Problems of Macedonian Orthodox Church Status in Modern Policy of the Historical Memory of the Republic of North Macedonia

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to analyse the perception of the problems of the history of the status of the Macedonian Orthodox Church in the politics of memory of modern North Macedonia. The author analyses the role and place of church narratives in historical politics and the development of memorial culture. The novelty of the study lies in the analysis of the features of the religious dimension of the politics of memory in modern Macedonian society as a secular state. The article analyses the perception of church issues in modern memorial Macedonian culture. The article also shows that the politics of memory that forms and promotes the perception of the history of the Church in the Macedonian ethnic coordinates system determine on the development of Macedonian nationalism. It is assumed that the political elites of modern North Macedonia actively use the problems of the history of the Church consolidating national identity in politics of memory. The results of the study suggest that the memorial culture of modern Macedonian society in contexts of the perception of the history of the Church is distinguished by a nationalistic character, and the perception of church history in the collective memory of Macedonia develops in contexts of memorial wars with other Balkan societies, integrating the historical heritage of Orthodoxy on the territory of Macedonia into their own historical memories.