The man is simply pleading for refutation
(
23.06.2005
)
What do we say to the man (Bishop Bački) from whom we have heard about certain “games without boarders,” proving that every “why” has its own “price”, and that the players of this game were playing for money? Thank God the man, from time to time, feels the need to show himself publicly in order to confirm the information given by secret service agents whom we’ve heard in the media, that what was earlier viewed as a “public secret,” regarding a specific Greco-Serbian political and financial deals.
However, let’s start from the beginning. First he says that all he declares is with permition and blessing of His Beatitude, the Serbian Patriarch, and in the name of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church. To this we reply: If he can, firstly, try to convince the Serbian Patriarch, then the rest of the Serbian Bishops, only then will we believe him. With his statement, the man, legitimized himself as one of the main conspirators of the idea and the political project for a Serbian Exarchate from the beginning or still to come creating a new parallel church exarchy in the Republic of Macedonia with the unfortunate chosen name; showing that he personally is tied to and feels responsible for the success or failure of this project.
The man continually uses the expression “the so-called Macedonian Orthodox Church,” reiterating with this that he does not recognize the Macedonian state and Macedonian people. The poor man forgets again, that the Church is not a place for self-proving of one’s own national identity. In Niš, he signed a working document, which spelled out that our
It is not true that the Ambassador of the
The man excellently admits that the decision to give out a “Tomos” for autonomy of the Serbian Exarchate in the Republic of Macedonia is their own decision, which concerns the internal life and organization of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and that none of the sister local Orthodox Churches has the right to either approve or disapprove this decision, but it is good previously, in order to coordinate joint statements, they to come to a prior agreement with their exarchates, which continually seek, yet have not received approval from abroad. Since they do not receive approval, then suddenly they do not need it, meaning “sour grapes”. In other words, if we view the situation through an administrative and political perspective, what is characteristic for those who do not have the Spirit within themselves, surely the problem is internal, but if we look how it should, through the perspective of the One Body of Christ, then it is more difficult to determine the theory of internal or external church problem.
Further, on one had the man claims that the “Serbian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Orthodox Church and no sister local Church has the right “to approve” her decisions regarding her internal life and organization,” yet on the other hand, he claims that the “Serbian Orthodox Church issued the Tomos after it became clear to them that the Macedonian Orthodox Church did not intend to accept the pan orthodox (meaning, not only Serbian!) stance. Obviously, this kind of pan orthodox stance does not exist, as it is also obvious that this man states whatever he wants and whenever he pleases: first he doesn’t need approval, and then he needs the pan orthodox stance. Thus, it would be better if the man were not so self-righteous, furthermore, he should check for logic in his own texts and statements.
It is true that from 1921 to 1940, for the first time in her 20 centuries of existence, the eparchies of the current
In conclusion, Bishop Bački expresses hope that the dispute regarding the schism in the
We must always remember that when regional churches are unable to agree upon their position regarding questions that are not of dogmatic and canonical character, and are obviously harming Church unity, it means that these church leaders are involved in secular politics. This goes especially for those who deny a local Church’s name, and overlook the pastoral reality of the existence of the Macedonian People (since they already deny biblical and historical facts) and who vainly hope that the existential and canonical fact of a local Orthodox Church, more specifically the existence of the Macedonia state, will somehow magically disappear.
(http://www.spc.org.yu/Vesti-2005/06/20-6-05-c.html#pod)
on behalf of the editorial staff
of the Macedonian Orthodox Church