The Odyssey of Archbishop Gavril’s Translation of the Bible

Translating the Bible is not an easy task in any language. Every translation of the Bible is a confirmation of the capacity of a language to convey the Bible’s manifold depths and meanings. The publication of the Macedonian Bible has been received as a historic event in Macedonia. Archbishop Gavril’s translation remains a unique pillar in the development of the Macedonian literary language. The entire process of the planning, translation, and printing of the complete Macedonian Bible encompassed a period of some 50 years. Drawing on these references, the article explores the impressive journey of Archbishop Gavril’s translation of the Bible into Macedonian as documented in his personal letters and correspondences

Determinants of foreign direct investment in Macedonia. Evidence from time series 1994 – 2008

Foreign Direct Investment has been considered as one of the main factors underlying the relative growth rates experienced by the Macedonian Economy. The raising trend of FDI inflow made possible the deep liberalization and transformation of an economy, thus increasing the degree of openness and integration of Macedonian economy into the world markets. In addition, the Macedonian attitude toward European Union (EU) membership has involved a new boost in FDI that would reflect the favorable prospects for the country’s economic future faced with the challenges of the Single European Market. Despite the crucial role played by FDI in the Macedonian economy, the available empirical evidence is rather scant, being in general of a descriptive nature. The aim of this paper is to provide some more robust evidence on the tested hypothesis related allocation over time of gross aggregate FDI inflows in the Macedonian economy. For this purpose, using quarterly data for the period 1994 – 2008 we employed cointegration analysis. This paper applies dynamic econometric methodology empirically to investigate the determinants affecting foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in MacedoniaForeign Direct Investment, Macedonia, Error Correction Model, Cointegration Analysis.

The Macedonian Question – changes in content over time

The purpose of this essay is to give the chronology and phases of the evolution of the “the Macedonian Question”. The main idea is to present the chain of events and disputes that generated the complexity in defining the Macedonian national identity within the fames of the nation building processes on the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkans is characterized by diversity of ethnic, religious and national identities. One must wander: Why so many disputes? What is so specific about this region that makes it so difficult to be understood? What will be the future to come and is there ever end to the cycle of “self reproduction “of this particular question over time? The study will deal with five main parts, each framed in a historical perspective. The first one is the Macedonian Question as a part of the “Eastern Question”, which gives the main background for what is to happen later. In the second part, that is a consequence of the first, the spotlight will be given to the Macedonian Question and the Balkan Wars. Afterwards, a discussion will be raised on the major identity ‘break-through’ and the Macedonian ‘Quasi-state’ in the Yugoslav Federation. The last two parts are closely connected and deal with the ‘reinvention’ of the Macedonian Question: unfolding the internal aspect of the problem (the interference with the “Albanian question“in Kosovo), as well as, the external dimension (the problem of the official name of the Republic of Macedonia).

Restoration of the St. Clement’s Ohrid Archbishopric- Patriarchate as the Macedonian Orthodox Church and Ohrid Archbishopric

This is a brief narration of the creation of St. Clement\u27s Ohrid Archbishopric-Patriarchate as the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric from ancient times to recent times. The author first returns to the founding of the first three Macedonian and, generally, European Christian churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea by the Apostle Paul and his associates around the middle of the first century, AD. Then, he proceeds to the creation of the autocephalous Archbishopric Justiniana Prima (534-545) by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in Skopje or in its surroundings. The work of the Holy Apostle Paul and Emperor Justinian I was continued by the Slavic brothers, Sts. Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica and their closest disciples and associates, Sts. Clement and Naum of Ohrid. As a result of their church-educational and social work, when numerous churches and monasteries were built in Macedonia and autochthonous monasticism was founded, Emperor Samuil (967-1014) created the so-called Prespa Metropolitanate or Archbishopric. Its autonomy was confirmed by Pope Gregory V. The emperor elevated the Archbishopric to the level of a patriarchate. When Samuil transferred the capital from Prespa to Ohrid, it was known as the Ohrid Patriarchate. After the collapse of Samuil\u27s state (1018), the Byzantine emperor Basil I lowered the Church to a level of archbishopric. The Ohrid Archbishopric persisted for about eight centuries until 1767, when the Turks abolished it in a non-canonical manner, and transferred its dioceses to the jurisdiction of the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople. Then began the numerous attempts of the Macedonian people to restore its former St. Clement’s Ohrid Archbishopric as the Macedonian Orthodox Church. This happened in 1958, while the restoration of its autocephaly took place in 1967

Road to the Restoration of the Ohrid Archbishopric

The restoration of the abolished Ohrid Archbishopric did not begin with the processes at the end of the World War II, but immediately after its abolition in the eighteenth century. The restoration of the Ohrid Archbishopric as the Macedonian Orthodox Church is in full accordance with the church tradition and practices established by the other local Orthodox churches in the process of obtaining their autocephaly during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

The Thousand-Year Spiritual Tradition of Lesnovo Monastery in Macedonia

Through the rich Christian tradition in Macedonia from the early Christian, medieval and up to the modern period numerous churches and monasteries were built, where all forms of development of spiritual and cultural life took place. A historically remarkable location is Lesnovo Monastery, which has survived until today during almost one thousand years of spiritual and cultural tradition in Macedonia. The oldest indirect and legendary sources point to the conclusion that the original construction of the monastic church in Lesnovo should be moved to the period of the eleventh century, when from 1018 onwards, after the fall of Samuil\u27s Slavic reign on the territory of Macedonia, the Byzantine state, political, and church protectorate was restored. As a consequence of the resistance to the restored Byzantine spiritual protectorate and the suppression of the established Slavic church tradition in this northeastern part of Macedonia, the anachoretic monasticism was revived, and as a reflection of the rising cult to the venerable hermit, St. Gavril of Lesnovo, the Lesnovo monastery was also affirmed. Its history directly reflects all the forms of spiritual and cultural tradition in Macedonia. In 2017, when the jubilee, the fiftieth anniversary of the restoration of the autocephaly of the Ohrid Archbishopric (1967-2017) as the Macedonian Orthodox Church - Ohrid Archbishopric is celebrated, the former abbot of the Lesnovo monastery Father Gabriel of Mt. Athos and Bishop of Velika was canonized as a saint (†12 January 1990). This blessed Christian act enriched the 10-century long spiritual tradition of the Lesnovo Monastery with the glory and honor of the holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, of the venerable hermit Gavril of Lesnovo and of the Holy Bishop of Velika, the venerable Gavril Svetogorac (of Lesnovo)

Protestantism in Macedonia Today

Protestantism arrived in Macedonia in the second half of the nineteenth century. Since then, a number of Protestant communities were established and their current membership is relatively small. The United Methodist Church in the Republic of Macedonia is considered to be traditional and is listed as such in the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. The contemporary Protestant structure is composed of 12 Evangelical-Protestant churches. The subject matter of this paper is a sociological research on the Protestant communities in Macedonia and it will focus on key issues related to the structure and functioning of their communities, their mutual cooperation, and their cooperation with other religious communities