View source for Bulgarian Orthodox Church

{{Short description|Autocephalous jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church}}
{{More sources|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
| icon                = 
| icon_width          =
| icon_alt            =
| name                = Patriarchate of Bulgaria
| native_name         = Българска патриаршия
| native_name_lang    = bg
| image               = Coat of arms of BPC.png
| imagewidth          = 200px
| alt                 = 
| caption             = 
| abbreviation        = 
| type                = [[Autocephaly]]
| main_classification = [[Christianity|Christian]]
| orientation         = [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]]
| scripture           = {{ubl|[[Septuagint]]|[[New Testament]]}}
| theology            = [[Eastern Orthodox theology]]
| polity              = 
| governance          =
| structure           =
| leader_title        = 
| leader_name         = 
| leader_title1       = Primate
| leader_name1        = [[Daniil of Bulgaria|Daniil]]
| leader_title2       = 
| leader_name2        = 
| leader_title3       = Bishops
| leader_name3        = 15
| fellowships_type    = Priests
| fellowships         = 2,000
| fellowships_type1   = 
| fellowships1        = 
| division_type       = Parishes
| division            = 2,600
| division_type1      = 
| division1           = 
| division_type2      = Monasteries
| division2           = 120               
| division_type3      =
| division3           =
| associations        = 
| area                = 
| language            = [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and [[Old Church Slavonic]] (Old Bulgarian)
| liturgy             = 
| headquarters        = [[Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia|Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral]], [[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria]]
| territory           = [[Bulgaria]]
| possessions         = [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], [[European Union]], [[Argentina]], [[Russia]], [[Greece]], [[Turkey]]
| origin_link         =
| founder             = [[Boris I of Bulgaria]] (original) <br> [[Anthim I]] (as [[Bulgarian Exarchate]]) <br> [[Stefan I of Bulgaria]] (modern incarnation)
| founded_date        = 
| founded_place       = 
| independence        = 870–1018<br />1185–1393<br />1018–1767<br />1870–present 
| reunion             =  
| recognition         = 870 {{small|(Autonomy)}}<br />927 {{small|(Patriarchate)}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kiminas|first=Demetrius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QLWqXrW2X-8C&dq=927&pg=PA15|title=The Ecumenical Patriarchate|date=2009-03-01|publisher=Wildside Press LLC|isbn=978-1-4344-5876-6|pages=15|language=en}})</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2022}} <br />1235 {{small|(Patriarchate)}} <br />1945 {{small|(Autocephaly)}} <br />1953 {{small|(Patriarchate)}} 
| separated_from      = 
| branched_from       = 
| merger              = 
| absorbed            =
| separations         = [[Old Calendar Bulgarian Orthodox Church]] (late 1980s) <br /> [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Alternative synod]] (1996–2013)
| merged_into         =
| defunct             =
| congregations_type  =
| congregations       = 
| members             = 7–8 million
| ministers_type      =
| ministers           = 
| missionaries        =
| churches            =
| hospitals           = 
| nursing_homes       = 
| aid                 = 
| primary_schools     = 
| secondary_schools   = 
| tax_status          =
| tertiary            = 
| other_names         = 
| publications        = 
| website             = [http://www.bg-patriarshia.bg/ Bulgarian Orthodox Church]
| slogan              =
| logo                =
| footnotes         = 
}}
{{Eastern Orthodox sidebar|expanded=jurisdictions}}

The '''Bulgarian Orthodox Church''' ({{langx|bg|Българска православна църква|translit=Bûlgarska pravoslavna cûrkva}}), legally the '''[[Patriarchate]] of Bulgaria''' ({{langx|bg|Българска патриаршия|links=no|translit=Bûlgarska patriarshiya}}), is an [[autocephalous]] [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction]] based in [[Bulgaria]]. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the [[Pentarchy]] and the [[Christianization of the Slavs|oldest Slavic Orthodox church]], with some 6 million members in [[Bulgaria]] and between 1.5 and 2 million members in a number of other [[Europe]]an countries, [[Asia]], the [[Americas]], [[Australia]], and [[New Zealand]]. It was recognized as autocephalous in 1945 by the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]].<ref>Ecumenical Patriarchate, [http://www.ec-patr.org/dioceses.php?lang=gr&id=108 ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE-Patriarchate of Bulgaria] (in Greek), accessed 30 April 2020</ref>

