Dositheus II

Dositej II ( maz. Доситеј II, real name: Dimitrija Stojkovski ), ( born December 7, 1906 in Mavrovo, † 20 May 1981 in Skopje) was, from 1958 until his death Archbishop of Ohrid and the first head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. He called himself Dostej II because he saw himself in the continuity of the Archbishops of Ohrid, who had managed this Metropolie until the 18th century. Under his leadership, the Orthodox Macedonians solved in 1967 by her Serbian mother church and declared unilaterally autocephaly.

Before his elevation to Archbishop of Ohrid was Dositej Bishop of Toplice, one belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church Eparchy titular. The second Macedonian national council elected him in October 1958 to the Archbishop of Ohrid. At the same time autonomous Macedonian church was founded and adopted the statute. The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church described the election Dositej as uncanonical and hesitated with the recognition of the new archbishop. But In 1959, Patriarch German to Macedonia and consecrated together with Dositej a new bishop for the Macedonian eparchies. 1964 visited Dositej together with German Bulgaria.

Nevertheless, the relations between the Serbian and the Macedonian church remained tense and 1967 declared the Macedonians on their third national council autocephaly. For the Serbs Dositej was now a schismatic. His second term was dedicated to the Ohrid Archbishop expanding the ecclesiastical structures of the independent Macedonian church. At the same time he sought the recognition of his church by the other Orthodox Churches. He was not successful due to the Serbian resistance.