Bulgarian Orthodox Church Calls for Religious Education in State Schools

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is calling upon its members to pray for the introduction of religious education into the curriculum of Bulgaria's state schools. Proposals for the introduction of religious education are currently under discussion by the Bulgarian government. More in Bulgarian here.

Bulgarian Orthodox Youth Pilgrimage Planned from North America

The Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of New York, the United States, and Canada is organizing a youth pilgrimage to Bulgaria, with visits to holy places throughout the country. To sign up for the pilgrimage please visit the pilgrimage's website.

Controversy in Bulgaria Over Archons

Controversy has engulfed the Bulgarian Orthodox Church due to its recent decision to follow the example of the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church in awarding the providers of large monetary contributions with the imperial East Roman title of archon (literally "ruler"). Guidelines for awarding the title were recently approved by the Bulgarian Orthodox Holy Synod. The decision came under widespread criticism immediately after its publication, with some seeing it as a public expression of the power of the mafia in the country and the Church. One of the country's hierarchs, Metropolitan Nathaniel (Kalaidzhiev) of Nevrokop, has publicly criticized the Holy Synod's ruling. More here.

Bulgarian Government Supports Jerusalem Church Initiative

An initiative launched in western Bulgaria for the construction of a Bulgarian Orthodox representation church in Jerusalem has gained the support of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church attempted in the past to establish a representation in the Holy City, but was later forced by the Bulgarian Communist regime to halt its efforts. More here.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Completes Visit to Bulgaria

Patriarch Cyril (Gundyayev) of Moscow has completed a visit to Bulgaria. During his time in Bulgaria the Russian Orthodox patriarch met with Patriarch Maxim (Minkov) of Sofia and other members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Holy Synod to discuss relations between the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches as well as with the President of Bulgaria. More here and here.

Bulgarians Prepare for New Antarctica Chapel

Bulgaria is sending a new expedition to Antarctica, which will engage in scientific research while also preparing for the construction of a Bulgarian Orthodox church to be dedicated to St. John of Rila. More here.

Bulgarian Orthodox Church Trusted by 3% of Bulgarians

In recent pre-election polls in Bulgaria it has been found that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is trusted by 3% of the population, whilst institutions like the police and the armed forces both enjoy the trust of roughly 40% of Bulgarians. More here.

Service for Bulgarian Unity Held in Sofia

Patriarch Maxim (Minkov) of Sofia and ten of the ruling metropolitans of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church have concelebrated a supplication for the unity and peace of the Bulgarian nation in Sofia. The supplication is held as Bulgaria grows increasingly troubled by economic, ethnic, and security concerns, the most recent being anti-Roma protests organized by a Bulgarian ultranationalist party over national concerns over organized crime. An appeal from the Holy Synod for the unity of the nation was read following the supplication. More (in Bulgarian) here.

68th Anniversary of Tsar Boris III's Repose Commemorated in Sofia

The 68th anniversary of the repose of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria was commemorated yesterday in the patriarchal Monastery of St. John in Rila, Bulgaria, with a memorial served by the Rila Monastery's abbot, Bishop Evlogiy of Adrianople. When the tsar died in 1943 he was initially buried in the Rila Monastery's catholicon before being disinterred by the Bulgarian Communist regime. The location of his remains are unknown, though his heart was discovered and returned for reburial at the Rila Monastery following the collapse of the Bulgarian Communist government in 1991. More (in Bulgarian) here.

Although responsible for allying Bulgaria with Germany during World War II, Tsar Boris worked first and foremost to unify the Bulgarian nation, making the alliance with Germany in the hopes of regaining historically Bulgarian territories lost to neighboring Yugoslavia and Greece and refusing to hand over Bulgaria's Jews to the Nazis or to send Bulgarian troops to fight the Soviet Union due to the close bonds formed with Russia during Bulgaria's liberation from the Ottoman Turks.

Bulgaria Steps Up Funding of Church Construction

As of today the Bulgarian government has committed to increasing its financial contributions to the construction of new churches in areas drawing increased tourist traffic or without a church presently. More here.

Bulgarian PM Supports Religious Education in Schools

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has expressed his support for mandatory religious education in Bulgaria's schools at the recent consecration of the Church of St. Procopius of Varna by Metropolitan Kiril (Yordanov) of Varna of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. During his remarks in Varna the Bulgarian prime minister singled out atheism as the single greatest threat to the Bulgarian nation. More here.

Bulgaria Declares Day of National Mourning

Bulgaria has declared a day of national mourning today after a bus crash late last night killed eight passengers and wounded a further twenty-two. Members of the Holy Synod served a memorial for the victims this morning in the synodal Church of St. Boris. More here and (in Bulgarian) here.

Bulgaria's Turks Call for Second Mosque in Sofia

Representatives of Bulgaria's Turkish minority are calling for the construction of a second mosque in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, to relieve the crowding at the city's downtown mosque and to help discourage future street attacks on Turks forced to pray on the street outside the mosque due to the lack of space. More here.

