ABSTRACT
On 17 July 1967 in Ohrid, the People’s Republic of Macedonia, in the medieval Church of Saint Clement, the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) summoned the Third Assembly of the Macedonian Church and People. At this convocation, Macedonian orthodox priests and citizens unanimously declared that ‘The Macedonian Orthodox Church, successor to the restored Ohrid Archbishopric (OA), is proclaimed AUTOCEPHALUS’.1
This was a revolutionary and historic act on the part not only of the faithful but of the great majority of Macedonians. The date was appropriate and symbolic for Macedonians everywhere. With this action, Macedonians restored the autocephaly of the OA which in 1767, contrary to accepted ecclesiastical canons was abolished by a decree of the Ottoman Sultan Mustapha III (1757-74) at the request of Samuel I Chatzeres (1763-68) the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. After eight centuries, the OA was annexed to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and lost its independence. In the Middle Ages Ohrid was a major religious and cultural centre and in
the reign of Tsar Samuil (940-1014) the city became the capital of his empire and the seat of a patriarchate. Although the Byzantine Emperor Basil II (9561025) abolished the patriarchate, the OA functioned as autocephalous and for a time controlled the Slavic churches in the Balkans. The memory of OA animated the Slavs for two centuries since they considered Ohrid a sacred place where the past and present came together.2
