PART II
INTRODUCTION BY SLAVÉ KATIN
INTRODUCTION BY SLAVÉ KATINOtherwise, the primary sources for studying the ancient history of Macedonia are mostly of
Greek, followed by Roman origin, even though recently many historians have shown increasing interest
in this matter. Thanks to the advantages that the Hellenic civilization inherited from previous cultures
the use of the letters and the bringing of Macedonia to the head of the European cultural world,
numerous moments of prehistory have been shed light upon not only through works and remains of the
material culture, but also through written information, which are mostly found in Greek literature.
Macedonians were born and have lived since ancient times in these areas that were in the past
the center of the civilized world. Cultures sprang here, and great people were born here who were not
only significant to the history of European culture but also for mankind. They aroused awareness of the
new generations. It is often said that what took place in Macedonia cannot be compared to anything
anywhere else in the world, or at any other time.
Therefore it can be said that the book “Selection of papers for Macedonia”, is а part of the
chronicle of the terms and conditions of the Macedonian people to the historical scene. It is a work for
selected papers concerning Macedonia, Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Macedonians in the
world, who have an independent and sovereign state today, and who have confirmed successfully their
identity to the world.
This book is especially devoted to Macedonia and the Mace-donians. It is devoted to the question
of whether separate political entities have the exclusive right to monopolize over the historical heritage,
i.e. whether the young generations of today, born and raised in the confronted parts of Macedonia,
were raised and educated believing that the Macedonians are not sufficiently informed of the historical
fact that they are part of one nation and of one land called Macedonia.
Macedonia is traditionally an emigrational region from which emigrational movement of the
Macedonian people and movement to the transoceanic and other countries took place in the mid of the
19th century. Such movements were especially increased during the second half of the 19th century
and were known as “pechalba” (going abroad for economic reasons). With a ranging scale and
intensity they have continued till the present day. Thus, according to some data, the first group of
“pechalbari” (people who went to work abroad) reached the North American continent in 1885 and
Australia in the 1920’s. However, individuals who had joined groups of “pechalbari” from the
neighboring and other countries had crossed the ocean even before that.
Therefore, the book “Selection of papers for Macedonia”, is especially devoted to Macedonia, the
Macedonians and the Macedonian Orthodox Church-OA, which has been and probably will continue to
be the target of discussions, arguments, and even attacks from the church institutions in the
neighboring countries and wider, that are trying to prevent, or postpone its joining the family of the
equal Orthodox Church organizations. In so doing, an entire propaganda and media mechanism has
been engaged to conduct pressure, isolation, and negation of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-OA
and its legitimate existence. Its aim is to distort and hide historical facts from the past and the present.
The purpose of this write-up is to bring into question the essential characteristics of the
Macedonian Orthodox people, its church organism and its truth as a people that possesses its own
independent and sovereign state – the Republic of Macedonia.
For more than a millennium the Macedonian Orthodox Church, in the face of the Ohrid Archie-
piscopate, has lived spiritually with its protector Saint Clement of Ohrid. In the ninth century he opened
the ways to the cultural renaissance of the Macedonians who had migrated to Macedonia toward the
end of the sixth century where they met with the already Christianized native Macedonians whose
Christian beginnings are linked to missionary work of St. Apostol Pavle (Apostle Paul) and his
followers.
Christianity is the largest and most important religion in the Republic of Macedonia with
approximately 65% believers of the entire population. Of the total Christian population, about 95%
belong to the Orthodox Christians, 3% are Protestants, while 1.2% are Catholic Christians. First to
preach the gospel in Macedonia was the apostle Paul, where the first Christian communities and
churches were founded at the time. According to the New Testament, the first resident of Macedonia to
adopt. Christianity was St. Lydia Macedonian.
