The Macedonian Orthodox Church refused to allow a hierarch of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to concelebrate due to his "ordination" in the OCU

The Macedonian Orthodox Church—Archdiocese of Ohrid (MOC-OA) refused to allow Bishop Epiphanius (Dimitriou) of Examilia of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to concelebrate. The incident was caused by the unwillingness of the hierarchs of the MOC-OA to recognize the episcopal ordination of the bishop, who was ordained by the OCU, according to and Religija.mk.

The incident occurred during the celebration of the patronal feast at the Bigorsky Monastery in early July. Although it was officially stated that Bishop Epiphany was unable to attend due to “unforeseen health issues,” the publication’s sources describe the situation as a “diplomatic illness.” According to available information, the leadership of the MPT-OA proposed that Epiphany attend the service only as a worshipper, without the right to concelebrate, due to his “ordination” in 2019 within the OCU — an organization that the Macedonian Church does not officially recognize.

It is worth noting that in March 2023, the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church—Autonomous Archdiocese adopted a clear resolution against recognizing and concelebrating with the clergy of the OCU. As experts point out, such concelebration would be perceived by Constantinople as an indirect recognition of the legitimacy of the OCU’s sacraments and hierarchy, which is one of the conditions that Patriarch Bartholomew has set for the Macedonian Orthodox Church regarding the final recognition of its autocephaly.

Sources at the publication Religija.mk claim that Patriarch Bartholomew was seriously dissatisfied with the conduct of the Macedonian Orthodox Church’s clergy; however, representatives of the monastery continue to insist that the hierarch’s absence was due to medical reasons.

As a reminder, recently, Macedonian activist, journalist, and co-founder of the organization CIVIL Today, Jabir Derala , accused the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) of being “under the strong influence of the Russian Orthodox Church,” which poses a serious obstacle to its recognition of the autocephaly of the OCU.