovski, had a meeting with His Divine All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew, at his headquarters in Phanar, Constantinople. Regarding the meeting, President Pendarovski wrote on his official page:
“At the meeting, President Pendarovski expressed gratitude to the Ecumenical Patriarch for his special role in overcoming the ecclesiastical dispute related to our church. Through his decision of May 9, 2022, today our Church is in canonical unity with other Orthodox churches, accepted as equal with all the others.
The meeting affirmed that the only path to obtaining a legitimate and fully accepted Tomos of Autocephaly is the one issued by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Therefore, as a state and Church, we expect from the supreme institutional body in Orthodoxy to grant us the official document of ecclesiastical independence – the Tomos of Autocephaly.
The decisions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognize our Church’s right to use the name Ohrid Archbishopric, signifying a church continuity of 1000 years.
The complete conclusion of the autocephaly process is also of supreme national interest, as it opens opportunities for new and spiritual growth of the Ohrid Archbishopric, progress, and reconciliation in Macedonian society and state.”
Stevo Pendarovski – President of the Republic of North Macedonia