==History==
===Early Christianity===
{{Main|Spread of Christianity|Christianity in the 1st century|Early Christianity}}

{{Further|Early centers of Christianity|History of early Christianity}}
[[File:StGeorgeRotundaSofia.JPG|thumb|250px|left|St. George Rotunda Church (4th century AD), [[Sofia]]]]
[[File:Basilica of Hagia Sofia, Bulgaria.jpg|thumb|250px|left|[[Saint Sophia Church, Sofia|Saint Sofia Basilica Church (4th–6th century)]], Sofia]]
[[File:NessebarVieilleMetropole.jpg|thumb|250px|left|[[Hagia Sophia Church, Nesebar|Saint Sophia Basilica Church]] (5th–6th century), [[Nesebar]]]]

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has its origin in the flourishing Christian communities and churches established in [[Southeast Europe]] as early as the first centuries of the Christian era. Christianity was brought to the [[Thracians|Thracian lands]] by the apostles [[Apostle Paul|Paul]] and [[Apostle Andrew|Andrew]] in the 1st century AD, when the first organised Christian communities were formed. By the beginning of the 4th century, Christianity had become the dominant religion in the region. Towns such as Serdica ([[Sofia]]), [[Philippopolis (Thrace)|Philipopolis]] ([[Plovdiv]]), Odessus ([[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]]), Dorostorum ([[Silistra]]) and Adrianople ([[Edirne]]) were significant centres of Christianity in the [[Roman Empire]].

The [[Monastery of Saint Athanasius]], the first Christian monastery in Europe, was founded in [[Thrace]] in 344 by [[Saint Athanasius]] near modern-day [[Chirpan]], [[Bulgaria]], following the [[Council of Serdica]] and the [[Edict of Serdica]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bnr.bg/radiobulgaria/post/100844993/chirpanskiat-manastir-svatanasii-nai-starata-obitel-v-evropa|title=The Saint Athanasius Monastery of Chirpan, the oldest cloister in Europe|publisher=Bulgarian National Radio|language=bg|date=22 June 2017|access-date=30 August 2018}}</ref>

The raids and incursions into the Roman provinces in the 4th and the 5th centuries brought considerable damage to the ecclesiastical organisation of the Christian Church in the Bulgarian lands, yet did not destroy it. [[Kubrat]] and [[Organa]] were both baptized together in Constantinople and from the surviving Christian communities, Christianity made inroads with local Bulgar-Slavic people. By the middle of the 9th century, the majority of the [[early Slavs]], especially those living in [[Thrace]] and [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] under Eastern Roman rule, were Christianized. The Christian religion also enjoyed some success among the [[Bulgars|Bulgar]] nobility, with recorded conversions among that group. However, it was not until the official adoption of [[Christianity]] by the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] during the reign of [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]] in 865 that an independent Bulgarian ecclesiastical entity was established.

===Establishment===
{{Main |Christianization of Bulgaria}}
[[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]] believed that cultural advancement and the sovereignty and prestige of a Christian Bulgaria could be achieved through an enlightened clergy governed by an autocephalous church. To this end, he manoeuvred between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Roman Pope for a period of five years until in 870 AD, the [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox)|Fourth Council of Constantinople]] granted the Bulgarians an autonomous Bulgarian archbishopric. The archbishopric had its seat in the Bulgarian capital of [[Pliska]], and its diocese covered the whole territory of the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian state]]. The tug-of-war between Rome and Constantinople was resolved by placing the Bulgarian archbishopric under the jurisdiction of the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]], from whom it obtained its first primate, its clergy, and theological books.

