The "Macedonianization" of Joakim Krchovski and Kiril Pejcinovic is anti-historical and does not correspond to the truth, says Bulgarian historian Plamen Pavlov.

In interview for BGNESPavlov says that Krchovski himself said that he wrote in the simplest Bulgarian language in order to be more understandable to the people, fleeing from the so-called old Bulgarian norm.

"All his work and his whole life show that he is a Bulgarian educator. "Osogovo Monastery itself, on the other hand, has always been the center of Bulgarian spirituality not only in the region of Kriva Palanka, but also in the entire region of Kyustendil," Pavlov said.

According to him, "this is not the first case of theft." Pavlov reminds that a few years ago the MOC canonized the monk Kiril Pejcinovic, and now, according to him, the same is the case with Joakim Krcovski. Both were Bulgarian revivalists, similar to Bishop Sofronij Vracanski. The difference, he adds, is that Krчоovski and Pejчиinovi „" exceeded "the territory of today's Macedonia and" occupied "other Bulgarian countries in the western Bulgarian territories.

For Pavlov, this is proof that the Macedonian Orthodox Church is dominated by forces that oppose dialogue with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and especially with Bulgaria.

He called on Bulgaria and the BOC to react to such "thefts of history" and added that the BOC "should not leave their cultural and spiritual heritage in the hands of others".

"In this case in the hands of the MOC which acts as a foreign church. In fact, these are two churches - BOC and MOC, which are the successors of the same church - the Church of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. The Bulgarian Patriarchate has a categorical position that it is the successor of the Bulgarian medieval church on its entire ethnic territory and that it is also the successor of the Bulgarian Exarchate. "At the same time, we see that he leaves people like Pejcinovic and Krcovski, who are our spiritual capital, to other institutions," said Professor Pavlov.