Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Address of the President Veljanoski at the Ceremonial Academy on the Occasion of 70 Years since the First Church and Laity Assembly
Distinguished Archbishop of the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric,
Your Beatitude Stephen,
Venerable representatives of the church,
Distinguished Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the very beginning allow me to extend my honest gratitude for your presence thus making it possible for all of us to celebrate, with the biggest dignity, this important jubilee of the church and of the country.
The events such as this enable us to unite remembering the strong self-sacrifice of our ancestors. Our national heroes, teaching the nation about the faith were building the country at the same time. The importance of the holidays for one nation is consisted of refreshing the memory of the population.
By paying respect to those who selflessly sacrificed themselves we set standards pursuant to which someone else appreciate our engagement and commitment.
Macedonia will be meaningless without its Macedonia church and the Macedonian church will not exist without the Macedonian state. So it was!So it is!So it will be! Macedonia and the Macedonian Orthodox Church will succeed only as two parts of the whole, as a symphony, by taking care for each other and by helping each other.
Dear friends,
Exactly 70 years ago, the First Macedonian Church-Laity’s Council took place. Exactly 70 years ago, for the first time, delegates and representatives of the Macedonian people from whole free Macedonia expressed their readiness for creation of the old Macedonian Orthodox Church through the renewal of the old Ohrid Archbishopric.
The Council reaffirmed the secular will of the Macedonian people for establishment of a Macedonian independent church that will not be subjected to any other national church.
At this Council a historical decision was adopted for the Macedonian Orthodox Church to have its bishops and its own Macedonian priesthood.
In this manner and in no other, the peculiarity and uniqueness of the Macedonian people and the country it created was reaffirmed. This Council, for the first time, openly defied the diverse church occupations.
A strong victory was won against part of the foreign propaganda which tore the Macedonian national tissue. Macedonia marked the beginning of a true national victory!
The world found out that there are people who, by taking the things into their hands, have decided to enter the battle in order to resurrect their holy church. Their space was tightened by the foreign servants and collaborators.
Our holy Macedonian church started rising from the ashes. The remembrance of these battles is equally strong even today when we see that the challenges still continue. Macedonia, as 70 years ago, faces similar problems. However, the national memory is here to remind us that the unity is the foundation of every victory.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Throughout the whole Macedonian history our Holy Church is the pillar to which we rely. Even in the Ottoman period, the Macedonian church was the national nucleus around which our people gathered, educated and organized; united and sustained; found solace and took pleasure.
In fact, our biggest national success – the Ilinden Uprising, started with the sound of the campaniles and the engagement of our faithful Macedonian people. However, despite this, our national history marked periods when the civil authorities did not have a positive attitude towards the faith and the church.
In the period after the World War 2, a civil governing was established which prohibited the Church as an institution, the religion as a study, the prayer as the source of hope.
Even in this period, the Macedonian Church undertook the role of a guardian and a teacher. In these anti-religious periods the Macedonian Church resisted all the hardships, staying on its task.
Dear friends,
The history teaches us that behind the negative attitude towards the Macedonian Orthodox Church there is a deeper political motive. Today, despite the fact that we will in a free, democratic and secular society, we must not neglect the role which the Church plays in the moral and spiritual rising of one nation.
While during the historical difficulties the Church was the one giving the necessary anchor in the fight for creation of the Macedonian state, today, the state is obligated to help the resolution of the injustice imposed to our Holy Church. Today, as we all witness, the history repeats itself. The Macedonian Orthodox Church is again being denied and unrecognized. Today, the Macedonian politics has a duty to take a bold step and to offer its help in resolving this dispute which has been going on for decades.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For centuries in Republic of Macedonia people belonging to different religions and nations have been coexisting. They have the space to fully develop their culture and standings.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church, throughout the years, but even today, continues to be one of the initiators for building new bridges between all religious and national communities in our country.
By organizing conferences for development of the inter-religious dialogue and by undertaking other activities, our church is helping to bring the difference closer and to build a harmonious society.
In Republic of Macedonia although the citizens pray to different gods and read different religious books – they still live together in peace, unity and understanding. Our duty, as politicians, but also, the duty of the religious communities, is to continue reaffirming this noble spirit of understanding and love between all citizens of our country.
Although the religious composition of the Macedonian citizens is heterogeneous, there is one uniting factor that must not be forgotten – the peace and cooperation.
Being conscious citizens of our country, but also good believers, we must not allow for these two principles to be neglected. However, unfortunately, we witness that there are strong forces which violate these principles. We stand witnesses of the increased religious intolerance and animosity. We witness the greater division and radicalization of the groups which define pursuant to different religions and religious sub-groups.
Macedonia must be exempted of these processes. The citizens of Macedonia know how to endure with these radical temptations which cause only anger and revolt, and bring chaos and tears.
Recently, the world was shocked by the unpleasant events in Paris when a group of radical terrorists attacked the seat of the satirical magazine. Macedonia, on the other hand, managed to stay immune to this kind of incidents.
Macedonia must continue to nurture the diversity, to keep up the dialogue and to be careful not to leave a single space for spreading of religious hatred. The tolerance must not be understood as weakness or compromise or losing one’s integrity. This tolerance is nothing more than respect for the common. The cultural completion must not be brought to imposing what is mine over someone else’s, but it should complement our! The mutual understanding of our differences is what makes us unique!
Honourable present,
Faced with the challenges and influences coming from outside, the fast way of life and the frenetic the frenetic present, the Macedonian Orthodox Church has a clear obligation to continue keeping and upgrading the people’s moral. It serves as a consolation and spring of hope to million Orthodox believers.
Starting from the traditional truths the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the devoted servants of God in their temples offer responses to the burning questions for true the right modalities of life and the values that should be nurtured in times when the temptations are becoming greater.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church must remain committed to this task into building bright and harmonious future for our country. We live in a time when the decadent events cannot be fully removed. The traditional family is being threatened by the new antireligious and immoral derivates. The Macedonian Orthodox Church must play its role of strong and impenetrable fence that will protect the traditions and values in times when they are being undermined.
Dear friends,
Exactly seventy years ago in the presence of more than three hundred delegates, priests, representatives of the people’s government and the National Front for the first time and in an authentic manner the spirit of the Macedonian people from free Macedonia was expressed in view of the creation of a Macedonian Orthodox Church by renewal of the Old Ohrid Archbishopric.
Today, when our Holy Church is active in all fields, I can only, honesty and cordially, wish the church all the best.
I wish that God gives us force and wisdom to face the challenges for the benefit of our Holy Church, Our people and our country – Republic of Macedonia.
Long live the memory of the First Church-Laity’s Council.
Long live our church, with the blessings of God.
Long live our motherland, Republic of Macedonia.
Thank you.