[[File:St. Theodor.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Ceramic icon of St. Theodor, Preslav, ca. 900 AD, National Archaeological Museum, Sofia]]
Although the archbishopric enjoyed full internal autonomy, the goals of [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]] were scarcely fulfilled. A [[Greek language|Greek]] liturgy offered by a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] clergy furthered neither the cultural development of the Bulgarians, nor the consolidation of the Bulgarian Empire; it would have eventually resulted in the loss of both the identity of the people and the statehood of Bulgaria.{{According to whom|date=May 2024}} 

Following the Byzantine theory of ''"Imperium sine Patriarcha non staret",'' which said that a close relation should exist between an Empire and Patriarchate, Boris I greeted the arrival of the disciples of the recently deceased [[Saints Cyril and Methodius]] in 886 as an opportunity. Boris I tasked them with the instruction of the future Bulgarian clergy in the [[Glagolitic alphabet]] and the Slavonic liturgy prepared by [[Saints Cyril and Methodius|Cyril]]. The liturgy was based on the vernacular of the early Slavs from the region of [[Thessaloniki]]. In 893, Boris I expelled the Greek clergy from the country and ordered the Greek language to be replaced with the Slav-Bulgarian vernacular.

===Autocephaly and Patriarchate===
{{Main |Patriarch of All Bulgaria}}
Following Bulgaria's two decisive victories over the Byzantines at [[Battle of Acheloos|Acheloos]] (near the present-day city of [[Pomorie]]) and [[Battle of Katasyrtai|Katasyrtai]] (near [[Constantinople]]), the government declared the autonomous Bulgarian Archbishopric as autocephalous and elevated it to the rank of [[Patriarchate]] at an ecclesiastical and national council held in 919. After Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire signed a peace treaty in 927 that concluded the [[Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927|20-year-long war]] between them, the Patriarchate of Constantinople recognised the autocephalous status of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and acknowledged its patriarchal dignity.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QLWqXrW2X-8C&q=927&pg=PA15|title=The Ecumenical Patriarchate|first=Demetrius|last=Kiminas|date=1 March 2009|publisher=Wildside Press LLC|isbn=9781434458766|access-date=18 October 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jR98-Ata0CkC&q=927&pg=PT274|title=Religion and Power in Europe: Conflict and Convergence|first=Joaquim|last=Carvalho|date=18 October 2017|publisher=Edizioni Plus|isbn=9788884924643|access-date=18 October 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref>

The Bulgarian Patriarchate was the first autocephalous Slavic Orthodox Church, preceding the autocephaly of the [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] (1219) by 292 years and of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] (1596) by 662 years. It was the sixth Patriarchate after the [[Pentarchy]] patriarchates of Rome, Constantinople, [[Alexandria]], [[Antioch]] and [[Jerusalem]]. The seat of the Patriarchate was the new Bulgarian capital of [[Preslav]]. The Patriarch was likely to have resided in the town of Drastar ([[Silistra]]), an old Christian centre noted for its martyrs and Christian traditions.

===Ohrid Archbishopric===
{{Bulgarians}}
{{Main|Archbishopric of Ohrid}}
On April 5, 972, Byzantine Emperor [[John I Tzimisces]] conquered and burned down [[Preslav]], and captured Bulgarian [[Tsar]] [[Boris II]]. Patriarch Damyan managed to escape, initially to Sredetz ([[Sofia]]) in western Bulgaria. In the coming years, the residence of the Bulgarian patriarchs remained closely connected to the developments in the war between the next Bulgarian royal dynasty, the ''[[Comitopuli]]'', and the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Patriarch German resided consecutively in the medieval Bulgarian cities of Maglen ([[Almopia]]) and Voden ([[Edessa, Greece|Edessa]]) (both in present-day north-western [[Greece]]), and Prespa (in present-day southern [[North Macedonia]]). Around 990, the next patriarch, Philip, moved to [[Ohrid]] (in present-day south-western [[North Macedonia]]), which became the permanent seat of the Patriarchate.

