Macedonian Archbishop Stefan will join the Bulgarian Orthodox Church delegation in Jerusalem, to bring the holy fire back to Macedonia.

This is the second time the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has shared the holy fire with Macedonia, and the first time the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric (MOC-OA) has traveled to Jerusalem with the Bulgarian delegation.

This is a manifestation of great love, Stefan told Bulgarian media outlets, after meeting with Bulgarian bishop Cyprian who is head of the commission working to relations between the two churches.

Cyprian leads a commission that was supposed to work on the recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church as independent, a move opposed by the Serbian church which considers MOC-OA an illegitimate splinter church.

In 2017 MOC-OA prepared a letter under which it recognizes the historic precedence of the Bulgarian church over it, in exchange for a recognition by the Bulgarian church, but this initiative was delayed. Meanwhile, an international effort is afoot to have the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul recognize MOC-OA similarly to its recent recognition of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as independent from the Russian church.