His Holiness Patriarch Alexis II meets the ambassador of R. Macedonia to Russia
(
25.02.2006
)
On 22 February 2006, on the Moscow premises in “Chistiy Pereulok” Street, His Holiness Patriarch Alexis II met with the ambassador extraordinary of the Republic of Macedonia to Russia, Mr. Risto Nikovski. Patriarch Alexis II greeted Mr. Nikovski and underlined that the solution of the problem of the Macedonian Church is a rather important and urgent task set before the Serbian Church and before the leadership of the Republic of Macedonia alike.
“I have many times emphasized my standpoint regarding that issue,” said Patriarch Alexis II, “both in the epistle addressed to His Holiness Patriarch Paul and in the interview for the Macedonian daily Dnevnik. I hope that with God’s help this problem will be solved.”
(“When Patriarch Paul communicated to me his idea of planning the creation of a certain hierarchy “parallel” to the Macedonian Church, I counseled him not to do that, but to employ all the power and means into preservation of church unity. The “parallel” hierarchy is a road toward deepening of the division.” – the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate quotes the Patriarch of Moscow on 1 June 2005 – http://www.patriarhia.ru/db/text/20415.html. “The issue about the status of the Church in Macedonia should not be solved without the Serbian Orthodox Church – from which the Macedonian dioceses seceded – yet at this the opinion of the entire Orthodox fullness should be respected. Perhaps the use of the terms ‘independent’ or ‘self-governing’ Church could help into the negotiations breaking the stalemate and could contribute toward overcoming the intricacy of the situation.” “We are aware that Belgrade and Skopje have different points of view on this problem. The Russian Orthodox Church in this case is not called to play the role of a judge. It can only give a brotherly advice – and it does that – both in the dialogue with the Serbian and in the dialogue with the Macedonian party. We believe that despite the difficult situation, which arose following the imprisonment of one of the hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the potentials for negotiations have not been exhausted and the negotiating process must be renewed.” The Dnevnik 2961, 14 January 2006).
His Excellency ambassador nikovski wished Patriarch Alexis II a happy nameday and expressed his gratitude to the Head of the Russian Church for the effort to regulate the problem of the unrecognized Macedonian Church.
taken from the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church: http://www.patriarhia.ru/db/text/84510.html
