Religion in Bulgaria
Religion in
Since the early 21st century, there has been a decline of both historic religions of Bulgaria—Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Islam. Orthodox Christianity has shrunk from 7.3m or 87% of the population in the 1992 census to 4.4m or 60% in 2011 and 4.1m or 63% in 2021, and Islam from 1.1m or 13% in 1992 to 0.6m or 10% in 2021.[1] Over the same timespan, Protestantism and other non-Eastern Orthodox and non-Catholic Christianities have grown from about twenty thousand or 0.3% of the population in 1992 to about eighty thousand or 1.3% in 2021, while unaffiliated people, comprising both not religious people and people who have some belief but not identifiable with any specific religion, have grown from 0.3m or 4% in 2001 to 1m or 16% in 2021.[1] Until the 1992 census, Bulgarians were obliged to declare the historic religious belonging of their parents and/or ancestors, while since 2001 people were allowed to declare personal affiliation or unaffiliation to any religion.[2] Moreover, beginning with the 2011 census, Bulgarians were allowed to avoid giving any answer to the question about religion; 22% of the population in 2011 and 9.5% in 2021 did not answer.[1]
After the end of the
Demographics
Census statistics, 1887–2021
Religion | 1887 | 1905 | 1926 | 1946 | 1992 | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
Christianity | 2,450,073 | 77.7 | 3,392,140 | 84.1 | 4,641,257 | 84.7 | 5,967,992+ | 84.9+ | 7,350,016 | 86.6 | 6,638,870 | 83.7 | 4,487,554 | 60.9 | 4,219,270 | 64.7 |
—Bulgarian Orthodox | 2,424,371 | 76.9 | 3,344,790 | 82.9 | 4,568,773 | 83.4 | 5,967,992 | 84.9 | 7,274,479 | 85.7 | 6,552,751 | 82.6 | 4,374,135 | 59.4 | 4,091,780 | 62.7 |
—Protestant | 1,358 | 0.04 | 5,644 | 0.1 | 6,735 | 0.1 | – | – | 22,067 | 0,3 | 42,308 | 0.5 | 64,476 | 0.9 | 69,852 | 1.1 |
—Roman Catholic | 18,505 | 0.6 | 29,084 | 0.7 | 40,347 | 0.7 | – | – | 53,470 | 0.6 | 43,811 | 0.6 | 48,945 | 0.7 | 38,709 | 0.6 |
—Armenian Apostolic | 5,839 | 0.2 | 12,622 | 0.3 | 25,402 | 0.5 | – | – | 9,672 | 0.1 | 6,500 | 0.1 | 1,715 | 0.02 | 5,002 | 0.1 |
—Other Christians* | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13,927 | 0.2 |
Islam | 676,215 | 21.4 | 603,867 | 15.0 | 789,269 | 14.4 | 938,418 | 13.3 | 1,111,838 | 13.1 | 966,978 | 12.2 | 577,139 | 7.8 | 638,708 | 9.8 |
Judaism | 24,352 | 0.8 | 37,656 | 0.9 | 46,431 | 0.8 | 43,335 | 0.6 | 2,580 | 0.03 | 653 | 0.01 | 706 | 0.01 | 1,736 | 0.03 |
Other religions* | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9,302 | 0.1 | 14,284 | 0.2 | 9,023 | 0.1 | 6,451 | 0.1 |
Unaffiliated** | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 308.116 | 3.9 | 682,162 | 9.3 | 1,036,943 | 15.9 |
Not answered*** | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,606,269 | 21.8 | 616,681 | 9.5 |
Total population | 3,154,375 | 4,035,575 | 5,478,741 | 7,029,349 | 8,487,317 | 7,928,901 | 7,364,570 | 6,519,789 | ||||||||
*The category "other Christians" was distinguished from "other religions" since the census of 2021.[1] **The category "unaffiliated" comprises those who, since the census of 2001, answered either "no religion" or that they "could/would not define" their religion.[1] ***Since the census of 2011, Bulgarians were allowed to avoid giving any answer to the question on religion.[1] |
Line chart of the trends, 1887–2021
Census statistics 1887–2021:[1]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Religion by province
Religion | Christianity | Islam | Other religions | Unaffiliated | Unanswered | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
Blagoevgrad | 196,841 | 67.4 | 52,958 | 18.1 | 173 | 0.1 | 21,736 | 7.4 | 20,519 | 7.0 |
Burgas | 233,008 | 61.3 | 46,320 | 12.2 | 350 | 0.1 | 66,257 | 17.4 | 34,351 | 9.0 |
Dobrich | 96,386 | 64.2 | 26,207 | 17.5 | 124 | 0.1 | 15,625 | 10.4 | 11,804 | 7.9 |
Gabrovo | 76,802 | 78.1 | 4,543 | 4.6 | 53 | 0.05 | 15,243 | 15.5 | 1,746 | 1.8 |
Haskovo | 134,343 | 63.5 | 27,914 | 13.2 | 117 | 0.1 | 29,028 | 13.7 | 20,163 | 9.5 |
Kardzhali | 19,872 | 14.1 | 88,705 | 62.8 | 45 | 0.03 | 18,862 | 13.4 | 13,693 | 9.7 |
Kyustendil | 96,474 | 86.3 | 107 | 0.1 | 64 | 0.1 | 12,315 | 11.0 | 2,776 | 2.5 |
Lovech | 82,468 | 70.9 | 3,009 | 2.6 | 56 | 0.05 | 28,225 | 24.2 | 2,636 | 2.3 |
Montana | 88,497 | 73.8 | 83 | 0.1 | 39 | 0.03 | 22,992 | 19.2 | 8,339 | 7.0 |
Pazardzhik | 149,934 | 65.2 | 29,357 | 12.8 | 116 | 0.1 | 26,505 | 11.5 | 23,902 | 10.4 |
