Bulgarian Exarchate
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The Bulgarian Exarchate (Bulgarian: Българска екзархия, romanized: Balgarska ekzarhiya; Turkish: Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953.
The Exarchate (a de facto
The foundation of the Exarchate was the direct result of the actions of the most extreme Bulgarian nationalists under leadership of Dragan Tsankov, himself a Catholic, against the authority of the Greek
In this way, in the struggle for recognition of a separate Church, the modern Bulgarian nation was created under the name
National awakening
In 1762, Saint
Struggle for church autonomy[3]
The result of the work of Paisius and his followers began before long to give fruit. Discontent with the supremacy of the Greek clergy started to flare up in several Bulgarian dioceses as early as the 1820s.
It was not, however, until the 1850 that the Bulgarians initiated a purposeful struggle against the Greek clerics in a number of bishoprics demanding their replacement with Bulgarian ones as well as other changes such as the use of Bulgarian in liturgy and fixed salaries for bishops. By that time, most Bulgarian religious leaders had realised that any further struggle for the rights of the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire could not succeed unless they managed to obtain at least some degree of autonomy from the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
As the Ottomans identified nationality (ethnicity) with
The struggle between the Bulgarians, led by
Establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate
In seeking to calm down the disturbances, the Ottoman government of the
The Exarchate's borders went on to extend over present-day
The process of constituting the Exarchate as legal institution was important part of nation-building process. A meeting of the Bulgarian leaders in Constantinople chaired by Gavril Krastevich is convened on March 13, 1870 to elect ten civil members of the Temporary church council. The council includes also the six Bulgarian bishops which constitute the Exarchate's Synod. The role of newly found council have been to create draft for the Exarchate's Statute, which prescribes the inner administrative order of the Bulgarian autocephalous church.[5] Over the next ten months, the council have discussed ideas about Exarchate's Statue. During the discussions two political camps emerged. The ″liberal-democratic″ camp included Petko Slaveykov, Todor Ikonomov and Stoyan Chomakov which argued about priority of democratic and representative functions of the Exarchate. From their point of view, civil members of the Exarchate's institutions should lead conduction of administrative functions, outside of strictly religious practices. The ″conservative″ camp argued about keeping strict church hierarchy in Exarchate's activities, pleaded for strict following of Orthodox traditions and insisted on more institutional powers based on the Exarch figure. Representatives of ″conservative″ camp were P.V. Odjakov and Ilarion Makariopolski. This political discussion continued ideological opposition between ″young″ and ″old″ patriotic groups, which were in the foundation of differentiation between the Conservative and Liberal political fractions in the Constituent Assembly in 1879 in Veliko Tarnovo.[6]
Bulgarian schism
The first (after
On May 23 [O.S. May 11] 1872, in the Bulgarian St. Stephen Church in Constantinople, which had been closed by the Ecumenical Patriarch's order, Antim I, along with other Bulgarian hierarchs who were then restricted from all priestly ministries, celebrated a liturgy, whereafter he declared autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church.
The Patriarchal Synod reacted by defrocking Antim I and excommunicating others, including Ilarion Stoyanov.
The decision on the unilateral declaration of
The subsequent Council in Constantinople, chaired by Ecumenical Patriarch
The Russian
Exarch Antim I was discharged by the Ottoman government immediately after the outbreak of the
The immediate effect of the partition of the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars was the anti-Bulgarian campaign in areas under
After World War I, by virtue of the peace treaties, the Bulgarian Exarchate was deprived of its dioceses in Macedonia and Aegean Thrace. Exarch Joseph I transferred his offices from Constantinople to Sofia as early as 1913. After the death of Joseph I in 1915, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was not in a position to elect its regular head for a total of three decades.
Conditions for the restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate and the election of head of the Bulgarian Church were created after World War II. 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, Bulgarian Patriarch.[12]
Territory of the Bulgarian Exarchate
Until the
See also
- List of Patriarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
- Bulgarian Orthodox Church
References
- ^ From Rum Millet to Greek and Bulgarian Nations: Religious and National Debates in the Borderlands of the Ottoman Empire, 1870–1913, Theodora Dragostinova , Ohio State University, Columbus.
- ISBN 0521616379, p. 74.
- ISBN 9780823256068. Archived from the originalon 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- ^ Църква и църковен живот в Македония, Петър Петров, Христо Темелски, Македонски Научен Институт, София, 2003 г.
- ^ Зина Маркова,Българската Екзархия 1870-1879, София, Българска академия на науките, 1989, стр.31
- ^ Зина Маркова, Българската екзархия, стр.45-46
- ^ The date according to С.-Петербургскiя вѣдомости, September 20, 1871, № 258, page 3.
- ^ Simeon Radev, "The Builders of Modern Bulgaria", volume 1, chapter 3, The Russian Politics and The Bulgarian Church
- ^ Prof. Voin Bozhinov, "Bulgarian education in Macedonia and the Adrianople region of Thrace (1878–1913)", Publishing house of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, 1982, p. 356 (in Bulgarian).
- ^ Ivo Banac, "The Macedoine" in "The National Question in Yugoslavia. Origins, History, Politics", pp. 307-328, Cornell University Press, 1984, retrieved on September 8, 2007.
- The Destruction of Thracian Bulgarians in 1913", Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, State printing house, 1918. On-line publication of the phototype reprint of the first edition of the book in Bulgarian here, retrieved on September 8, 2007 (in Bulgarian "Разорението на тракийските българи през 1913 година", Българска академия на науките, София, Държавна печатница, 1918 г.; II фототипно издание, Културно-просветен клуб "Тракия" - София, 1989 г., София).
- ^ Daniela Kalkandjieva, “The Restoration of the Patriarchal Dignity of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church,” Bulgarian Historical Review, Sofia, vol. 4, (1994): 101–105.
Further reading
- Radojević, Mira; Mićić, Srđan B. (2015). "Serbian Orthodox Church Cooperation and Frictions with Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and Bulgarian Exarchate During Interwar Period". Studia academica šumenesia. 2: 126–143.
- ISBN 9780521071888.
- Stavrianos, Leften (2000) [1958]. The Balkans Since 1453. London: Hurst. ISBN 9781850655510.
- Yosmaglu, Ipek K. (2014). Blood Ties, Religion, Violence and the Politics of Nationhood in Ottoman Macedonia, 1878–1908. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801469794.
External links
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. History of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church according to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913). .
- A short history of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by CNEWA, the papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral support
- Commemorative coin released for 140 years of the Bulgarian Exarchate
- The Builders of Modern Bulgaria, Volume 1