Melbourne Macedonian has been doing a bit of surfing online lately, particularly Facebook, to see what's out there and what both sides are saying about the Macedonia Issue.
One particular Facebook page, run by the Yugoslavs, caught our attention: The Macedonian [sic] Australian Community Organisation of "Vardar".
Scrolling through posts from the last three months or so, we picked up a number of items (some very provocative) and chose two posts we believe are worth commenting on. (Note that all italic wording within the quotation marks below is that of the Vardar Community Organization.)
'Ask this Orthodox Priest that doesn't belong to the Macedonian Orthodox Church as to why other churches are yet to recognise the existence of our holy Macedonian Orthodox Church!'
The church in today's FYROM broke away from the Serbian Patriarchate in 1967 in an attempt by shady figures from the nationalist political scene of the time to create a separate "Macedonian" church that would strengthen their case for a "Macedonian" nation different ethnically and historically to the rest (Serbs, Bulgarians, Bosnians, etc). As a result, none of the 14 autocephalous churches that make up the Orthodox Communion today recognize the schismatic "Macedonian" church and all sacraments are considered invalid. In order for this to change, the "Macedonian" church needs to stop being used as a channel for FYROM government propaganda and the name issue needs to be resolved. Otherwise, it would be impossible for hierarchs of the Greek-speaking churches (Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Cyprus, Greece, and Albania) to acknowledge the existence of a "Macedonian" church with a "Macedonian" flock. Furthermore, to recognize the Yugoslavs and their church as both canonical and Macedonian would be an insult not only to the Greek-speaking clergy, but to all clergy and their priesthood, for doing so would be an act of complete disregard for history, which is written by the Divine Creator alone and cannot be rewritten by man.
'Yesterday "Ensemble Macedonia" visited the Macedonian Orthodox Monastery "Saint John the Baptist" or Bigorski Manastir where they sung old Macedonian folk songs. This song is called "We are too the children of Macedonia" and represents the struggles of the Macedonian people particularly the Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia (today's Northern Greece) who were forced to flee their homes after Greek genocide was forced upon them after geographical Macedonia was divided in 1913 between our neighbours'
The Vardar Community Organization would be doing itself a favour if it read over everything it writes a second or third time before pressing Enter. To suggest that the Slavic-speaking populations of northern Greece (yes, they did exist and were primarily Bulgarians and Yugoslavs) were victims of genocide is a big call to make, and an insult to all Greeks. Indeed, genocide is a very controversial topic and should not even be insinuated if the evidence is clearly not there. Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians, for example, have encountered a number of obstacles, both internal and external, in the push for international recognition of the atrocities their ancestors endured at the hands of the (Ottoman) Turks during the early 20th century. And these groups have history and the facts on their side. Now, for a group of Yugoslavs to cite genocide out of the blue when trying to explain the impact World War I had on the Balkan region, not to mention the internal struggles in the region and the self-serving political interests of a select few, is very foolish, to say the least, but also dangerous politically.
As always, if you'd like to get in touch with us please email melbourne.macedonian@gmail.com.
The Vardar Community Organization would be doing itself a favour if it read over everything it writes a second or third time before pressing Enter. To suggest that the Slavic-speaking populations of northern Greece (yes, they did exist and were primarily Bulgarians and Yugoslavs) were victims of genocide is a big call to make, and an insult to all Greeks. Indeed, genocide is a very controversial topic and should not even be insinuated if the evidence is clearly not there. Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians, for example, have encountered a number of obstacles, both internal and external, in the push for international recognition of the atrocities their ancestors endured at the hands of the (Ottoman) Turks during the early 20th century. And these groups have history and the facts on their side. Now, for a group of Yugoslavs to cite genocide out of the blue when trying to explain the impact World War I had on the Balkan region, not to mention the internal struggles in the region and the self-serving political interests of a select few, is very foolish, to say the least, but also dangerous politically.
As always, if you'd like to get in touch with us please email melbourne.macedonian@gmail.com.
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