Bulgarian Orthodox Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Patriarchate of Bulgaria |
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| Българска патриаршия | |
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| Type | Eastern Orthodox |
| Orientation | Eastern Christianity |
| Scripture | Septuagint, New Testament |
| Theology | Eastern Orthodox theology |
| Primate | Vacant |
| Bishops | 15 |
| Priests | 2,000 |
| Parishes | 2,600 |
| Monasteries | 120 |
| Language | Bulgarian and Old Church Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) |
| Headquarters | Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Territory | Bulgaria |
| Possessions | United States, Canada, Australia, European Union, Argentina, Russia, Greece, Turkey |
| Founder | Boris I of Bulgaria |
| Independence | 870–1018 1185–1393 1018–1767 1870–present |
| Recognition | 870 (Autonomy) 927 (Patriarchate) 1235 (Patriarchate) 1945 (Autocephaly) 1953 (Patriarchate) |
| Separations | Old Calendar Bulgarian Orthodox Church (early 20th century) Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Alternative synod (1996) |
| Members | 7–8 million |
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Българска православна църква), also known as the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, is a Christian church based in Bulgaria. It is part of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is one of the oldest Christian traditions. This church was the first independent Christian church outside the main five ancient centers of Christianity. It is also the oldest Slavic Orthodox church.
Today, about 6 million people in Bulgaria are members. Another 1.5 to 2 million members live in other parts of Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. The church became fully independent in 1945. This was officially recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which is like the main leader of many Orthodox churches.
Contents
History
Early Christianity in Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church began with early Christian communities. These groups formed in Southeast Europe during the first centuries after Jesus. Apostle Paul and Apostle Andrew brought Christianity to the region. By the early 300s AD, Christianity was the main religion there. Important cities like Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, and Silistra were big Christian centers.
The Monastery of Saint Athanasius was founded in 344 AD. It was the first Christian monastery in Europe. It is located near Chirpan, Bulgaria.
Later, raids and invasions damaged the church organization. But Christianity did not disappear. Many Bulgarian Slavs became Christians by the mid-800s. This happened especially in areas like Thrace and Macedonia. However, the Bulgarian church became truly independent in 865 AD. This was when Boris I made Christianity the official state religion.
The Church Becomes Independent
Boris I wanted Bulgaria to grow culturally. He also wanted it to be a strong, independent country. He believed an independent church with educated leaders would help. For five years, he worked with both the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Pope in Rome.
In 870 AD, a council in Constantinople agreed. They allowed Bulgaria to have its own autonomous archbishopric. This means it had its own main church leader. The archbishopric was based in Pliska, the Bulgarian capital. It covered all of Bulgaria. The Bulgarian church was placed under the Patriarch of Constantinople. This patriarch provided the first church leaders and religious books.
Even with its own archbishop, Boris I was not fully satisfied. The church used Greek language and Byzantine customs. This did not help Bulgarian culture or unity. Boris I wanted a church that truly belonged to Bulgaria.
In 886, the students of Saints Cyril and Methodius arrived. These saints had created the Glagolitic alphabet and a Slavonic church service. This service used the language of the Bulgarian Slavs. Boris I saw this as a great chance. In 893, he removed the Greek clergy. He ordered that the Slav-Bulgarian language be used instead of Greek in church services.
Becoming a Patriarchate
After two big victories against the Byzantines, Bulgaria made a major church decision. In 919, the Bulgarian Archbishopric declared itself fully independent. It was also raised to the rank of a Patriarchate. A Patriarchate is a very important church region led by a Patriarch.
In 927, Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire signed a peace treaty. The Patriarchate of Constantinople then officially recognized the Bulgarian Orthodox Church's independence. It also accepted its new status as a Patriarchate.
The Bulgarian Patriarchate was the first independent Slavic Orthodox Church. It was established long before the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Churches became independent. It was the sixth Patriarchate in the world. The main city for the Patriarchate was Preslav, the new Bulgarian capital.
Ohrid Archbishopric
In 972, the Byzantine Emperor conquered Preslav. The Bulgarian Patriarch had to flee. For many years, the Patriarchs moved from city to city in western Bulgaria. Around 990, the Patriarch moved to Ohrid. This city became the permanent home of the Patriarchate.
In 1018, Bulgaria came under Byzantine rule. Emperor Basil II recognized the Bulgarian Orthodox Church's independence. But he changed its title from Patriarchate to Archbishopric. The first archbishop was Bulgarian. However, later leaders were chosen from Byzantines. Still, most monks and priests remained Bulgarian. The church kept its Bulgarian identity and continued to use the Slavonic language in services. This Archbishopric existed until 1767.
Tarnovo Patriarchate
In 1185, the brothers Peter IV and Ivan Asen I led a successful uprising. This led to the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Its capital was Tarnovo. They wanted to restore the Bulgarian Patriarchate. In 1186, they set up an independent archbishopric in Tarnovo.
It took almost 50 years for this archbishopric to be recognized as a Patriarchate. Like Boris I, Tsar Kaloyan worked with both Constantinople and Rome. In 1203, the Pope in Rome recognized the Tarnovo Archbishop as the "Primate and Archbishop of all Bulgaria."
Under Tsar Ivan Asen II (1218–1241), the church became fully independent again. In 1235, a church council confirmed the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as a Patriarchate. The Bulgarian archbishop German became the Patriarch.
The Tarnovo Patriarchate was very important. It helped develop Bulgarian literature and art. Scholars like Patriarch Evtimiy worked under its guidance.
