Translation:The conditions of transfer of Macedonian eparchies to Union with the Roman Catholic Church

by Theodosius of Skopje

The conditions of transfer of Macedonian eparchies to Union with the Roman Catholic Church

Enclosed letter

4th December 1891, Skopje

In my name and the name of my Macedonian flock, I, the undersigned Metropolitan of Skopje, Theodosius, request that the following conditions of transfer to union and canonical unity of the Orthodox flock of Macedonia with the Roman Catholic Church be respected:

1.To restore the ancient Archbishopric of Ohrid, which will be in canonical unity with the Roman Catholic Church, with the immediate blessing of the Holy Father, the Pope;

2. I, Theodosius in person, will be at the head of the restored Archbishopric of Ohrid, as an autocephalous head of the Church;

3. The other officials of the high clergy (bishops, monk priests and world priests) should be born Macedonians and appointed by me, as the Archbishop, while the bishops could be only confirmed by Your Holiness;

4. The borders of the Archbishopric should conform to the present borders of Macedonia, and the division of the eparchies should be retained as it is at present;

5. The old uniates ot the Kukus-Poljana and Strumica eparchies should be excluded from the jurisdiction of the Uniate Archbishop in Constantinople, His Grace Nil Izvorov, and be included as eparchies under my jurisdiction;

6. New Catholic missionaries, apart from those who already happen to be in the educational and charity institutions in Macedonia, should not be accepted, while those who already happen to be here should not interfere in the internal church and educational life of the Archbishopric.

Such are our requests which we believe to be justified and on which we cannot make any concessions whatsoever. We hope that they will be approved as such and respected forever and all times.

Theodosius, Metropolitan of Skopje