Skopje, 9 May 2022 (MIA) – Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski has thanked Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew over the recognition of the Ohrid Archbishopric as canonical. “Although this move does not resolve the final status and the name, the most important step has been made. Our Orthodox church is now part of the community of all Orthodox churches and this day is a historic one after seven decades of total isolation. The decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate brings us into the Orthodox family of all churches and recognizes the continuity of our church with the Ohrid Archbishopric,” PM Kovachevski wrote in a Facebook post. The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, presided by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, decided to remove the decades-long schism imposed on the Ohrid Archbishopric, restored in the image of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. The decision means that the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognizes the church hierarchy led by Archbishop Stefan as canonical and valid in the Orthodox world.