At the time of Tsar Samuel, the Ohrid church was raised to the rank of Patriarchate, and in 1767
it was abolished. At the end of World War II, the Macedonian Orthodox Church was founded as a
successor of the Ohrid Archbishopric. The arrival of St. Clement of Ohrid in Macedonia is also of a
great importance for the first Slavonic alphabet, because the moment of destiny had come when the
Macedonian Slavs found themselves able to be educated by their own teachers in their mother tongue.
In addition to other missionary activity, in a period of only seven years, three thousand and five
hundred students passed through Clement’s University.
Since the 1944’s the Macedonian language became the codified and official language of the
People’s Republic of Macedonia and one of the three languages in Yugoslavia. That was the time
when the literature developed and called the attention of the European and the world literature scene;
that’s the time when Macedonian cultural, spiritual, religious, social and political life developed.
St. George’s Church in Melbourne (1962) was the first Macedonian church on the Australian
Continent, and the Macedonian Diaspora in general, that was blessed by a Macedonian bishop in a
joint service with Macedonian priests. For all the Macedonians in Melbourne and Australia this event
was of particular importance and represents the foundation stone to the organized establishment and
construction of a number of Macedonian Orthodox churches in the Diaspora.
As a result of this their number has been increasing constantly so that at present there are about
eighty active churches and church communities and monasteries with the four eparchies of the
Macedonian Orthodox Church: the American – Canadian, Australia - New Zealand, Sydney - Australian
and the European eparchy.
These eparchies provide conditions for an increasing affirmation of the entire national and cultural
heritage and modern progress of the Church and the Macedonian nation in general. Through their
activities the eparchies represent a live bridge of friendship between the Republic of Macedonia and
the countries in which the Macedonian immigrants reside. The role and positive attitude of the
Macedonian believers and the clergy in those Macedonian church institutions in the Diaspora are also
of enormous significance.
The Macedonian Orthodox Churches - Ohrid Archbishopric (MOC-OA) and communities in
Australia, Canada, and the USA, and recently in the countries of the European Union, are the most
significant and most massive gathering places of the Macedonians from every part of Macedonia. In
addition to the church services, the Macedonian language, the authentic mother tongue brought from
the native land, can be heard freely at these Macedonian shrines.
It should be mentioned that the Macedonian immigrants in the Diaspora have achieved
remarkable results in the business, religious and cultural life, education and social life in general. There
are a large number of business people of Macedonian origin that are known and appreciated in their
environment, within the nation and all over the world. Such progress contributes in particular to their
social affirmation and favorable treatment in the places where they live, since other people treat them
as a distinct ethnic community on equal footing with other ethnic groups in the multinational society of
the U.S. Canada, Australia, European Union and other countries in the world.
The process of national affirmation of the Macedonian newcomers in the Diaspora commenced
with their arrival in the new settings, at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th
century. Macedonians brought with them their innate folk traditions, culture, and national identity. It is
proved by the fact that nowadays Macedonians are an integral and important part in the Diaspora,
creating a significant community among other ethnic groups. At the same time, they have affirmed their
national values through their cultural institutions and associations; enriching in that way the cultural
mosaic in the World.
The book “Selection of papers for Macedonia”, also includes texts concerning the Macedonians in
Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Albania. Thus, with the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia all peoples of
the other republics, including the Macedonians living in Serbia, have become minorities and have had
to organize themselves in order to exercise their minority rights under the Constitution and the national
laws and regulations of the local governments in Serbia.
Nowadays, in addition to Macedonian institutions in Vojvodina, which had worked successfully for
seventy years, the Macedonians as a minority in Serbia have their new Macedonian organizations,
clubs, schools, folk groups and other associations which bring hope that the situation will improve and
they will have a happier tomorrow.
It is impossible to say what the exact number of ethnic Macedonians in Bulgaria is, especially
because different sources give conflicting data. However, all agree that a large number (over two
million, including mixed marriages) of citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria are the descendants of
immigrants from Macedonia who found their home in Bulgaria either as immigrants or refugees.
