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Published by
F18News,
September 23, 2004
MACEDONIA: Serbian
Orthodox "will never get registration"
By
Branko Bjelajac, Balkans Correspondent,
Forum 18 News Service, and
Felix Corley, Editor, Forum 18 News Service |
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The Serbian
Orthodox Church in Macedonia has again submitted a
registration application, but this is unlikely to
succeed. Such communities "will never get
registration", Cane Mojanovski, head of the
government's committee for relations with
religious communities, told Forum 18 News Service,
as only the Macedonian Orthodox Church can exist
in the country. He said the law allows only one
organisation for any one faith. He could not
explain why Orthodox Christians could not freely
choose their faith. Metropolitan Jovan (Vranisskovski),
who heads the Serbian Church in the country, has
been convicted of inciting religious hatred, while
religious sites have been raided. He complains the
state is "in league" with the rival Macedonian
Church. "They do not let us perform services, they
harass me with these trials, and they do not let
foreign Orthodox priests enter or travel through
Macedonia," he told Forum 18. An interior ministry
blacklist reportedly lists more than 20 Serbian
Orthodox bishops banned from entering Macedonia.
Communities of
the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia "will
never get registration", Cane Mojanovski, head of
the government's committee for relations with
religious communities, told Forum 18 News Service
from the capital Skopje on 23 September. "There
can't be an Orthodox Church here other than the
Macedonian Orthodox Church – our religion law says
there can be only one organisation for any one
faith." While conceding that Macedonian citizens
have the right to choose their faith freely – "it
is guaranteed in the constitution" – he was unable
to explain why this right does not extend to
Orthodox Christians. Nor could he explain how this
restriction complied with Macedonia's religious
freedom commitments as a member of the Council of
Europe and the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe.
The Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox Churches have
been in dispute since 1967, when the Macedonian
Church unilaterally declared its independence from
the Serbian Church. The Macedonian Church's
independence has not been recognised by any
canonical Orthodox jurisdiction. The closeness of
the Macedonian Church to the state was
demonstrated on 9 August, when its leader
Archbishop Stefan (Veljanovski) and the Macedonian
president Branko Crvenkovski pledged in a joint
statement that "the Macedonian Orthodox Church and
Macedonian state will remain together".
The Macedonian government has long tried to
suppress parishes of the Serbian Orthodox Church
and has even tried to imprison its leader in the
country, Metropolitan Jovan (Vranisskovski) of
Ohrid. "In the state's attitude towards us,
nothing has changed," Metropolitan Jovan told
Forum 18 from the southern Macedonian town of
Bitola on 20 September. "They are in league with
the sectarian Macedonian Orthodox Church. They do
not let us perform services, they harass me with
these trials, and they do not let foreign Orthodox
priests enter or travel through Macedonia."
Last February, in the worst incident so far, armed
gunmen believed to have been state security
officers raided a remote Serbian Orthodox
monastery based in a private home near Bitola (see
F18News 24 February 2004 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=259
).
In the latest case brought against him,
Metropolitan Jovan – who transferred from the
jurisdiction of the Macedonian to the Serbian
Church in 2002 - was sentenced to eighteen months'
imprisonment in mid-August by the court in Bitola
on charges of inciting national and religious
hatred. He has appealed to Bitola's appeal court,
but is awaiting a response.
The court found that texts included in the Serbian
Orthodox calendar for 2004, which prosecutors
suspected Metropolitan Jovan of writing, offended
the religious feelings of other citizens.
Metropolitan Jovan vigorously rejected the
accusations, complaining of a "conspiracy" against
him.
"They have no proof that I'm the author of the
text in the church calendar," he told Forum 18.
"The text was on the life of church in the past
Communist times and also on today's problems. And
even if they find some proof, a slander indictment
can be submitted to a court by a private person. I
would love to see any single person who finds
himself offended by that little text."
He also rejected accusations that he had broken
the law by his involvement in the consecration of
two bishops for his Church in Serbia. "They claim
I organised the consecration. Yes, I was there, I
was invited, and I participated in the service,
but in no way was I the organiser of the whole
service."
He said prosecutors also objected to a service he
held in a private home in January. "There is no
law against performing a religious service in a
private apartment," he insisted to Forum 18.
"There is a law in Macedonia that protects privacy
of your home. I fail to see how I support and
engage in national and religious hatred."
Metropolitan Jovan faces a separate legal case on
allegations that he embezzled 57,000 Euros
designated for the reconstruction of the church in
Veles while he was still serving as a bishop of
the Macedonian Church. He was released by Veles
court, but the prosecutor appealed to the court in
Skopje and this court has decided to re-open the
trial.
The Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia has
repeatedly sought registration with Mojanovski's
committee. "We submitted our latest submission one
month ago and are still waiting for their
response," Metropolitan Jovan told Forum 18. "We
submitted 90 signatures and wrote that if they
require 900, they need to give us one day. And if
they require 9,000 they need to give us three
days. But they are still silent."
Mojanovski confirmed to Forum 18 that his
committee had received the application, though he
said it arrived "ten or twelve days ago". He said
the committee would respond to the application
"within the legal period of 30 days from the date
of arrival". "The reply will be based on law," he
insisted. He declined to say how his committee
will respond to the application, but his clear
statement that no other Orthodox jurisdictions
will be allowed to register indicates that the
application will be rejected.
Despite the many problems, Metropolitan Jovan
expressed slight optimism about the situation for
his Church. "There is one sign they are letting us
perform services in Macedonia," he told Forum 18.
"Recently we celebrated breaking the ground for a
new monastery in a village near here. Among the
400 people present were Greek Metropolitan
Ignatius of Volos, Bulgarian Bishop Kiril of Varna,
and a priest from Serbia."
However, the ceremony evoked hostile reactions in
"all the newspapers", Metropolitan Jovan reported,
while on his return to Greece, Metropolitan
Ignatius had difficulties with the Macedonian
border police. "They asked him why he was wearing
a 'working suit'. He responded to them that it is
a suit of 'freedom'. They held him for a half an
hour before letting him return home." Jovan
reported that Bishop Kiril had encountered
problems entering Macedonia, with the border
police telling him that he should not visit Bitola.
"He responded that he would go wherever he wanted
to go, and finally they let him pass and enter the
country."
The Greek and Bulgarian bishops went through
border formalities in their clerical vestments,
but the Serbian priest tried to avoid problems by
changing into civilian clothes before crossing. "I
clearly remember that only this summer, President
Crvenkovski promised that clergy will have freedom
to travel wherever they desire," Metropolitan
Jovan noted.
The Macedonian border police have long obstructed
foreign Orthodox clergy from entering Macedonia in
clerical robes, but this obstruction appears to
have widened. Fr Sava (Janjic) of the Serbian
Orthodox Church in Kosovo told Forum 18 on 21
September that earlier that day the Macedonian
border police at the Djeneral Jankovic crossing
point had turned back Bishop Artemije (Radosavljevic)
of Raska and Prizren and Fr Simeon (Vilovski),
abbot of Banjska Monastery, telling them that
"Bishop Artemije is not permitted to enter or
transit through FYR Macedonia". Both were
intending to transit through Macedonia on their
way to Greece.
When Bishop Artemije asked whether the ban was the
result of an official decision or the personal
position of the duty border chief, the officers
showed him a written order from the Macedonian
Interior Ministry, which declared that "at the
request of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the
Interior Ministry of Macedonia has decided to
prohibit entry and transit through Macedonia to
the persons named on the attached list". According
to Bishop Artemije, the list includes the names of
at least 20 Serbian Orthodox bishops.
"This unprecedented decision by state officials of
FYR Macedonia made on the basis of an explicit
request by the so-called Macedonian Orthodox
Church represents direct evidence that state
officials in Skopje are rendering discriminatory
decisions without any legal basis, and doing so at
the request of the schismatic bishops of the
so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church," the Raska
and Prizren diocese complained. "Such a decision
and the existence of a blacklist of bishops who
are prohibited to transit through FYR Macedonia
solely because of their religious and ethnic
affiliation is not only contrary to the laws of
FYR Macedonia but represents a gross violation of
international human and religious rights
conventions."
Interior Ministry spokesperson Goran Pavlovski
initially denied to Forum 18 that such an interior
ministry order existed. "What Mr Artemije claimed
was untrue – the order does not exist," he told
Forum 18 from Skopje on 23 September. However, on
further questioning he conceded that his ministry
had issued an order, not on 2 June 2004 as Bishop
Artemije had reported but on 2 June 2003, banning
the entry into Macedonia of foreigners wearing
uniform without an invitation from a valid
government department or institution.
"Would your border guards allow foreign soldiers
or police officers into your country wearing
uniform?" he asked Forum 18. He failed to see any
distinction between foreign law enforcement
officers who work for a government and clergy. But
he insisted this rule held for all faiths, "not
just the Serbian, Greek or Bulgarian Orthodox".
Asked if Serbian Orthodox bishops would be able to
enter Macedonia in their robes if Metropolitan
Jovan or other Church institutions invite them,
Pavlovski responded: "Jovan can't invite anyone.
He doesn't have a valid organisation. It has no
registration, so it doesn't exist."
Note that the formally recognized name of
Macedonia in international law is "The Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".
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