Metropolitan Cyril of Vidin

Joyous feast! Today is the 97th anniversary of the repose of Metropolitan Cyril (Stoichkov) of Vidin of blessed memory, who served in the newly restored Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Born in what is now northwestern Bulgaria, as a young man Metropolitan Cyril became a monk at the Chiprovtsi Monastery of St. John of Rila and while there was tonsured a monk and ordained to the deaconate. At age 26 the Monastery sent the young Hierodeacon Cyril to the theological seminary in Sremski Karlovci maintained by the Orthodox Church of Austria-Hungary.

While in Austria-Hungary the future metropolitan became involved in the general movement amongst Bulgarians towards the restoration of autocephaly and the replacement of the many Greek-speaking hierarchs in Ottoman Bulgaria with Bulgarians. Consequently, after completing his studies and returning to Bulgaria the Metropolitan of Vidin, a Greek, reported Fr. Dn. Cyril to the Ottoman authorities, who arrested him and eventually exiled him to central Anatolia for his nationalism.

After 3 years of exile Fr. Dn. Cyril was released and assigned to a parish in the northeastern Wallachian city of Tulcea (now in Romania), where he was ordained a priest and eventually raised to the rank of archimandrite and assigned a parish in the city of Silistra (on the border of modern day Bulgaria and Romania).

When the Bulgarian Orthodox Church regained its autocephaly as an exarchate Fr. Cyril was actively involved in its local and national life, serving first in Silistra and then in Vidin and Skopje, where he was eventually elected Metropolitan of Skopje in 1875. When the Russo-Turkish War began Metropolitan Cyril was forced into internal exile, eventually in 1891 being elected Metropolitan of Vidin in northwestern Bulgaria.

Metropolitan Cyril was distinguished in his service as Metropolitan of Vidin for his work in improving the life of both his parishes and his clergy and became especially known for his strict standards for his clergy. Nationally he was a key figure in the development of the educational work of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, playing a particularly important role in helping to finance the construction of the compound of the theological seminary in Sofia.

The last years of Metropolitan Cyril's life were spent in seclusion and prayer. He eventually reposed on 21 May (old style), 1914, in Vidin and was buried on the grounds of the diocesan Cathedral of St. Demetrius the Great-Martyr. More (in Bulgarian) on Metropolitan Cyril's life can be found here. May his memory be eternal!

Suppressed Uprising Commemorated in Northwestern Bulgaria

Holy Trinity Monastery in Rakovitsa, Bulgaria, is commemorating today the 161st anniversary of northwestern Bulgaria's uprising against the Ottoman Turkish occupation. At the time the Rakovitsa Monastery's abbot blessed the uprising, which was supported by the area's villages, and was executed together with many other members of the brotherhood when the uprising was suppressed. Since the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turks the uprising's victims have been commemorated annually with a memorial at the Rakovitsa Monastery. More (in Bulgarian) here.

Pictured are the Rakovitsa Monastery's abbot, Archimandrite Antim, with another of the Monastery's clergymen after today's memorial.

Plovdiv Metropolitan Accuses Bulgarian Politician of "Cave Nationalism"

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church's Metropolitan Nikolai of Plovdiv has accused the leader of Bulgarian ultranationalist party Ataka, Volen Siderov, of "cave nationalism" and protested his attempts "on two occasions to involve the Bulgarian Church in scandals." More here.

Catechetical Conference to be Held at Rila Monastery

With the blessing of the Bulgarian Orthodox Holy Synod a conference on catechism in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church will be held tomorrow at the famous Rila Monastery in southwestern Bulgaria. The conference will include clerical and lay participants and will both discuss current experiences in religious education and seek to develop principles for a comprehensive catechetical strategy to promote the spiritual enlightenment of the Bulgarian nation. More (in Bulgarian) here.

Sofia Celebrates Sts. Cyril and Methodius

Although on the revised calendar the Bulgarian Orthodox Church joined in national celebrations in Sofia today in honor of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and their literary, cultural, and spiritual legacy amongst the Bulgarian people. Patriarch Maxim (Minkov) of Sofia attended official celebrations at Sofia's monument to the Saints, whilst his auxiliary Bishop Ioan of Znepolska offered a prayer during the ceremonies. More (in Bulgarian) here.

Bulgarian Ultra-Nationalists Attack Sofia Muslims

This past Friday Bulgarian ultra-nationalists attacked Turkish Muslims praying at a mosque in downtown Sofia, beating many of them and burning their prayer rugs. A member of the Bulgarian Parliament involved in the attack was injured during the ensuing fight. More on the attack here. Following the incident several hundred Bulgarians organized a demonstration in Sofia, laying flowers at the mosque in protest of the attack. More here.

Boyadzhik Commemorates Victims of Turkish Massacre

Yesterday marked the 135th anniversary of the slaughter of the villagers of Boyadzhik by the Ottoman Turks and was celebrated by Metropolitan Ioanikiy of Sliven with a memorial in Boyadzhik's Church of St. Demetrius. The names of the victims of the massacre have been forwarded by the Eparchy of Sliven to the Bulgarian Orthodox Holy Synod to be glorified as New Martyrs. More (in Bulgarian) here.