Serbian Lawyer Denies Lobbying for Macedonian Church

His denial came a day after Macedonian TV station Kanal 5 reported Fila had approached the SPC in a bid to push MPC's agenda and had also sought support from various intellectuals.

Fila, who was born in Macedonia, said in a statement on Wednesday to the Serbian newspaper Vecernje Novosti, his intentions had been misinterpreted by the Macedonian media.

“I am not lobbying on the behalf of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, nor will I form a lobby group for that purpose”, he said.

He said he planned to form a lobby in Belgrade strictly to promote Macedonian tourist destinations and not to tackle any church-related issues.

Serbian Patriarch Irinej also said on Wednesday there were no ongoing talks between the SPC and MPC and no change in SPC’s stand towards the MPC demand for its independence to be recognised.

He told Serbian media: "There are no talks for reconciliation.

“If there was any luck, this situation should never have happened”.

He confirmed that Fila, together with the Macedonian ambassador to Serbia Ljubisha Georgievski, had recently visited his patriarchy, but said they had no talks whatsoever related to the conflict between the two churches.

Irinej is new to the SPC throne, having been installed as Patriarch in January this year after his long-standing predecessor Pavle, during whose term the row with the MPC escalated, passed away. 

The change in leadership sparked hopes of renewed talks between the two sides for a solution to the spat that has been souring relations.

Fila has been member of the Council of the SPC, a consultative body which supervises various church-related issues but has no real executive power without the consnt of the patriarch, for more than two decades.

The spokesperson for the MPC, Bishop Timotej, previously in a statement to the Serbian Beta agency, that they are not acquainted with Fila’s ideas.

“There is readiness [for talks] from our side, but I don’t know about the SPC,” he said noting that the MPC would be thankful for any help towards finding a solution.

The SPC and Macedonian Orthodox Church, MPC, have been involved in a long-standing dispute over the Serbian church's refusal to acknowledge the sovereign status of the MPC, arguing the MPC should be under its patronage.

As a consequence of the dispute with the influential SPC, the Macedonian church has not been officially recognised by most of the Orthodox ecumenical world.

The SPC has insisted the MPC can only receive autonomy under its auspices since Macedonia’s independence from former Socialist Federative Yugoslavia, SFRY, in the early 1990s.

Unlike the Catholic Church, which is governed by one central figure, the Pope, the orthodox ecumenical world is much more diverse.

Many states that have a predominantly orthodox population have their own national churches led by their own patriarchs.