A hierarch of the Macedonian Orthodox Church visited Mount Athos for the first time since the restoration of ecclesiastical communion

Bishop Parthenius, a hierarch of the Macedonian Orthodox Church—Archdiocese of Ohrid (MOC-OA) and abbot of the Bigor Monastery, Bishop Parthenius, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain of Athos. This marked the first visit by a bishop of the MOC-OA to the spiritual center of Orthodoxy since the restoration of ecclesiastical communion and the Church’s return to the fold of canonical Orthodoxy. This was reported by OrthoChristian.

Bishop Parthenius’s visit holds special historical and spiritual significance. After decades of schism, which began in the 1960s, the MOC-OA regained canonical status in 2022 upon receiving the Tomos of Autocephaly. For Bishop Parthenius himself, this trip was a landmark event: it was his first visit to Mount Athos as a bishop, and he celebrated the Divine Liturgy there 36 years after serving as a novice at the Gregoriates Monastery in his youth.

During the pilgrimage, the delegation met with the Holy Kinot of Mount Athos and visited a number of monasteries, including Vatopedi, Iveron, Philotheos, and Karakal, where the hierarchs venerated the great holy relics, including the icon “Axion Estin” and the head of the Apostle Bartholomew. A key event of the trip was Bishop Parthenius’s participation in a 12-hour All-Night Vigil at the Skete of St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr, held in honor of the skete’s patronal feast.

The visit to Mount Athos concluded with a solemn Divine Liturgy, in which Bishop Athenagoras (Patriarchate of Constantinople) also participated. The service coincided with the 31st anniversary of Bishop Parthenius’s ordination to the priesthood. As a sign of strengthening the spiritual ties between the Bigorsky Monastery and the Athos skete, an exchange of commemorative gifts took place, including an icon of Saint Panteleimon and a bishop’s miter.