The archbishopric had its seat in the Bulgarian capital of Pliska, and its diocese covered the whole territory of the Bulgarian state. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These attitudes among the senior leadership of our Orthodox Church are extremely worrying in terms of the constitutional and democratic order in the country. The majority of Bulgarians (85 percent) would claim that they belong to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, although less than 20 percent of Bulgarians attend church regularly. Around 990, the next patriarch, Philip, moved to Ohrid (in present-day south-western North Macedonia), which became the permanent seat of the Patriarchate.

Let us remember our brethren behind the iron curtain, who sat at home singing the Paschal hymns in hushed voices lest their neighbors give them up to the authorities.

It may be assumed that the “Ukrainian case” and the possibility of Bulgaria also influencing an official diplomatic line for the protection of the interests of the UOC(MP) were also discussed at this meeting. During 1944-47 the church was deprived of jurisdiction in marriage, divorce, issuance of birth and death certificates, and other passages that had been sacraments as well as state events. The use of the UOC(MP) in support of Russian geopolitical interests, although recognized by other Orthodox churches as canonical jurisdiction, is unacceptable in terms of basic Christian principles and is in conflict with the clear positions for the support of democracy, human rights, fair international order and peace adopted by the Pan-Orthodox Council in 2016 in Crete. It is the oldest Slavic Orthodox church, with some 6 million members in Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. The monks and the ordinary priests continued to be predominantly Bulgarian. He was discharged by the Ottoman government immediately after the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War on April 24, 1877, and was sent into exile in Ankara. The millet system in the Ottoman Empire granted a number of important civil and judicial functions to the Patriarch of Constantinople and the diocesan metropolitans.

The letter further depicted an apocalyptic picture, claiming that any violation of the interests of the UOC(MP) “may prove destructive and ruinous for both the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state”. [5] In 1945 the schism was lifted and the Patriarch of Constantinople recognised the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church. He is a member of the Managing Board of the Atlantic Council of Bulgaria, member of the Managing Board and the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Direct Democracy, member of the Bulgarian Association of Political Science and other non-governmental organizations. A considerable flowering was noted in the fields of literature, architecture, and painting; the religious and theological literature also flourished.