According to the census of December 1946, out of a total of 252,908 inhabitants in Pirin Macedonia of
the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, 160,541 persons or 70 percent identified themselves as ethnic
Macedonians. The facts confirm the truth about Macedonians in Bulgaria, which Bulgaria has been
trying to skilfully manipulate. Unfortunately, and shamefully for the democracy, according to the 2011
census of the Republic of Bulgaria, only 1,654 Macedonians live there, out of whom 561 live in the
Blagoevgrad area and 1,163 speak their native Macedonian language, while 1,091 of them are citizens
of the Republic of Macedonia living in Bulgaria.
Fortunately, the democratization of the Albanian society in the last decade of the 20th century
has created conditions for the Macedonians to engage actively in the social and political processes in
Albania Mala Prespa or Dolna (Lower) Prespa, as the local residents call it, geographic area along the
southwest coast of Lake Prespa. The entire area consists of a dozen villages which are organized
within the municipality of Pustets. The village of Pustets is the largest settlement and is also the seat of
the municipality, whose mayor and all of the members of the municipal council are ethnic
Macedonians.
It is interesting to mention that the coat of arms of the municipality contains the ancient
Macedonian symbol, the 16-ray Vergina Sun (Palatica - Kutlesh) above which is the inscription
“Municipality of Pustets” in Macedonian and below it, the same inscription in the Albanian language.
The village only has a primary and secondary school and it is only possible to study in Macedonian up
to the fourth grade.
The Macedonian people in the Aegean part of Macedonia differ from the Greeks (Hellenes)
accor-ding to their characteristics and customs, language and ethnic origin. For these reasons, as soon
as the Greek bourgeoisie expanded its power over Aegean Macedonia, it introduced a policy of
physical extermination of the Macedonians and changing the ethnic composition in Greek favor.
Introduction.
The publication “Selection of papers for Macedonia” also consists texts of my travels all over the
world. Therefore I have published numerous texts and publications about the Macedonian emigrants
who live in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. In addition to our talks about their golgo-
tha, their typical problems and issues of an intimate nature were not avoided. Their genetic connection
however with their families is very characteristic. The Macedonian man faces the fact that his major
problem in the Diaspora is not only his day-to-day survival, but also his choice of a lifelong mate, to
marry and start a family with, since marriage is holy for them and worthy of making great sacrifices.
The monograph “Selection of papers for Macedonia” is composed of forteen parts, in which each
part has ten sections, representing Macedonia, Macedonian Orthodox Church – OA, and the
Macedonians in the world. The publication is divided into the following parts: 1. Prehistoric Macedonia
2. Alexander III of Macedon (the Great). 3. The truth about Macedonia, 4. The Macedonians in the
Diaspora 5. Immigration as a Destiny. 6 Macedonian Orthodox Churchs in Australia, Canada and USA
Consecctated by Metropolitan Kiril, 7. The Religion of the Macedonians, 8. Well – known Macedonians
in the World, 9. A Part of the Well – known Macedonians in the World, 10. Well – know publications by
Slavè Katin, 11. Israel – Jesus Christos, 12. English texts published in the Magazine “Macedonia”, 13
The Macedonians in USA and Canada, 14. Macedonians in the Neigboring Countries
The monograph “Selection of papers for Macedonia” is a significant contribution to further the
expansion of knowledge about the Macedonian people’s drama and about the directors who, with
immeasurable persistence, have continued for years, decades and centuries and still persistently
continue with their satanic acts, hopes and intentions to finally eradicate the Macedonians from their
part of the Balkans and the world.
It is the work of the Publishing House “Makedoska Iskra” in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia and
the Literary Society “Grigor Prlichev” in Sydney, Australia, sponsored by the Foundation “George
Atanasoski” – Prilep, published in 2024 on 470 pages in English. This is the work of my many years of
engagement in the study of the Ethnic Macedonia, Macedonian Orthodox Church – OA, and
Macedonian Diaspora, which led to the publication of numerous papers in this fields.
To be continued
By Slave Nikolovski-Katin
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