After Bulgaria fell under Byzantine domination in 1018, Emperor [[Basil II]] ''Bulgaroktonos'' (the “Bulgar-Slayer”) acknowledged the autocephalous status of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. By special charters (royal decrees), his government set up its boundaries, dioceses, property and other privileges. He deprived the church of its Patriarchal title and reduced it to the rank of an archbishopric. Although the first appointed archbishop ([[John of Debar]]) was a Bulgarian, his selected successors, as well as the whole higher clergy, were [[Byzantine]]. The monks and the ordinary priests continued to be predominantly Bulgarian. To a large extent the archbishopric preserved its national character, upheld Slavonic liturgy, and continued its contribution to the development of Bulgarian literature. The autocephaly of the [[Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid|Ohrid Archbishopric]] remained respected during the periods of Byzantine, Bulgarian, Serbian, and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule. The church continued to exist until it was abolished in 1767 by the [[Ottoman Empire]] which ruled its territory at the time.

=== Tarnovo Patriarchate ===
{{Main|Tarnovo Patriarchate}}
As a result of the successful uprising of the brothers [[Peter IV of Bulgaria|Peter IV]]
and [[Ivan Asen I]] in 1185/1186, the foundations of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]] were laid with [[Tarnovo]] as its capital. Following [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]]’s principle that the sovereignty of the state is inextricably linked to the autocephaly of the Church, the two brothers immediately took steps to restore the [[Bulgarian Patriarchate]]. They initially established an independent archbishopric in Tarnovo in 1186. It required almost 50 years of struggle for this archbishporic to receive recognition and elevation to the rank of a Patriarchate according to the canonical order.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Parry|first=Ken|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWp9JA3aBvcC&q=archbishopric+in+Tarnovo+in+1186&pg=PA52|title=The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity|date=2010-05-10|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-3361-9|pages=52–3|language=en}}</ref> Following the example of [[Boris I]], Bulgarian [[Tsar]] [[Kaloyan]] manoeuvred for years between the Patriarch of Constantinople and [[Pope Innocent III]]. Finally in 1203 the latter proclaimed the Tarnovo Archbishop Vassily "[[primate (bishop)|Primate]] and [[Archbishop]] of all Bulgaria and Walachia." The union with the [[Roman Catholic Church]] continued for well over two decades.

[[File:Ivan ALexander and his family Tetraevangelia.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331-1371), an illustration from the Four Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander (the ''London Gospel''), ca. 1356, the British Library]]
Under the reign of [[Tsar]] [[Ivan Asen II]] (1218–1241), conditions were created for the termination of the union with Rome and for the recognition of the autocephalous status of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In 1235 a church council was convened in the town of [[Lampsakos]]. Under the presidency of [[Patriarch Germanus II of Constantinople]] and with the consent of all Eastern Patriarchs, the council confirmed the [[Patriarch]]al dignity of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and consecrated the Bulgarian archbishop German as [[Patriarch]].

Despite a reduction in size of the boundaries of the diocese of the [[Tarnovo Patriarchate]] at the end of the 13th century, its authority in the Eastern Orthodox world remained high. The Patriarch of Tarnovo confirmed the patriarchal dignity of the [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] in 1346, despite protests by the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]]. The [[Tarnovo Literary School]] developed under the wing of the Patriarchate in the 14th century, with scholars of the rank of [[Patriarch Evtimiy]], [[Gregory Tsamblak]], and [[Konstantin of Kostenets]]. A considerable flowering was noted in the fields of literature, [[Architecture of the Tarnovo Artistic School|architecture]], and painting; the religious and theological literature also flourished.