Pernik | 97,117 | 85.1 | 165 | 0.1 | 80 | 0.1 | 14,800 | 13.0 | 2,000 | 1.8 |
Pleven | 165,004 | 73.0 | 5,281 | 2.3 | 104 | 0.05 | 40,804 | 18.0 | 14,927 | 6.6 |
Plovdiv | 439,779 | 69.3 | 39,851 | 6.3 | 678 | 0.1 | 95,900 | 15.1 | 58,289 | 9.2 |
Razgrad | 34,548 | 33.5 | 53,121 | 51.5 | 35 | 0.03 | 8,862 | 8.6 | 6,657 | 6.4 |
Ruse | 130,955 | 67.7 | 25,514 | 13.2 | 171 | 0.1 | 24,187 | 12.5 | 12,656 | 6.5 |
Shumen | 72,792 | 48.1 | 47,752 | 31.5 | 82 | 0.1 | 18,550 | 12.2 | 12,289 | 8.1 |
Silistra | 45,638 | 46.7 | 35,767 | 36.6 | 17 | 0.02 | 9,965 | 10.2 | 6,383 | 6.5 |
Sliven | 103,380 | 59.9 | 11,341 | 6.6 | 100 | 0.1 | 37,453 | 21.7 | 20,416 | 11.8 |
Smolyan | 23,079 | 24.0 | 39,217 | 40.7 | 68 | 0.1 | 33,115 | 34.4 | 805 | 0.8 |
Sofia | 177,956 | 76.7 | 360 | 0.2 | 117 | 0.1 | 34,896 | 15.0 | 18,660 | 8.0 |
Sofia City | 825,290 | 64.8 | 9,828 | 0.8 | 4,388 | 0.3 | 218,188 | 17.1 | 216,596 | 17.0 |
Stara Zagora | 203,134 | 68.5 | 11,899 | 4.0 | 228 | 0.1 | 53,158 | 17.9 | 28,088 | 9.5 |
Targovishte | 39,836 | 40.6 | 39,481 | 40.2 | 40 | 0.04 | 11,052 | 11.7 | 7,735 | 7.9 |
Varna | 290,407 | 67.2 | 25,738 | 6.0 | 639 | 0.1 | 75,012 | 17.4 | 40,402 | 9.3 |
Veliko Tarnovo | 149,662 | 72.2 | 12,525 | 6.0 | 190 | 0.1 | 30,802 | 14.9 | 14,192 | 6.8 |
Vidin | 64,086 | 85.0 | 51 | 0.1 | 26 | 0.03 | 9,606 | 12.7 | 1,639 | 2.2 |
Vratsa | 107,264 | 70.2 | 715 | 0.5 | 37 | 0.02 | 41,991 | 27.5 | 2,806 | 1.8 |
Yambol | 74,718 | 68.1 | 899 | 0.8 | 50 | 0.05 | 21,814 | 19.9 | 12,212 | 11.1 |
* –Highlighted in each column's associated colour is the area where that column's religious or irreligious view has its relative highest percentage. –Highlighted in greenish yellow are the religions which have a relative or absolute percentage majority in each province. |
Religion by ethnicity
Religion | Slavic Bulgarians | Turkish Bulgarians | Romani Bulgarians | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
Bulgarian Orthodox Christianity | 3,980,131 | 77.8 | 4,435 | 0.9 | 75,745 | 28.4 |
Protestantism | 34,152 | 0.7 | – | – | 32,325 | 12.1 |
Roman Catholicism | 33,749 | 0.7 | – | – | – | – |
Islam | 107,777 | 2.1 | 447,893 | 88.1 | 45,817 | 17.2 |
Unaffiliated | 436,652 | 8.5 | 28,817 | 5.7 | 78,749 | 29.5 |
Not answered | 526,033 | 10.3 | 27,233 | 5.4 | 34,084 | 12.8 |
Total population | 5,118,494 | 508,378 | 266,720 |
History
7th–14th century — Pagan and Christian Bulgarian empires
The Bulgarian nation emerged in the
In 870, the Christian hierarchs of Bulgaria took part in the
The emerging Bulgarian Orthodox Church retained many elements of pre-Christian paganisms.[7] Moreover, since the 10th century Bulgarian Christianity was deeply characterised by the Gnostic doctrine of Bogomilism, developed in Bulgaria itself by the priest Bogomil, as well as by the ascetic doctrine of Hesychasm.[8] Both Bogomilism and Hesychasm were highly spiritual, mystical and meditative doctrines and practices, favouring the inner (esoteric) path to God and organised around monasticism, but while the former was dualistic, with an accentuated distinction between spirit and matter, the latter was monistic and spread to Bulgaria largely as a reaction to the former.[8]
14th–19th century — Ottoman Bulgaria
In 1396, the disintegrating potentates of the
When the Ottoman Muslims conquered Bulgaria they initially sought to suppress Christianity by destroying many churches and monasteries and turning other ones into mosques.[10] Many Bulgarian Orthodox priests either perished or fled to other countries, while the Bulgarian Orthodox population was subjected to special taxes and obligations (the status of dhimmi), but was not forced to convert to Islam.[10] Forced conversion of Bulgarian Orthodox Christians to Islam was sporadic (and sometimes those who refused to convert where executed, and were later canonised as New Martyrs by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church), while there were cases of spontaneous mass and individual conversions to the new rulers' religion.[10] Gnosticism was not recognised under the new rule, so that most Bogomils converted to Islam, while most Paulicians became Roman Catholics (Banat Bulgarians).[10]
Throughout the centuries of Ottoman Islamic rule, Bulgarian Orthodox monasteries had a significant role in continuing the traditions of Slavonic liturgy and Bulgarian literature, and therefore in the preservation of the ethno-national character of Slavic Bulgarians linked to Orthodox Christianity.
