Where God Weeps - the suffering church in focus

The situation of the church in Macedonia

The State generally respects the right to religious freedom, although the fact that the part concerning the registration of religious groups contained in the 2007 law on their legal status was never completed, effectively prevents groups requesting registration from meeting the necessary legal standards to obtain it.

The Ministry of Education inaugurated a programme for religious instruction during the sixth year of primary school for the 2008-2009 school year, asking the parents of students to choose between a doctrinal course linked to a specific religious denomination and a course on the history of religions.

On 15th April 2009, however, the Constitutional Court expressed the opinion that courses on individual religious denominations were incompatible with the constitutional principle of the separation between Church and State. The Ministry of Education respected this decision and has suspended the courses. The Constitutional Court’s decision does not affect the general courses on the history of religions which were continued until the end of the school year. At the end of October 2009, the Ministry announced a plan to develop a course entitled “The Ethics of Religion” for the 2009-2010 school year, as an alternative to the one on the history of religions.

The State supports the construction of places of prayer and other religious buildings for use by the dominant Orthodox community. Churches and mosques are in fact often built without authorisation, but the government does not usually take legal actions against religious groups that convert existing buildings into ones for religious activities.

The problem involving the restitution of property owned by religious groups and confiscated under the Communist regime has not yet been entirely solved.

In January 2009, the Ministry of Culture completed the construction of a memorial to honour Mother Theresa, built in Skopje, the city where she was born. Members of the various religious communities, together with government officials and representatives of the international community attended the dedication ceremony on 30th January.

In the course of 2009, two new religious groups obtained registration. These were the Christian Church Word of Hope and the Reformed Movement of Seventh-day Adventists. Requests from another eleven religious communities were either rejected or not completed, among them that of the Evangelical Baptist Church.

Due to its lack of registration, a number of restrictions are applied to the religious group called the Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid, which denies the self-declared independence of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. The leader of this group, Jovan Vranisbovski, released after being detained in April 2007, remains free, although government officials refuse to return his passport thus restricting his movements.

How you can help

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) supports several projects in Macedonia. You can support these projects by donating via their national offices.

Below you can find one or more finished projects ACN supported in the past.

• A lifetime commitment to pastoral work and dialogue
  

  In their history they have overcome many difficulties – the Sestri Evharistinki, the "Eucharistine Sisters" of Skopje. The special charism of the congregation combines the two ideas of "Eucharist" and "service" in a special manner. The sisters especially venerate the Blessed Sacrament, and at the same time they help the needy, caring for orphans, giving religious instruction and working actively in the youth apostolate. Read more >>

Statistics

Population: 2.04 Million
Christian Population: 1.31 Million
Religious statistics:
Christians 64,3%
Muslims 29%
Agnostics 6,4%


Macedonia: That they may be one (audio)




The situation of Christians in Macedonia




Macedonia: Ut Unum Sint




That they may be one