Stephen ( mk, Архиепископ Охридски и Македонски г.г. Стефан/''Arhiepiskop Ohirdski i Makedonski g.g. Stefan''; born 1 May 1955) is the fifth Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, metropolitan of

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

and spiritual leader of the

Macedonian Orthodox Church The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid (MOC-AO; mk, Македонска православна црква – Охридска архиепископија), or simply the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) or the Archdiocese o ...

Biography

Archbishop Stefan, whose

secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth an ...

is Stojan Veljanovski (''Стојан Вељановски''), was born on May 1, 1955, in the village of Dobrushevo,

Mogila Municipality Mogila ( mk, ) is a municipality in south-central North Macedonia. '' Mogila'' is also the name of the village where the municipal seat is found. Mogila Municipality is part of the Pelagonia Statistical Region. Geography The municipality borde ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, today in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. In 1969, he enrolled in the ''Macedonian Orthodox Theological Seminary of St. Clement of Ohrid'' in Dračevo, where he graduated in 1974. The same year he went on to study at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

Theological Faculty, graduating in 1979. Upon his return to Macedonia, the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church named him a teacher at the Theological Seminary in

. In 1980, he left for postgraduate studies at the Institute of St. Nicholas in

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, which specializes in ecumenical-patristic and Greco-Byzantine studies. In 1982, he received a master's degree from this institute. When he returned to Macedonia, Stefan became a lecturer at Skopje's St. Clement of Ohrid Theological Faculty. He took his monastic vows at the St. Naum monastery in

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

on July 3, 1986, and on July 12 he was named Metropolitan of Zletovo and

Strumica Strumica ( mk, Струмица, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedon ...

. Shortly thereafter he was enthroned as Bishop of Bregalnica and

Štip Štip ( mk, Штип ) is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the city ...

. In the following years, Bishop Stefan served as dean of the Theological Faculty in Skopje, spokesman for the Holy Synod of the

, as editor in chief of the church's official gazette "Church Life" (''Црковен живот'') and as secretary-general of the Archbishopric of Ohrid and Macedonia. In

on 9 and October 10, 1999, the ''Church National Assembly'' ― a congregation of clerics and laymen ― elected Bishop Stephen as head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Reacting to concerns that Bishop Stefan was only 44 years old when he was elected, Protodeacon Slave Projkovski said the Macedonian Orthodox Church believed in Stefan's intellectual and moral maturity. Projkovski added, however, that the future of the Church did not only depend on Archbishop Stefan since, as head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, he was merely the first among equals. On 16 May 2022, Archbishop Stefan became the first Archbishop of Ohrid to be canonically recognized since Dositej II, owing to the resolution by the

Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr, Свети архијерејски синод Српске православне цркве, Sveti arhijerejski sinod Srpske pravoslavne crkve) serves by Church constitution as the executive bod ...

to accept the canonical status of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veljanovski, Stojan 1955 births Living people People from Mogila Municipality Archbishops of Ohrid and Macedonia Eastern Orthodox Christians from North Macedonia University of Belgrade Faculty of Orthodox Theology alumni 20th-century Eastern Orthodox archbishops