Well then, to be fair, the Serbian Patriarchate of Pech was abolished a year earlier than the Ohrid Archbishopric by the Turks (both of which were initiated by the Patriarchate of Constantinople). As to how “Macedonian” the Ohrid Archbishopric was, as some have speculated, let's just be mindful that generations of Macedonians over the course of 200 years looked on the Ohrid Archbishopric as the natural progenitor for an eventual National Church of their own.
Like you mentioned, the desire by MOC for Autonomy was pretty much guaranteed by SOC. This was confirmed with the joint Church service that was performed with the Serbian Patriarch German, in July 1959 in the Church of St Mina in Skopje. Things were going well and there was mutual respect between the two Churches for about a decade. Even the Patriarch of Russia, Aleksei, along with various heads of the Russian Orthodox hierarchy, visited MOC in 1962 who, together with German from SOC, performed another joint Church service in St. Holy Mother of God (Kamensko) in Ohrid.
That all came to an end in 1966 when relations deteriorated between MOC and SOC. The reason for this was the openly expressed opinions of the majority of those in SOC which negated the existence of the Macedonian national identity. They looked on Macedonia as an historical Serbian region which they could not abandon. That is the reason for the declaration of Autocephaly. And for anyone wondering, Autocephaly means the "property of being self-headed". It is the status of a hierarchical Christian Church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. Can you blame MOC for not wanting her head bishop reporting to SOC who denies the very existence of the Macedonian people?
Like you mentioned, the desire by MOC for Autonomy was pretty much guaranteed by SOC. This was confirmed with the joint Church service that was performed with the Serbian Patriarch German, in July 1959 in the Church of St Mina in Skopje. Things were going well and there was mutual respect between the two Churches for about a decade. Even the Patriarch of Russia, Aleksei, along with various heads of the Russian Orthodox hierarchy, visited MOC in 1962 who, together with German from SOC, performed another joint Church service in St. Holy Mother of God (Kamensko) in Ohrid.
That all came to an end in 1966 when relations deteriorated between MOC and SOC. The reason for this was the openly expressed opinions of the majority of those in SOC which negated the existence of the Macedonian national identity. They looked on Macedonia as an historical Serbian region which they could not abandon. That is the reason for the declaration of Autocephaly. And for anyone wondering, Autocephaly means the "property of being self-headed". It is the status of a hierarchical Christian Church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. Can you blame MOC for not wanting her head bishop reporting to SOC who denies the very existence of the Macedonian people?
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