Theodosius of Skopje
Encyclopedia
Theodosius of Skopje was a controversial religious figure from Macedonia
who was a Bulgarian language
scholar and translator. He was initially involved in the struggle for an autonomous Bulgarian Church and later in his life he became a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
. He is known for his failed attempt to create a Macedonian Uniat Church with help from the Catholic Church. Theodosius of Skopje is considered a Bulgarian in Bulgaria
and an ethnic Macedonian
in the Republic of Macedonia
.
Theodosius of Skopje was born as Vasil Iliev Gologanov (Bulgarian
& Macedonian
: Васил Илиев Гологанов) in the then Bulgarian populated village of Tarlis
(now part of Kato Nevrokopi
, Greece
) in the Ottoman Empire
. His brother Ivan Gologanov was a collector of folk songs, most famous for editing the book Veda Slovena
. Vasil studied in the classical Greek
gymnasium
in Serres
. In 1862 Theodosius made a monastic vow and was ordained as a hierodeacon
from the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople. Sometime in 1867 he left for Hercegovina, where he worked as a protosingel of Metropolitan
Prokopius. After he came back to Bulgarian lands in 1868, Theodosius became a priest in Plovdiv
.
When the Bulgarian Exarchate
was established in 1870 he joined it, but soon under the pressure from the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople he renounced the Exarchate. However, in 1874 after the Christian population of the bishoprics of Skopje
and Ohrid
voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining the Exarchate, Theodossius repentеd and the Bulgaria
n Holy Synod
restored him to communion. Between 1874 and 1875 Theodosius was the head of the local Bulgarian Orthodox Church
organization in the region of Serres
. He was ordained as a archmandrite in 1875 and became an assistant of the Metropolitan
of Nish
, who at the time was under the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Exarch
. Between 1878 and 1880 Archimandrite Theodosius was in Istanbul
and performed the duties of Exarch Joseph I
, since the exarch was stuck in Plovdiv
after the start of the Russo-Turkish War.
Theodosius continued to hold high ranking positions within the exarchate and in 1885 he was chosen as a bishop
of the episcopacy of Skopje
but under the pressure of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople the Sultan
issued official ordinance only in 1890. As a bishop of Skopje, Theodosius renounced de facto again the Bulgarian Exarchate
and attempted to restore the Archbishopric of Ohrid and to separate the episcopacies in Macedonia
from the Bulgarian Exarchate
. His plans were to create a Slav Macedonian Uniat Church with help from Bishop of Rome, but they failed soon and he was fired from the Exarchate in 1892 because of his separatism. According to Simeon Radev
, bishop Theodosius' separatism stemmed from his personal hatred of Exarch Joseph I. Most of the Macedonian mainstream specialists on the history of the Macedonian Orthodox Church
, consider that the religious separatism
of Theodosius represented indeed a form of early Macedonian nationalism
.
He was banished from the Exarchate and exiled in a monastery near Sofia
. However, later Theodosius repented again and accepted as before a pro-Bulgarian position on the Macedonian Question. As result he was rehabilitated and between 1901 and 1906 served as bishop of the Plovdiv eparchy. Bishop Theodosius also led the short-lived eparchy of Gyumyurdzhina, (Komotini
) between 1913 and 1919, when the area was part of Bulgaria. During 1913 he participated on the Christianization of the Pomaks in the Rhodopes, a mission held from the Bulgarian Exarhate and IMORO.
Since 1910 Theodosius Gologanov was a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
, he wrote articles on religion and translated into Bulgarian some of the works of Virgil
, François-René de Chateaubriand
, John Milton
and others. In one of his articles, published in the newspaper "Mir", he first claimed that the forefather of the Bulgarian National Revival
, Saint Paisius of Hilendar had been born in Bansko
, Pirin Macedonia.
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
who was a Bulgarian language
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
scholar and translator. He was initially involved in the struggle for an autonomous Bulgarian Church and later in his life he became a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy is autonomous and has a Society of Academicians, Correspondent Members and Foreign Members...
. He is known for his failed attempt to create a Macedonian Uniat Church with help from the Catholic Church. Theodosius of Skopje is considered a Bulgarian in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and an ethnic Macedonian
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
in the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
.
Biography
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
& Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
: Васил Илиев Гологанов) in the then Bulgarian populated village of Tarlis
Kato Nevrokopi
Kato Nevrokopi is a municipality and town within that municipality in the northwest section of the Drama peripheral unit, Greece. Before the 2011 local government reform, it was the largest municipality in all of Greece, covering an area of 873.552 km² . The 2001 census reported a population...
(now part of Kato Nevrokopi
Kato Nevrokopi
Kato Nevrokopi is a municipality and town within that municipality in the northwest section of the Drama peripheral unit, Greece. Before the 2011 local government reform, it was the largest municipality in all of Greece, covering an area of 873.552 km² . The 2001 census reported a population...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
) in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. His brother Ivan Gologanov was a collector of folk songs, most famous for editing the book Veda Slovena
Veda Slovena
Veda Slovena is a forged collection of folk songs and legends of the Muslim Bulgarians; the subtitle of the book indicated that they were collected from the regions of Thrace and Macedonia...
