The achievement of independence for the country’s Orthodox Christians is a significant milestone in the centuries-long struggle for Macedonian national identity

“A miracle is happening!” With those dramatic words, Patriarch Porfirije, head of Serbia’s Orthodox Church, signalled the closure of a more than 50-year-old dispute with the Orthodox Church in neighbouring North Macedonia that has bedevilled political as well as ecclesiastic relations.

The dispute now looks set to conclude with an award of autocephaly, or ecclesiastical independence, to the Macedonian Orthodox Church from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the 300 million Orthodox Christians.