Macedonia: The Resurrection of a People
ACN Information Report: Thursday, 26th April 2011: MACEDONIA
By Mirela & Ivan Cigic and Johannes Von Habsburg
In a run down little church in Petralinci near the Macedonian-Greek border, the faithful gather for Mass. Because it is Easter there are more than usual, so that they barely fit inside the church. But that is not something that bothers these parishioners. For them, it is the first time since any of them can remember that they are able to practice their faith in public. Fr. Goce Kostov is proud of the fact that he is the first parish priest here in 80 years.
In a run down little church in Petralinci near the Macedonian-Greek border, the faithful gather for Mass. Because it is Easter there are more than usual, so that they barely fit inside the church. But that is not something that bothers these parishioners. For them, it is the first time since any of them can remember that they are able to practice their faith in public. Fr. Goce Kostov is proud of the fact that he is the first parish priest here in 80 years.
A tale of two Churches
In Macedonia one finds the religious mix of Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims, typical to the Balkan region. Uniquely, however, this region hosts two Catholic traditions: the Latin Rite and the Byzantine Rite. Like the Orthodox, Eastern Rite Catholics are apostolic Churches that liturgically and spiritually belong to the Eastern tradition, yet they are in full communion with Rome and the successor of Peter. There are 22 Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches throughout the world. In Macedonia these two traditions are so linked that one Bishop - of the Eastern Rite - is responsible for both the Latin and Byzantine Rite faithful.
Strumica, the municipality to which Petralinci belongs, is a town of about 40,000 inhabitants and is the seat of the Apostolic Exarchate of the Eastern Rite Catholics in Macedonia. While predominantly surrounded by Orthodox villages, this has not been a source of tension. The fact that some Orthodox believers often attend Catholic services reflects the prevailing attitude and custom in these parts where Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic neighbours have lived peacefully intertwined for centuries.
(Faithful entering a recently rebuilt Catholic church in Macedonia and lighting candles, symbols of faith. Photograph by Mirela & Ivan Cigiæ)
A history of violence and martyrs
Macedonia’s political history, however, is rife with conflict, upheavals, oppression and bloodshed. Like other parts of the Balkans this small nation gained its independence only in 1991. Fortunately, this most recent transition was peaceful unlike those of previous centuries, which witnessed rule slip from the hands of warring Christian kings into those of the Ottoman Empire, the 20th century closing in the iron grip of atheist communism within the former Yugoslavia. As recently as 2001, there were armed conflicts between the Macedonian government and the Albanian minority.
This tumultuous political past had its effect on the lives of Christians too, which under the Islamic Ottoman Empire suffered times of severe persecution. In 1454 all Orthodox Christians were placed under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople by ordinance of the Sultan and, later, the independent Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Ohrid Archbishopric, was suppressed.
With the flourishing of nationalism in the 19th century, Greece and Serbia achieved independence from Turkish rule. The Greek Orthodox Church, in an effort to assert its authority in the face of uprisings and growing Macedonian national sentiment, began to introduce Greek into the liturgy and the school system, fostering frustration within the local Macedonian Church.
Macedonian Church leaders appealed to the Holy Father seeking to keep the liturgy in the language of their forefathers. Pope Pius IX accepted their petition and allowed them to keep their traditional liturgical celebrations on the condition that they would recognize the Pope as the head of the Church. With this, in 1859, the Macedonian Eastern Rite Catholic Church entered into full communion with Rome. In the years that followed it experienced substantial growth: two dioceses were established, it had its own seminary and its first female congregation, and by the end of the century the faithful numbered over 70,000. This period of relative peace and development for the Church was not to last.
After helping them defeat the Turks in battle in 1913, Macedonia’s aspirations for full independence were crushed as neighbouring Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria carved up the country between them. Macedonian Eastern Rite Catholic Apostolic Exarch Kiro Stoyanov gives a summary of the events:
“[After] the Second Balkan War, everything was burnt to the ground and the people were forced out of their long-established homeland. They had to flee. Those who could took flight; and those who couldn’t were either killed or exiled to areas in Asia Minor or elsewhere. They simply weren’t allowed to stay in Aegean [Greek] Macedonia. Those who did manage to stay were under pressure not to speak about their national and religious identity.”
The majority of refugees settled in and around Strumica. On the horizon loomed the new dangers of Serbian expansionism and communism that would dominate much of the 20th century.
Signs of life, reasons for hope
This final chapter of darkness imposed by communism ended in 1991 with the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The Macedonian Catholic Church, once again free, is flourishing. Faithful are again able to practice openly in the tradition and customs of the forefathers and Church life is developing. Over 15,000 faithful are attended to by 11 priests, 18 nuns and with a diocesan structure of 7 parishes. It is a small but dynamic community, actively working and reaching out to rebuild their Church and their nation.
Although the fruits are abundant, the trials facing the Church have not yet been laid to rest. A new challenge has arisen, arguably subtler and of greater threat than that experienced under communism. Where faith was once brutally oppressed with blunt tools of communist persecution, today young Macedonians willingly abandon their faith drawn to the allure of materialism as well as contemporary moral and spiritual relativism.
Economic challenges too hinder the work of the Church. As in many Central and Eastern European formerly communist nations, the economy is utterly stagnant and unemployment is rampant. Desperately needed repairs and expansions of Church buildings typically cannot be carried out and the few projects completed were possible only because of aid from Catholic organizations abroad.
Yet there are strong reasons for hope. The village of Radovo, for example, 20 kilometers north of Strumica, has only 1,000 inhabitants, but it has been the source for many of the vocations that are serving the Catholic community today. Fr. Zoran Stoyanov, its parish priest, explains: “Today we’re very proud that we managed to maintain our faith… In Macedonia all the nuns that we have, our priests, the candidates that we have for the priesthood and the only Catholic bishop, all of them are from Radovo!”
Centuries of repression and persecution first under Islam and then under communism, have given way to a new spring time, a new awakening of Christianity. The faithful in Petralinci, in their run down little church, gather for mass with their priest. They know the price paid for this freedom. It has been 80 years since a parish priest has been with them. Easter, the Passion of Our Lord and his Resurrection, to them have a very different meaning. It is their story.
Editor’s Notes
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