The church not only tends to the spiritual needs of Toronto's Macedonian community, but it serves as the home to several prominent educational, cultural, and charitable organizations that actively preserve and promote Macedonian ethnic and cultural awareness. In addition to church services, St. Clement of Ohrid also has three banquet halls, a board room, a number of private offices and classrooms.[1]
History
Toronto is the home to the largest concentration of Macedonian Canadians outside of the Balkans,[2] with 43,110 Canadians who claimed full, or partial Macedonian ancestry in the 2016 Canadian census. Long before the Macedonian Orthodox Church was declared autonomous, early immigrants from Macedonia founded churches that were under the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada and Australia.[3] They are Sts. Cyril & Methody Macedono-Bulgarian Orthodox Church founded in 1910, St. George Macedono-Bulgarian Orthodox Church founded in 1941 and Holy Trinity Macedono-Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church founded in 1973. After the Macedonian Orthodox Church declared autonomy in 1958, many members felt the need to establish a new parish under its jurisdiction.
Blessing of the foundation ceremony, 1964
On 7 August 1962, members of the United Macedonians Organization held a meeting in the King Edward Hotel in Toronto and the decision was made to build a new church in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood which will bear the name of the medieval Saint Clement of Ohrid. After this decision was brought forth, an assembly was also formed and a church delegation was sent by the Holy Synod in Skopje, SR Macedonia. The first holy liturgy of the parish was carried out on 12 August 1962 in the "Zhelevo Hall", a community centre established by Aegean Macedonians from the village of Želevo (Antartiko). On 12 December 1962, the church received its license from the city of Toronto to officially operate religious services. On 5 April 1964, the foundations of the church were laid by the church's first priest, Rev. Kiril Stojanovski. The event was also attended by Dositheus II, Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia. On 18 April 1965, on the Orthodox holiday of Palm Sunday, the church was officially opened for service.[4]
The inside of the church features murals by Macedonian Canadian artist Georgi Danevski.[5]
In February 2009, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary celebration of the United Macedonians Organization, the church was visited by the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.[6] In August 2009, on the occasion of the Orthodox holiday of the Domition of the Virgin Mary, the church was visited by Nikola Gruevski – the Prime Minister of Macedonia.[7]
↑ Gregory Michaelidis, "Salvation Abroad: Macedonian Migration to North America and the Making of Modern Macedonia, 1870–1970" (PhD diss., University of Maryland, College Park, 2005),15.
↑ Lillian Petroff, Sojourners and Settlers: The Macedonian Community in Toronto to 1940 (Toronto: Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1995)
The Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric was an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archbishopric of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) with jurisdiction over the territory of North Macedonia. Its creation was initiated in 2002, and formalized in 2005. In 2023, after the reconciliation of the SOC and the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC), the OOA was integrated into MOC. On 28 June 2023, the Holy Synod of OOA made an official announcement, stating that it has fulfilled its mission, and noting that OOA hierarchs have collectively joined MOC.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and the oldest Slavic Orthodox church, with some 6 million members in Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2 million members in a number of other European countries, Asia, the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. It was recognized as autocephalous in 1945 by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The Archbishopric of Ohrid, also known as the Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid, originally called Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima and all Bulgaria, was an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church established following the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria in 1018 by lowering the rank of the autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate due to its subjugation to the Byzantines. In 1767, the Archbishopric's autocephaly was abolished, and the Archbishopric was placed under the tutelage of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid, or simply the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) or the Archdiocese of Ohrid (AO), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North Macedonia. The Macedonian Orthodox Church claims ecclesiastical jurisdiction over North Macedonia, and is also represented in the Macedonian diaspora. The primate of the Macedonian Orthodox Church is Stefan Veljanovski, the Metropolitan of Skopje and Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia.
Nikola Gruevski is a former Macedonian politician who served as Prime Minister of Macedonia from 2006 until his resignation, which was caused by the 2016 Macedonian protests, and led the VMRO-DPMNE party from 2004 to 2017. He is the longest serving post-independence Macedonian prime minister, serving more than nine years in office.
The Catholic Church in North Macedonia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome and is one of the major religious communities that exist on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia. Catholic believers from North Macedonia mostly include Albanians, Macedonians and Croats and are most concentrated in the Skopje Statistical Region and the Southeastern Statistical Region of North Macedonia.
The Bulgarian Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America is one of three ethnic dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). It was created in 1963 by Eastern Orthodox Christians of Bulgarian and Macedonian descent. Its territory includes parishes, monasteries, and missions located in seven states in the United States: California, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, and Washington, D.C. The first bishop of the diocese was the Most Reverend Kyrill (Yonchev), who also served as the Archbishop of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. After his repose on June 17, 2007, Metropolitan Herman served as locum tenens of the diocese until the election of Archimandrite Alexander (Golitzin) on October 4, 2011. On May 5, 2012, he was consecrated as bishop of the diocese during a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Saint George Orthodox Cathedral in Rossford, Ohio.
Stephen is the fifth Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, metropolitan of Skopje, primate and spiritual leader of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
The Archbishop of Ohrid is a historic title given to the primate of the Archbishopric of Ohrid. The whole original title of the primate was Archbishop of Justiniana Prima and all Bulgaria.
Macedonian Canadians are Canadian citizens of ethnic Macedonian descent, who reside in Canada. According to the 2021 census there were 39,440 Canadians who claimed full or partial Macedonian ancestry.
Bulgarian Canadians are Canadian citizens or residents from Bulgaria or people of Bulgarian descent. According to the 2021 Census there were 33,085 Canadians who claimed Bulgarian ancestry, an increase compared to the 27,260 of the 2006 Census.
St. Dimitrija Solunski, also known as St. Demetrius of Salonica, is a Macedonian Orthodox Church located in Markham, Ontario, Canada.
The Bulgarian Cultural Club – Skopje is a non-governmental organization in the Republic of North Macedonia established on 4 May 2008, and registered on 22 May 2008. Its executive board is chaired by Lazar Mladenov. The organization has local branches in Štip, Bitola, and other cities.
On 5 September 2009, the Ilinden sightseeing boat with a group of 57 foreign tourists on board, of which 55 were Bulgarian, sank in Lake Ohrid, southwestern Republic of Macedonia. Fifteen people died. The sinking of the Ilinden was the deadliest boat accident in the history of the Republic of Macedonia.
The Church of Saint Clement of Ohrid often called simply Soborna Crkva, located in Skopje, North Macedonia is the largest cathedral of the Macedonian Orthodox Church today.
Clement or Kliment of Ohrid was one of the first medieval Bulgarian saints, scholar, writer, and apostle to the Slavs. He was one of the most prominent disciples of Cyril and Methodius and is often associated with the creation of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic scripts, especially their popularisation among Christianised Slavs. He was the founder of the Ohrid Literary School and is regarded as a patron of education and language by some Slavic people. He is considered to be the first bishop of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, one of the Seven Apostles of Bulgarian Orthodox Church since the 10th century, and one of the premier saints of modern Bulgaria. The mission of Clement was the crucial factor which transformed the Slavs in then Kutmichevitsa into Bulgarians. Clement is also the patron saint of North Macedonia, the city of Ohrid and the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
Mile Janakieski is a Republic of Macedonia politician. He served as Minister of Transport and Communications in the cabinet of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski until 12 May 2015.
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