. Vasil studied in the classical Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Serres
Serres
Serres is a city in Greece, seat of the Serres prefecture.Serres may also refer to:Places:* Serres, Germany, a part of Wiernsheim in Baden-WürttembergIn France:* Serres, Aude in the Aude département...
. In 1862 Theodosius made a monastic vow and was ordained as a hierodeacon
Hierodeacon
A Hierodeacon , sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a monk who has been ordained a deacon...
from the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople. Sometime in 1867 he left for Hercegovina, where he worked as a protosingel of Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
Prokopius. After he came back to Bulgarian lands in 1868, Theodosius became a priest in Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
.
When the Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
was established in 1870 he joined it, but soon under the pressure from the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople he renounced the Exarchate. However, in 1874 after the Christian population of the bishoprics of Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
and Ohrid
Ohrid
Ohrid is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. It has about 42,000 inhabitants, making it the seventh largest city in the country. The city is the seat of Ohrid Municipality. Ohrid is notable for having once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year and has...
voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining the Exarchate, Theodossius repentеd and the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n Holy Synod
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod...
restored him to communion. Between 1874 and 1875 Theodosius was the head of the local Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
organization in the region of Serres
Serres
Serres is a city in Greece, seat of the Serres prefecture.Serres may also refer to:Places:* Serres, Germany, a part of Wiernsheim in Baden-WürttembergIn France:* Serres, Aude in the Aude département...
. He was ordained as a archmandrite in 1875 and became an assistant of the Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
of Nish
NISH
NISH is United States non-profit agency that supports other agencies which provide employment opportunities for people who are blind or disabled.-Background:...
, who at the time was under the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Exarch
Exarch
In the Byzantine Empire, an exarch was governor with extended authority of a province at some remove from the capital Constantinople. The prevailing situation frequently involved him in military operations....
. Between 1878 and 1880 Archimandrite Theodosius was in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
and performed the duties of Exarch Joseph I
Joseph I of Bulgaria
Joseph I, born as Lazar Yovchev, , also known as Iosif I, was a Bulgarian Exarch from 1877 to 1915. His grave, marked by a white cross and a bed of flowers, is located just outside the western wall of St Nedelya Church in Sofia....
, since the exarch was stuck in Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
after the start of the Russo-Turkish War.
Theodosius continued to hold high ranking positions within the exarchate and in 1885 he was chosen as a bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the episcopacy of Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
but under the pressure of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople the Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
issued official ordinance only in 1890. As a bishop of Skopje, Theodosius renounced de facto again the Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
and attempted to restore the Archbishopric of Ohrid and to separate the episcopacies in Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
from the Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
. His plans were to create a Slav Macedonian Uniat Church with help from Bishop of Rome, but they failed soon and he was fired from the Exarchate in 1892 because of his separatism. According to Simeon Radev
Simeon Radev
Simeon Traychev Radev was a Bulgarian writer, journalist, diplomat and historian most famous for his two-volume book The Builders of Modern Bulgaria....
, bishop Theodosius' separatism stemmed from his personal hatred of Exarch Joseph I. Most of the Macedonian mainstream specialists on the history of the Macedonian Orthodox Church
Macedonian Orthodox Church
The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric or just Macedonian Orthodox Church is the body of Christians who are united under the Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, exercising jurisdiction over Macedonian Orthodox Christians in the Republic of Macedonia and in exarchates in the Macedonian...
, consider that the religious separatism
Separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...
of Theodosius represented indeed a form of early Macedonian nationalism
Macedonian nationalism
Macedonian nationalism is a term referring to the ethnic Macedonian version of nationalism.-Late 19th century beginning:The development of the Macedonian ethnicity can be said to have begun in the late 19th and early 20th century. This is the time of the first expressions of ethnic nationalism by...
.
He was banished from the Exarchate and exiled in a monastery near Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
. However, later Theodosius repented again and accepted as before a pro-Bulgarian position on the Macedonian Question. As result he was rehabilitated and between 1901 and 1906 served as bishop of the Plovdiv eparchy. Bishop Theodosius also led the short-lived eparchy of Gyumyurdzhina, (Komotini
Komotini
Komotini is a city in Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace and of the Rhodope regional unit. It is also the administrative center of the Rhodope-Evros super-prefecture. The city is home to the Democritus University of Thrace, founded in 1973...
) between 1913 and 1919, when the area was part of Bulgaria. During 1913 he participated on the Christianization of the Pomaks in the Rhodopes, a mission held from the Bulgarian Exarhate and IMORO.
Since 1910 Theodosius Gologanov was a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy is autonomous and has a Society of Academicians, Correspondent Members and Foreign Members...
, he wrote articles on religion and translated into Bulgarian some of the works of Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
, John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
and others. In one of his articles, published in the newspaper "Mir", he first claimed that the forefather of the Bulgarian National Revival
Bulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
, Saint Paisius of Hilendar had been born in Bansko
Bansko
Bansko is a town and a popular ski resort in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Pirin Mountains at an elevation of 925 m above sea level....
, Pirin Macedonia.
See also
- Bulgarian ExarchateBulgarian ExarchateThe Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
- Macedonian Question
- Macedonian Orthodox ChurchMacedonian Orthodox ChurchThe Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric or just Macedonian Orthodox Church is the body of Christians who are united under the Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, exercising jurisdiction over Macedonian Orthodox Christians in the Republic of Macedonia and in exarchates in the Macedonian...