Talk:Theodosius of Skopje

Theodosius' ethnicity and his letters to the Pope

The Metropolitan Theodosius had actively promoted an identity distinct from Bulgaria and considering how people were classified on religious terms and not ethnic ones, it's not accurate to describe him as ethnically Bulgarian. During the Ottoman era, people were organized based on religion and exarchate. Most Greeks, Aromanians and some Greek speaking Slavs identified with the Greek Patriarchate as they spoke Greek or felt more Hellenic than Slavic. Most Slavs (be it modern day Bulgarians, Serbs or Macedonians) had identified with the Bulgarian exarchate as they understood Old Church Slavonic better than they understood Greek. This was not isolated to Slavs however, Albanians were called Turks by the Ottomans and many others as they had practiced Islam. Therefore to consider Theodosius of Skopje and many others such as Goce Delchev or Krste Misirkov as ethnically Bulgarian because they identified with the Slavic Bulgarian exarchate is inaccurate and misleading. Additionally, Theodosius of Skopje has actively pushed for a distinct Macedonian exarchate/Archbishopric of Ohrid in his many letters to fellow priests and the Pope Leo XIII himself. According to Theodosius, "We Macedonians don’t have big problems with the Turks, let God make the Padishash live long and prosper, but with Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbs—which went down as eagles on a carcass over our troubled land to tear it apart… Our* Excharchate with its church and teaching activity takes the name of a people (i.e. Macedonians) and replaces it with another, takes its mother tongue (i.e. Macedonian) and replaces it with another, takes all their national symbols and replaces them with others… The Turks take property and lives of the people, but don’t touch their spirit. They destroy the body, but respect the spirit. On the other hand, our* holy Excharchate kills this other thing,..." (Our in the context describes the Bulgarian exarchate). Theodosius describes Macedonians and Bulgarians as not only religiously but also ethnically different so then the question is, why call him a Bulgarian and why link his ethnicity with modern day Bulgarians when he is closer in both religions and self description, to modern day Macedonians? Furthermore, why describe many of the figures on Wikipedia who fought for an independent multi-ethnic Macedonian nation apart from Bulgaria as Bulgarians simply for identifying with the Bulgarian exarchate as no independent Macedonian one had existed since 1767 or simply because they spoke a broad dialect of Bulgarian? --Okrados (talk) 22:40, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

Wikipedia is based on reliable sources. Wikipedia is neither a forum, nor a tribune for spreading POV. Do not analyze, evaluate, interpret, or synthesize material found in a primary source yourself; instead, refer to reliable secondary sources that do so. Do not base an entire article on primary sources, and be cautious about basing large passages on them. Theodosius had a long live and changed his positions several times. Though, his pro-Macedonian activity was too short. Thank you. Jingiby (talk) 03:13, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

Wikipedia is based on reliable sources however I fail to see how this is just my own analysis and not a reliable source. I did not synthesize or analyze anything being said by myself. I have yet to see how this whole thing about Theodosius is not an attempt at whitewashing history with a chauvinistic lense. Besides, who are you to claim that his "pro-Macedonian" activity was too short? Okrados (talk) 07:12, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

That is the opinion of academic researchers and I am going to cite it now. Jingiby (talk) 09:58, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

I will expand the article. Jingiby (talk) 11:04, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

Gallery

I have re-added the caption of the Gallery after it was reworked to NPOV. Sources added on Wikimedia Commons: Причини за отстранувањето на Скопския митрополит Теодосий, Новини, 11/38, Цариградъ, 4. II 1892, с. 1. In: Istorija, spisanie na Sojuzot na društvata na istoričarite na SR Makedonija, 1975, str. 227; Теодосий Гологанов "Писмо до господин редактора на в. Новини", публикувано във в. "Новини" бр. 38, Цариград, 1892, in Библиотека и Издателство "Струмски". Jingiby (talk) 14:29, 10 May 2023 (UTC)