Holy Synod concerned about ‘Macedonian’ liturgy
The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece has expressed its concerns to Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios over the request he received from the small local Rainbow Party to grant his approval for the divine liturgy to be conducted in the “Macedonian language” to cater for speakers of the Southern Slavic language spoken in North Macedonia.
The northern Greece-based political party is known for its activism in favor of what it regards as an ethnic Slav-Macedonian minority in the country.
In its letter on Wednesday to the Istanbul-based patriarch, the Holy Synod took issue with the request made by the “self-declared Macedonian speakers” of Greece, noting the “national sensitivity” in northern Greece to a so-called “Macedonian” language.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate has spiritual jurisdiction over the so-called Sees of the New Lands in parts of northern Greece and has the authority to decide on matters such as the language used in the divine liturgy.
