Eastern Orthodoxy in Bulgaria

The Eastern Orthodox Church in Bulgaria has deep roots, extending back to the 5th and 7th centuries when the Slavs and the Bulgars, respectively, adopted Byzantine Christianity in the period of the First Bulgarian Empire (681-1018).[1] Prior to this official conversion, Christianity had spread to the region during Roman and early Byzantine times. After the 1054 Great Schism, the Church of Bulgaria remained in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and other Eastern Orthodox Churches. It bears the distinction of being the oldest Slavic Christian Church in the Orthodox communion.

According to the 2021 recent census, most of Bulgaria's inhabitants (82.6%) were Eastern Orthodox Christians, almost all of whom were members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, officially the country's traditional religion.[2] Twenty years later, the 2021 census noted that 69.% of the population identified as Eastern Orthodox Christian (mainly the BOC).[3]

The Bulgarian Patriarchate has within its jurisdiction 13 dioceses in Bulgaria and another two in Europe and North America.

References

Ghodsee, Kristen (2009). "Symphonic Secularism: Eastern Orthodoxy, Ethnic Identity and Religious Freedoms in Contemporary Bulgaria". Anthropology of East Europe Review. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
Religion and power in Europe : conflict and convergence. Joaquim Carvalho, CLIOHRES.net. Pisa: PLUS-Pisa University Press. 2007. pp. 263–272. ISBN 978-88-8492-464-3. OCLC 231835020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
US State Dept 2022 report

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[1] Ghodsee, Kristen (2009). "Symphonic Secularism: Eastern Orthodoxy, Ethnic Identity and Religious Freedoms in Contemporary Bulgaria". Anthropology of East Europe Review. Retrieved 16 September 2022.

[2] Religion and power in Europe : conflict and convergence. Joaquim Carvalho, CLIOHRES.net. Pisa: PLUS-Pisa University Press. 2007. pp. 263–272. ISBN 978-88-8492-464-3. OCLC 231835020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

[US2022-3] US State Dept 2022 report

[note_n0-4] The ROC severed full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2018, and later severed full communion with the primates of the Church of Greece, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the Church of Cyprus in 2020.

[note_n1-5] Autocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized.

[note_n3-6] UOC-MP was moved to formally cut ties with the ROC as of May 27th 2022.

[note_n2-7] Semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church whose autonomy is not universally recognized.

Eastern Orthodoxy in Bulgaria

See also

References