His Holiness Patriarch Alexy sent a letter to Macedonian President concerning arrest of a bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church
22.08.2005 · English, Архив 2005
His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of Serbia sent a telegramme to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church informing him of the imprisonment of Metropolitan John, who was elected Archbishop of Okhrid and Metrop0olitan of Skopje by the Bishops’ Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church in May 2005. The message contains a request to help release the hierarch.
On August 22, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia sent a letter to Macedonian President B. Crvenkovski.
His Holiness said in his letter that differences with regard to the church order in the Republic of Macedonia could be resolved only through church dialogue based on the holy canons. The arrest of Metropolitan John became a very serious obstacle for the continuation of this dialogue and inflicts a considerable damage on the mutual relations of the two fraternal Orthodox nations.
That same day the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church informed His Holiness Patriarch Pavle about his letter to President B.Crvenkovski and assured him of ardent prayers for an early release of the suffering brother and healing the division and confrontation in the Republic of Macedonia so painful for the whole Orthodox world.
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