Diocesan Ruling Committee of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (MOCDANZ), on its extraordinary meeting, held on January 22nd, 2019, in the Metropolitanate at the temple of Saint Prophet Ilia in Footscray, analyzing the latest developments in the MOC St Dimitria of Solun in Springvale, after a thorough discussion, brought the following
S T A N D and A P P E A L
MOC Saint Dimitria of Solun – Springvale, is an integral and inseparable part of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (MOCDANZ), and the temple of Saint Dimitria of Solun, with all movable and immovable properties, is kept by the Macedonian Orthodox Church, according to the Constitution of the MOC and the Statute of the Diocese for Australia and New Zealand, and they can not be appropriated by individuals, group of people, company or institution.
The group of barely a dozen people who falsely represent themselves as a board (a management), lock with padlocks the entrance gate from the yard of the church to prevent the worship of the Divine Services and the profession of our Holy Orthodox Faith. We regard their activity as ungodly, anti-Church and anti-Macedonian, and in the service of the dishonest and dark spirits of evil – the demons and against the Holy Orthodoxy and the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
From reliable sources we find out that their propaganda is assisted and sponsored by the dishonest people, who are working on the busting of the Republic of Macedonia, and dispersal and destruction of the Macedonian Orthodox people, the Macedonian Orthodox Church and everything that is Macedonian, both in the homeland and in the diaspora.
Therefore, we send an appeal to all brothers and sisters Orthodox Macedonians: Show your faith and your love for God, and defend your home church municipality of St. Dimitriј of Solun in Springvale! Do not let it repeat the same, as you have allowed for the feasts of Theophany of Jesus Christ (Baptism of Jesus) and St. John not to put the cross in the waters and to serve Divine Liturgies, and the group of ungodly people in front of your eyes, with only a few chains, to close your access to your temple! Do not easily give up, and having no alternative, visit the Serbian, Russian or Greek Church. You have your church, you have your parish priest appointed by your Macedonian Bishop, so stay to be with your spiritual mother MOC!
On January 19th, on the great feast the Epiphany, the godless group, led by the dark spirits, played with our Church. They closed the church gate and did not allow the blessing and sanctification of the water, in which the Holy Cross was to be laid down. God’s punishment, for this ungodly act, if they do not repent and do not cease to do the same thing, sooner or later, will reach all criminals. Several women in the group use the name of the priest Gligor Kiselinov (against whom a Church-lawsuit is being conducted for serious offenses), who publicly acknowledged his offenses, so they want to bring him back to the temple where he is forbidden to worship because of the sins he has committed. It is regrettable that he also began silently to approve their actions to close the temple. He continues to refuse the assistance from the Diocese, posing as a man with an impaired health, and on the other hand he hypocritically manipulates people to feel sorry for him and collect a charitable contribution for him, even though he recently purchased a new house, in which he receives at least two regular salaries.
The Diocesan Ruling Committee of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand urgently demands these dishonest people to stop the dishonest acts that inflict spiritual and material damage on the MOC Saint Great-Martyr Dimitria of Solun in Springvale. For unlawful acts and caused material damages, it is quite likely that they will answer to the civil authorities, for which we encourage and support the responsible diocesan and church-municipal bodies and organs to stand up and with the help of the law to oppose the group of these dishonest people.
Individuals from the group who are trying to occupy and invade the church in an illegal way should better busy themselves with how soon they will find a place where they will satisfy their needs as low-citizens, away from the Holy Temple. Let them work and solve their personal problems, and leave the Holy Church of Saint Dimitria of Salun to live and work according to the Sacred Canons and Church Laws.
All Orthodox Macedonians from Melbourne and the surrounding area, the faithful children of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the parishioners of the Church Municipality, should stand at the divine service at the God’s temple of St. Dimitria of Solun in Springvale, whose representation, we, all the faithful Lord’s children have! Amen!
From the DRC Office of the MOCDANZ
22.01.2019