=== Ottoman rule ===
[[Tarnovo]] fell under domination by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1393. The Ottomans sent [[Patriarch Evtimiy]] into exile and the autocephaly of the church was revoked the next year. The church was organizationally integrated into the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In 1394, the [[Holy Synod]] of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]] gave the authorisation to the [[Metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] of [[Moldavia]], Jeremiah, "to move with the help of God to the holy Church of Turnovo and to be allowed to perform everything befitting a prelate freely and without restraint." By around 1416, the territory of the Patriarchate of Turnovo was totally subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The other Bulgarian religious centre{{spaced ndash}}the [[Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid|Ohrid Archbishopric]]{{spaced ndash}} survived until 1767.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Parry|first=Ken|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWp9JA3aBvcC&q=archbishopric+in+Tarnovo+in+1186&pg=PA52|title=The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity|date=2010-05-10|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-3361-9|pages=53–4|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:George Martyr.JPG|thumb|right|250px|St. George, the Newmartyr of Sofia, icon from the 19th century]]
Following the execution of many leaders of the Bulgarian orthodox church, it was fully subordinated to the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]]. 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. After the higher-ranking Bulgarian church clerics were replaced by Greek ones at the beginning of the Ottoman period, the Bulgarian population was subjected to double oppression{{spaced ndash}}politically by the Ottomans and culturally by the Greek clergy. With the rise of Greek nationalism in the second half of the 18th century, the clergy imposed the [[Greek language]] and a Greek consciousness on the emerging Bulgarian bourgeoisie. They used the Patriarchate of Constantinople to assimilate other peoples. At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the clergy opened numerous schools utilizing the [[Greek language]] rather than the Bulgarian language as their medium of instruction; they nearly banned Bulgarian-language liturgy. These actions threatened the survival of the Bulgarians as a separate nation and people with its own, distinct national culture. {{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Throughout the centuries of Ottoman domination, Orthodox monasteries were instrumental in the preservation of the Bulgarian language and Bulgarian national consciousness. Especially important were the [[Zograph Monastery|Zograph]] and [[Hilandar Monastery|Hilandar]] monasteries on [[Mount Athos]], as well as the [[Rila Monastery|Rila]], [[Troyan Monastery|Troyan]], [[Etropole Monastery|Etropole]], [[Dryanovo Monastery|Dryanovo]], [[Cherepish Monastery|Cherepish]] and [[Dragalevtsi Monastery|Dragalevtsi]] monasteries in Bulgaria. The monks managed to preserve their national character in the monasteries, continuing traditions of the Slavonic liturgy and Bulgarian literature. They continued to operate monastery schools and carried out other educational activities, which managed to keep the flame of the Bulgarian culture burning. {{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

=== Bulgarian Exarchate ===
{{Main|Bulgarian Exarchate}} 
[[File:Arbanasi Architectural Preserve.jpg|thumb|250px|A 17th-century church in [[Arbanasi, Bulgaria|Arbanasi]].]]
In 1762, St. [[Paisius of Hilendar]] (1722–1773), a monk from the southwestern Bulgarian town of [[Bansko]], wrote a short historical work. It was the first work written in the modern Bulgarian [[vernacular]] and was also the first call for a national awakening. In ''[[Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya|History of Slav-Bulgarians]]'', Paissiy urged his compatriots to throw off subjugation to the Greek language and culture. The example of Paissiy was followed by a number of other [[activists]], including St. Sophroniy of Vratsa ([[Sofroni Vrachanski]]) (1739–1813), hieromonk Spiridon of Gabrovo, hieromonk [[Yoakim Karchovski]] (d. 1820), hieromonk [[Kiril Peychinovich]] (d. 1845).

Discontent with the supremacy of the Greek clergy started to flare up in several Bulgarian dioceses as early as the 1820s. However, it was not until 1850 that the Bulgarians purposefully struggled against the Greek clerics in a number of bishoprics, demanding their replacement with Bulgarian ones. By that time, most Bulgarian clergy had realised that further struggle for the rights of the [[Bulgarians]] in the [[Ottoman Empire]] could not succeed unless they managed to obtain some degree of autonomy from the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]]. As the Ottomans identified nationality with religion, and the Bulgarians were Eastern Orthodox, the Ottomans considered them part of the ''Roum-Milet'', i.e., the Greeks. To gain Bulgarian schools and liturgy, the Bulgarians needed to achieve an independent ecclesiastical organisation.

