Macedonian Greek Catholic Church
Eastern Catholic church
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Macedonian Greek Catholic Church[a] or Macedonian Byzantine Catholic Church is a sui juris Eastern Catholic church in full union with the Catholic Church, which uses the Macedonian language in its liturgy. The Macedonian Greek Catholic Church comprises a single eparchy, the Macedonian Catholic Eparchy of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Strumica-Skopje.[1]
| Macedonian Greek Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
| |
| Classification | Eastern Catholic |
| Orientation | Greek Catholic |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Structure | Eparchy[1] |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Bishop | Kiro Stojanov[2] |
| Region | North Macedonia |
| Language | Macedonian |
| Liturgy | Byzantine Rite |
| Headquarters | Assumption of Mary Cathedral, Strumica, North Macedonia |
| Founder | John Paul II |
| Origin | 2001 |
| Separated from | Macedonian Orthodox Church |
| Congregations | 7 |
| Members | 11,374[3] |
| Ministers | 17[3] |
| Other name | Macedonian Greek Catholic Eparchy of the Blessed Virgin Mary Assumed in Strumica-Skopje[1] |
History
An apostolic exarch was appointed for Bulgarian Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Macedonia as early as 1883 and lasting until 1922/1924 as part of the Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church.[4] After the end of World War I and the foundation of Yugoslavia, the Vicariate was absorbed into the Eparchy of Križevci.
In January 2001, a separate Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Macedonia was formed for Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in North Macedonia. It was separated from the Eparchy of Križevci and constituted as directly subject to the Holy See.[5] On the same day (11 January 2001), the Holy See appointed the Latin bishop of Skopje as the first Apostolic Exarch of North Macedonia.[6]
Statistics
Hierarchs
- Apostolic exarchs
- Lazar Mladenov (1883–1895), Titular bishop of Satala
- Epiphany Shanov (1895–1922 or 1924), Titular bishop of Livias
- Joakim Herbut (2001–2005), Latin Church bishop of Skopje
- Kiro Stojanov (2005–2018), Latin Church bishop of Skopje[8][2]
- Eparchs of Strumica
- Kiro Stojanov (2018–present), Latin Church Bishop of Skopje
See also
Notes
- Latin: Ecclesiae Graecae Catholico Macedonica; Macedonian: Македонска грчка католичка црква