Bishops' Meeting Warms Serbia-Macedonia Church Ties

The decision of Bishop Timotej of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, MPC, to attend the opening of a new Serbian Orthodox church in Bar in Montenegro has raised new hopes of a thaw between the two churches.

Timotej, who acts as a spokesperson for the MPC said his reception last Sunday was pleasant but declined to speculate on whether this unusal event heralded the resumption of long-stalled talks between the two bodies.

"That is a matter that should be carefully prepared because neither we nor they [the Serbian Church] want to meet just for the sake of meeting. Such talks should yield concrete results," Timotej said.

During his visit, Timotej presented his host, Bishop Amfilohije, with a small relic, part of the remains of St Jovan Vladimir, which are kept in Macedonia. The new church in Bar is dedicated to this saint.

As a sign of gratitude, Amfilohije, the Serbian cleric in charge of leading the talks with the MPC, presented his Macedonian guest with a cross and a small icon.

Bishop Timotej said the visit went off well. "It all went off in the best order. Bishop Amfilohije did not hide his words of gratitude to the Macedonian Orthodox Church. At the solemn diner, in front of all the present guests, he expressed gratitude to me as the Macedonian Orthodox Church Bishop of Debar-Kicevo. He informed [them] that our MPC delegation had brought relics and that this represented a special honour," Timotej said.

The two churches are locked in a long-standing conflict over the right of the Macedonian Church, MPC, to be accepted as an equal to the other Orthodox churches.

The Serbian Orthodox Church, which has close ties with other Orthodox churches, has blocked recognition of the Macedonian Church by other...