The struggle between the Bulgarians, led by [[Neofit Bozveli]] and [[Ilarion Makariopolski]], and the Greeks intensified throughout the 1860s. In early April 1860, the name of the Ecumenical Patriarch was intentionally omitted during a prayer in Easter in the [[Bulgarian St. Stephen Church]] in Constantinople, which could be seen as a unilateral declaration of Bulgarian ecclesiastical independence.<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Maria Couroucli |editor2=Tchavdar Marinov |title=Balkan Heritages: Negotiating History and Culture |date=2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781134800759 |page=21}}</ref> By the end of the decade, Bulgarian bishoprics had expelled most of the Greek clerics. Thus the whole of northern Bulgaria, as well as the northern parts of [[Thrace]] and [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] had effectively seceded from the Patriarchate. The Ottoman government restored the Bulgarian Patriarchate under the name of "[[Bulgarian Exarchate]]" by a decree (''[[firman (decree)|firman]]'') of the [[Sultan]] promulgated on February 28, 1870. The original Exarchate extended over present-day northern Bulgaria ([[Moesia]]), [[Thrace]] without the [[Vilayet of Adrianople]], as well as over north-eastern [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]. After the Christian population of the bishoprics of [[Skopje]] and [[Ohrid]] voted in 1874 overwhelmingly in favour of joining the Exarchate (Skopje by 91%, Ohrid by 97%), the [[Bulgarian Exarchate]] became in control of the whole of [[Vardar Macedonia|Vardar]] and [[Pirin Macedonia]]. The Bulgarian Exarchate was partially represented in [[Macedonia (Greece)|southern Macedonia]] and the [[Vilayet of Adrianople]] by vicars. Thus, the borders of the Exarchate included all Bulgarian districts in the [[Ottoman Empire]].
[[File:Bulgarian-Exarchate-1870-1913.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Map of the Bulgarian Exarchate (1870–1913).]]
The [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]] opposed the change, promptly declaring the [[Bulgarian Exarchate]] schismatic and its adherents [[heretics]]. Although the status and the guiding principles of the Exarchate reflected the canons, the Patriarchate argued that “surrender of [[Orthodoxy]] to ethnic nationalism” was essentially a manifestation of [[heresy]].{{Citation needed|reason=Nov 2009|date=November 2009}}

The first Bulgarian Exarch was [[Antim I]], who was elected by the Holy Synod of the Exarchate in February, 1872. He was discharged by the Ottoman government immediately after the outbreak of the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78|Russo-Turkish War]] on April 24, 1877, and was sent into exile in [[Ankara]]. His successor, [[Joseph I of Bulgaria|Joseph I]], managed to develop and considerably extend its church and school network in the Bulgarian Principality, [[Eastern Rumelia]], [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] and the [[Adrianople Vilayet]]. In 1895, the [[Tarnovo Constitution]] formally established the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as the national religion of the nation. On the eve of the [[Balkan Wars]], in Macedonia and the [[Adrianople Vilayet]], the [[Bulgarian Exarchate]] had seven dioceses with prelates and eight more with acting chairmen in charge and 38 vicariates; 1,218 parishes and 1,212 parish priests; 64 monasteries and 202 chapels; as well as of 1,373 schools with 2,266 teachers and 78,854 pupils.

In 1913, Exarch [[Joseph I of Bulgaria|Joseph I]] transferred his offices from [[Istanbul]] to [[Sofia]]; he died in 1915, a few months before Bulgaria fatefully opted to participate in [[World War I]] alongside the [[Central Powers]]. As a consequence of the [[Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine]] in 1919, the Bulgarian Exarchate was deprived of its dioceses in [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] and Aegean [[Thrace]]. During the three decades after Joseph's death, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church did not elect a regular head because of opposition from the Bulgarian government.<ref>{{citation |author=Alf Johansen |year=1981 |title=The Bulgarian Orthodox Church |journal=Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe |volume=1 |issue=7 |url=https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol1/iss7/1 }}</ref>{{rp|2}} Between 1915 and 1945 the Church was governed by the [[Holy Synod]], similar to the [[Most Holy Synod]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].

