Speaking after services for St.Makrina on 18 July 2018 in Sofia,His Holiness Patriarch Neophytos of Bulgaria said he prays that,with God's help,the process for gaining autocephaly,or independence,for the Macedonian Orthodox Church will be facilitated,as it is a good undertaking:
We love our Macedonian brothers,and we shall be happy and joyful with them.*
His Holiness also believes that the Ecumenical Patriarchate will help resolve the issue of autocephaly for the Macedonian Orthodox Church,which is currently seen as uncanonical by the Orthodox world,Orthodox news website Romfea.gr noted.*
Earlier,on 9 July 2018,a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate called on His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at his official residence on Chisty Lane in Moscow.The delegates were His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and His Eminence Metropolitan Bartholomew of Smyrna (Izmir,Turkey).Also attending from the Moscow Patriarchate Department of External Church Relations were chairman His Eminence Metropolitan Ilarion of Volokolamsk,and vice-chairman Archpriest Nikolai Balashov.
The talks were reportedly centered on the request by the Ukrainian government and the two uncanonical Ukrainian Orthodox Churches to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for autocephaly for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.Father Nikolai of the Moscow Patriarchate's DECR told the RIA-Novosti news agency that:
The parties found the meeting useful,and members of the delegation of the Church of Constantinople promised to convey to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople the position of the Russian Orthodox Church that was expressed at the meeting.
Father Nikolai informed the Interfax-Religion news agency that :
In the meeting,the parties frankly and openly stated their positions on a number of issues that present mutual interest,including the situation in Ukraine.
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