Bishop Parthenius of Antania, the rector of the Bigorsky monastery in North Macedonia, visited the Ecumenical Patriarchate's residence in Phanar (Istanbul) on December 15, leading a delegation of monks from Bigorski monastery, the the Monasteries of Raicica, Prechistaya and Knezino.
This is reported by Credo Portal.
Patriarch Bartholomew and senior Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon received guests from the Macedonian Church, which is not recognized by universal Orthodoxy.
The delegation was honored "as equal brothers in Christ." According to the Macedonian side, this is a big step forward on the part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which opens the way to solving the problem of the Macedonian Church.
"Ecumenical Patriarch... expressed great respect for our spiritual father and Primate, who addressed His Holiness with a special appeal. A monastic message was also read before the Patriarch on behalf of all our brothers and sisters," Bishop Parthenius said. "Then His Holiness the Patriarch delivered a respective speech, in which he expressed fatherly concern for all of us and our Church. As a result, we all received a blessing from him."