===Second restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate===
{{Main|Patriarch of All Bulgaria}}
[[File:Bulgaria-Alexander Nevsky-02.JPG|thumb|250px|left|Sofia's patriarchal cathedral, [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia|St. Alexander Nevsky]]]]
Conditions for the restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate and the election of a head of the Bulgarian Church were created after [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kalkandjieva|first1=Daniela|title=The Restoration of the Patriarchal Dignity of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church|journal=Bulgarian Historical Review|date=2002|volume=3-4|pages=188–206}}</ref> In 1945 the schism was lifted and the Patriarch of Constantinople recognised the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church. In 1950, the Holy Synod adopted a new Statute which paved the way for the restoration of the Patriarchate and in 1953, it elected the Metropolitan of Plovdiv, [[Cyril of Bulgaria|Cyril]], Bulgarian Patriarch.<ref>Daniela Kalkandjieva, 26. ''Balgarskata pravoslavna tsarkva i darzhavata, 1944–1953'' [''The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the State''], (Sofia: Albatros, 1997).</ref> After the death of Patriarch Cyril in 1971, in his place was elected the Metropolitan of [[Lovech]], [[Maxim of Bulgaria|Maxim]], leading the church until his death in 2012. On 10 November 2012 Metropolitan Cyril of Varna and Veliki Preslav was chosen as interim leader to organize the election of the new Patriarch within four months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=145006|title=Varna Bishop Kiril Chosen Interim Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarch|website=Novinite.com|access-date=18 October 2017}}</ref> At the church council convened to elect a new Patriarch 24 February 2013, the Metropolitan of [[Ruse, Bulgaria|Ruse]], [[Neophyte of Bulgaria|Neophyt]] was elected Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church with 90 votes against 47 for Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnevnik.bg/bulgaria/2013/02/24/2009064_neofit_e_noviiat_patriarh_na_bulgarskata_pravoslavna/|title=Неофит е новият патриарх на Българската православна църква|website=Dnevnik.bg|date=24 February 2013 |access-date=18 October 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria (2008).jpg|thumb|250px|[[Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria|Maxim]], the late [[Patriarch of Bulgaria]] and [[Metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] of Sofia.]]

Under Communism (1944–1989), Bulgaria's rulers worked to control rather than destroy the church. Still, the early postwar years were unsettling to church hierarchs. During 1944–1947 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. Communists removed study of the catechism and church history from school curricula. They generated anti-religious propaganda and persecuted some priests. 1947–1949 was the apex of the campaign to intimidate the church. Bishop Boris was assassinated; Egumenius Kalistrat, administrator of the [[Rila Monastery]], was imprisoned; and various other clergy were murdered or charged with crimes against the state. The communists soon replaced all clergy who refused to endorse the regime's policies. They banished Exarch Stefan, who had co-authored a book in 1948 that was considered anti-Communist.<ref>Ramet, Pedro and Ramet, Sabrina P. ''Religion and Nationalism in Soviet and East European Politics'', p. 20-21. [[Duke University Press]], (1989), {{ISBN|0-8223-0891-6}}.</ref>

[[File:Bulgarian Orthodox Priest.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Bulgarian Orthodox priest]]
From that time until the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of Communist rule in 1989, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the [[Bulgarian Communist Party]] and State Security coexisted in a closely symbiotic partnership, in which each supported the other.{{fact|date=March 2024}} 11 (out of 15) members of Bulgarian Orthodox Church's Holy Synod worked for [[Committee for State Security (Bulgaria)|communist State Security]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sofiaecho.com/2012/01/17/1747052_eleven-out-of-15-members-of-bulgarian-orthodox-churchs-holy-synod-worked-for-communist-state-security|title=Kapital Quarterly|website=Sofiaecho.com|access-date=18 October 2017}}</ref> The party supported the elevation of the exarchate to the rank of patriarchate in May 1953. The 1970 commemoration served to recall that the exarchate (which retained its jurisdictional borders until after World War I) included Macedonia and Thrace in addition to present-day Bulgaria. In 2013, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by a Bulgarian deputy, due to its involvement in the rescue of Jews during World War II. It was the first religious institution to receive such a nomination.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bulgarian Church Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2013/03/18/bulgarian-orthodox-church-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize/ |website=Balkan Insight |date=18 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bulgarian Orthodox Church Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize |url=https://m.novinite.com/articles/148754/Bulgarian+Orthodox+Church+Nominated+for+Nobel+Peace+Prize |website=Sofia News Agency |date=18 March 2013}}</ref> Along with the wider Orthodox Church, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church originally did not recognize the autocephaly of the [[Macedonian Orthodox Church]],<ref>Ramet, p. 21</ref> since the latter's unilateral declaration of autocephaly in 1967. However, after the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]] and [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] restored communion with the Macedonian Church in May 2022, the Bulgarian Church followed suit on 22 June 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bulgarian Orthodox Church restores canonical communion with Church of Northern Macedonia |url=https://orthochristian.com/146841.html |date=22 June 2022 |website=OrthoChristian}}</ref>