Under Ottoman Rule
In 1393, the Ottoman Empire conquered Tarnovo. The Ottoman leaders sent Patriarch Evtimiy into exile. The independent church organization was destroyed. It became part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople. The other Bulgarian church center, the Ohrid Archbishopric, lasted until 1767.
Many Bulgarian church leaders were executed. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church was fully controlled by the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire allowed the Patriarch of Constantinople to have power over Christians. This meant that Greek church leaders replaced Bulgarian ones. The Bulgarian people faced pressure from both the Ottomans and the Greek clergy.
In the late 1700s, Greek nationalism grew. Greek clergy tried to make Bulgarians adopt the Greek language and culture. They opened many schools that taught only in Greek. They almost banned church services in Bulgarian. This threatened the survival of Bulgarian culture and identity.
However, Orthodox monasteries played a key role in preserving Bulgarian language and culture. Monasteries like Zograph and Rila kept Slavonic church services and Bulgarian literature alive. Monks ran schools and other educational activities. They kept Bulgarian culture from disappearing.
Bulgarian Exarchate
In 1762, a monk named St. Paisius of Hilendar wrote an important book. It was called History of Slav-Bulgarians. This book was the first written in modern Bulgarian. It also called for Bulgarians to stand up for their culture. Paisius urged his people to reject Greek language and culture. Other activists followed his example.
By the 1820s, Bulgarians were unhappy with Greek church leaders. They started to demand that Bulgarian leaders replace them. Most Bulgarian clergy realized they needed more independence from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Ottomans saw nationality and religion as the same. So, Bulgarians were considered part of the "Greek" group. To have their own schools and church services, Bulgarians needed their own church organization.
The struggle between Bulgarians and Greeks grew stronger in the 1860s. Many Bulgarian areas broke away from the Patriarchate. In 1870, the Ottoman Sultan issued a decree. This decree restored the Bulgarian Patriarchate under a new name: the "Bulgarian Exarchate."
The original Exarchate covered northern Bulgaria and parts of Thrace and Macedonia. Later, people in Skopje and Ohrid voted to join the Exarchate. This meant the Exarchate controlled even more Bulgarian areas.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople did not like this change. It declared the Bulgarian Exarchate to be "schismatic." This means they believed it had broken away from the true church. They argued that putting ethnic nationalism before Orthodoxy was wrong.
The first Bulgarian Exarch was Antim I. He was chosen in 1872. He was later exiled by the Ottoman government. His successor, Joseph I, greatly expanded the church and school network. In 1895, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church officially became the national religion of Bulgaria. By the early 1900s, the Bulgarian Exarchate had many dioceses, parishes, and schools.
After World War I, the Bulgarian Exarchate lost many of its areas. Exarch Joseph I moved his offices to Sofia in 1913. After his death in 1915, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church did not have a regular head for 30 years.
Restoring the Patriarchate Again
After World War II, the conditions were right to restore the Bulgarian Patriarchate. In 1945, the split with Constantinople was ended. The Patriarch of Constantinople recognized the Bulgarian Church's independence. In 1950, the church adopted new rules. These rules prepared the way for the Patriarchate to be restored. In 1953, Cyril was elected as the Bulgarian Patriarch.
After Patriarch Cyril died in 1971, Maxim was elected. He led the church until his death in 2012. In 2013, Neophyt was elected as the new Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
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During the Communist rule in Bulgaria (1944–1989), the government tried to control the church. The church lost its power over things like marriage and birth certificates. Communists also removed religious education from schools. They spread anti-religious ideas and persecuted some priests. Some church leaders were even killed or imprisoned. The government replaced clergy who did not support their policies.
Despite this, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Communist government often worked together. Many church leaders cooperated with the government. The government supported the church becoming a Patriarchate again in 1953. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church did not recognize the independence of the Macedonian Orthodox Church for a long time. But after other Orthodox churches recognized it in 2022, the Bulgarian Church followed.
How the Church is Organized
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church sees itself as a key part of the larger Eastern Orthodox Church. It is organized as a self-governing body called a Patriarchate.
It has thirteen main church regions, called dioceses, within Bulgaria. It also has two more dioceses for Bulgarians living in other countries. These include Western and Central Europe, the Americas, Canada, and Australia. These dioceses are divided into 58 church counties. These counties then have about 2,600 parishes.
The highest power for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the Holy Synod. This group includes the Patriarch and the main leaders of each diocese, called metropolitans. About 1,500 parish priests guide church life in the local parishes.
Here are the dioceses in Bulgaria:
- Eparchy of Vidin (Видинска епархия)
- Eparchy of Vratsa (Врачанска епархия)
- Eparchy of Lovech (Ловешка епархия)
- Eparchy of Veliko Tarnovo (Търновска епархия)
- Eparchy of Dorostol (Доростолска епархия) (based in Silistra)
- Eparchy of Varna and Veliki Preslav (Варненскa и Bеликопреславска епархия) (based in Varna)
- Eparchy of Sliven (Сливенска епархия)
- Eparchy of Stara Zagora (Старозагорска епархия)
- Eparchy of Plovdiv (Пловдивска епархия)
- Eparchy of Sofia (Софийска епархия)
- Eparchy of Nevrokop (Неврокопска епархия)
- Eparchy of Pleven (Плевенска епархия)
- Eparchy of Ruse (Русенска епархия)
And the dioceses outside Bulgaria:
- Eparchy of Central and Western Europe (based in Berlin)
- Eparchy of USA, Canada and Australia (based in New York City)
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church also has about 120 monasteries in Bulgaria. These are homes for around 2,000 monks and many nuns.
See also
In Spanish: Iglesia ortodoxa búlgara para niños
- Eastern Orthodox Church
- Bulgarian Alternative Synod
