In an announcement distributed on Wednesday, the Macedonian Orthodox Church underlines that the invitations sent by the Serbian Orthodox Church not to the Synod but to individual priests, who are invited for joint liturgy and unity with the SOC has a tendency to cause division between the MOC priests and the believers.

The proposal for joint liturgy and canonic unity between the MOC and the SOC was jointly adopted by commissions from the two churches at the meeting from April 15-16, 1992, but was later rejected by the Archpriest synod of the SOC.

"If the proposal for canonic unity was addressed to the Macedonian Orthodox Church, than it would have been reviewed by the MOC Archpriest Synod and a reply would have been provided promptly," officials from the MOC say.

The Archpriest synod insists the communication between the MOC and the SOC to be carried out on the level of the constitutional church bodies. In that case, the MOC would ask for continuation of the negotiations between the two church commissions.

The MOC Archpriest synod also points out that the SOC denies the agreed practice to call the Macedonian Orthodox Church by its constitutional name and to call its Head archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia.

The MOC finds the gesture of Metropolitan Jovan, who decided to establish canonic unity with the SOC as hazardous for the Church, but starting from the Christian love, the Synod invites metropolitan Jovan to return to the MOC and thus to help in the closing of this issue.

The MOC believes that the individual acceptance of the invitation for canonic unity with the SOC causes divisions in our church