==Canonical status and organization==
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church considers itself an inseparable member of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church and is organized as a self-governing body under the name of [[Patriarchate]]. It is divided into thirteen dioceses within the boundaries of the Republic of Bulgaria and has jurisdiction over additional two dioceses for Bulgarians in [[Western Europe|Western]] and [[Central Europe]], and the [[Americas]], [[Canada]] and [[Australia]]. The dioceses of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church are divided into 58 church counties, which, in turn, are subdivided into some 2,600 parishes.

[[File:Holy Synod Palace - Sofia.jpg|thumb|[[Synodal Palace, Sofia]]]]
The supreme clerical, judicial and administrative power for the whole domain of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is exercised by the [[Holy Synod]], which includes the [[Patriarch of All Bulgaria|Patriarch]] and the diocesan prelates, who are called [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]]s. Church life in the parishes is guided by the parish priests, numbering some 1,500.
{{clear|left}}
[[File:Eparchies of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.png|thumb|250px|right| Eparchies of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Bulgaria]]
Eparchies in Bulgaria: (with [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] names in brackets)
*Eparchy of [[Vidin]] ({{lang|bg|Видинска епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Vratsa]] ({{lang|bg|Врачанска епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Lovech]] ({{lang|bg|Ловешка епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Veliko Tarnovo]] ({{lang|bg|Търновска епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Silistra|Dorostol]] ({{lang|bg|Доростолска епархия}}) (seat in [[Silistra]])
*Eparchy of [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]] and [[Veliki Preslav]] ({{lang|bg|Варненскa и Bеликопреславска епархия}}) (seat in Varna)
*Eparchy of [[Sliven]] ({{lang|bg|Сливенска епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Stara Zagora]] ({{lang|bg|Старозагорска епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Plovdiv]] ({{lang|bg|Пловдивска епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Sofia]] ({{lang|bg|Софийска епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Gotse Delchev (town)|Nevrokop]] ({{lang|bg|Неврокопска епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Pleven]] ({{lang|bg|Плевенска епархия}})
*Eparchy of [[Ruse, Bulgaria|Ruse]] ({{lang|bg|Русенска епархия}})

Eparchies abroad:
*Eparchy of Central and Western Europe (with seat in [[Berlin]]);
*[[Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada and Australia|Eparchy of USA, Canada and Australia]] (with seat in [[New York City]])

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church also has some 120 monasteries in Bulgaria, with about 2,000 [[monk]]s and nearly as many [[nun]]s.

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity|Bulgaria}}
* [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
* [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Alternative synod]]
{{-}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Bulgarian Orthodox Church}}
* [http://www.bg-patriarshia.bg/ The official website of the Bulgarian Patriarchate]
*[http://pravoslavie.bg Unofficial web portal of Bulgarian Orthodox Christianity: in Bulgarian language]
*{{CathEncy|wstitle=Bulgaria}} History of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church according to the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' (1913).
*[https://cnewa.org/eastern-christian-churches/toc/orthodox-church/the-autocephalous-churches/the-orthodox-church-of-bulgaria/ A short history of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by CNEWA, the papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral support]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050322022341/http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/christ/east/bulgorth.html The Bulgarian Orthodox Church according to Overview of World Religions]
*[http://www.bulgarian-guide.com/about-bulgaria/bulgaria-religion/ Article about the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and Religion in Bulgaria]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141218042648/http://orthodoxlife.info/ Orthodox Life Info Portal]: a Bulgarian Orthodox site (in English)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111117213902/http://www.oeaw.ac.at/byzanz/repository/Popovic_Preiser_Hist96.pdf Article on the medieval history of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the repository of the Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (in German)]

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[[Category:Bulgarian Orthodox Church| ]]
[[Category:National churches]]
[[Category:920s in religion]]
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