Patriarch rebukes Church of Bulgaria over ‘Macedonia’
Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios issued a strong rebuke to the Church of Bulgaria over its support for the schismatic church in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
The strong worded statement by Vartholomaios, who is spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, was made on Wednesday evening after the Bulgarian Church agreed to acknowledge and be the “mother church” of “Macedonia,” which is considered “schismatic” by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.
“The action of the sister church of Bulgaria was wrong. It complicates matters. The mother church of all Balkan nations is that of Constantinople,” he said, adding that this is what history says and that the Bulgarian church has no right to normalize the “Macedonian” one.
Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria has repeatedly claimed that Bulgaria should support the church of “Macedonia” in its attempt for recognition and integration.
