The Macedonian Greek Catholic Church ( la, Ecclesiae Graecae Catholico Macedonica; mk, Македонска грчка католичка црква), sometimes called, in reference to its
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople.
The canonical hours a ...
, the Macedonian Byzantine Catholic Church is ''
sui juris
''Sui iuris'' ( or ) also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both secular law and the Catholic Church's canon law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic '' Code of Ca ...
''
Eastern Catholic church
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
in full union with the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
which uses the
Macedonian language
Macedonian (; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around two million ...
in the liturgy. The Macedonian Greek Catholic Church comprises a single eparchy, the
.
History
An
Apostolic Exarch
An exarch (;
from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical.
In the late Roman Empire and e ...
was appointed for
Bulgarian Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Macedonia
The Macedonian Apostolic Vicariate of the Bulgarians ( la, Apostolicus Vicariatus Macedoniaensis Bulgarorum or ''Vicariatus Apostolicus pro Bulgaris Catholicis Macedoniae''), informally ''Macedonia of the Bulgarians'', was one of the missionary, ...
as early as 1883 and lasting until 1922/1924 as part of the
Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church. After the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and the foundation of
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
, the Exarchate was absorbed into the
Eparchy of Križevci.
In January 2001, a separate ''Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Macedonia'' was formed for
Eastern Catholics of the
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople.
The canonical hours a ...
in
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
. It was separated from the
Eparchy of Križevci and constituted as immediately subject to the Holy See. On the same day (11 January 2001) the Holy See appointed the
Latin Bishop of Skopje as the first Apostolic Exarch of
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
.
Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 94 (2002)
p. 152.
Statistics
As of 2010, the Church's membership was estimated at approximately 15,037 faithful, with one bishop, 7 parishes, 11 priests, and 18 religious sisters.
List of Hierarchs
Apostolic Exarchs
* Lazar Mladenov (1883 – 1895), Titular Bishop of Satala
* Epiphany Shanov (1895 – 1922 or 1924), Titular Bishop of Livias
* Joakim Herbut (2001 – 2005), Latin Church Bishop of Skopje
* Kiro Stojanov (2005 – 2018), Latin Church Bishop of Skopje[
Eparchs of Strumica
*Kiro Stojanov (2018 – ''present''), Latin Church Bishop of Skopje
]
See also
* Catholic Church in North Macedonia
References
External links
Eparchy of Križevci
* ttp://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=73&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 Article on Greek Catholics in Former Yugoslavia by Ronald Roberson on the CNEWA website
{{North Macedonia topics