With the rise to power of the Greek Phanariot aristocracy in Constantinople, in the late Ottoman Empire the Patriarchate of Constantinople became a tool of Grecisation of all Orthodox Christians in the empire.[10] The Bulgarians strongly opposed such tendency: Father Paisius of Hilendar (1722–1773), a native Bulgarian from the south-western town of Bansko, wrote a Slavo-Bulgarian History in the contemporary Bulgarian vernacular as a response to the "monastic nationalism" promoted by Mount Athos in Greece, and a call for Bulgarian national awakening and freedom from the yoke of Greek language and culture.[11] In the foregoing 17th century, Bulgarian Catholics in the western parts of Bulgaria expressed support towards the Holy League of 1684 of European Christian states against the Ottoman Empire, with both diplomatic ties and armed struggle; Catholic uprisings were crushed by Ottoman authorities.[11]
Since the early 19th century, there was a decades-long struggle of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to regain autocephaly from the Patriarchate of Constantinople; in 1860 the authority of Constantinople was openly rejected and Greek bishops appointed by Constantinople were ousted from the church.[11] In the same year, under the influence of French Catholic propaganda, a former Orthodox priest named Yosif Sokolski was re-ordained as a Catholic priest by Pope Pius IX and established a Bulgarian Uniate Church of the Eastern Rite in communion with the Roman Catholic Church; the experiment was short-lived, as Sokolski was soon abducted and taken to Russia while his small community dissolved.[11] In 1870, the Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI officially set up the Bulgarian Orthodox Exarchate, while the Patriarchate of Constantinople declared it schismatic and an ethno-nationalist heresy.[11] In the late 19th century, the government of Bulgaria, which in 1878 had become an independent state once again, was very intertwined with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, so much that the then metropolitan of Veliko Tarnovo, Kliment (1841–1901), headed two governments, albeit short-lived.[12]
20th century — socialism, World War II, and communism
Beginning in the early 20th century, secularist and laicist ideas spread in Bulgaria, and the freed Bulgarian state started to disregard and sometimes restrict the autonomy and educational functions of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.[12] The role of the church in society began to be questioned by the emerging intelligentsia, and especially by socialist thinkers, most of whom were teachers and state employees or white collar workers.[12] There were intellectual strifes between socialists and clergymen, and the former proposed introducing lessons on socialism in schools to replace religious teaching.[12] One of the earliest Marxists, Dimitar Blagoev (1856–1924), while recognising the important role that the church had in past Bulgarian history, attacked it because, according to him, in modernity it had become "a tool of the bourgeoisie" and a network of the latter's "political clubs".[12]
At the end of the World War II, in 1943, the government of Bulgaria signed an agreement with National Socialist Germany and began implementing the Final Solution against Bulgarian Jews — their deportation to death camps.[13] The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church clarified that the church did not share the racist ideology and called for a humane treatment of Jews.[13]
On 9 September 1944, a coup d'état brought to power the Fatherland Front, a coalition of communists, agrarians and other political parties.[13] Over the next four years, the communists, sponsored by the Soviet Union, ousted and banned all opposition parties, took full power and undertook a transformation of society according to the Stalinist model.[13] Ostensibly, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was granted a foremost status, and in 1945, under the pressure of Moscow and alongside the establishment of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (1945–1990), the Patriarchate of Constantinople recognised the church's autocephaly, and the metropolitan of Sofia was elected as Exarch Stefan I (1878–1957), whom, however, within three years was deposed and exiled for being not well disposed towards ecumenism and Soviet authorities.[13] In 1950, the Holy Synod of the church adopted a new constitution which turned the church from an exarchate of Constantinople into a patriarchate of its own; Kiril (1901–1971) was elected as the first Patriarch of the fully restored auctocephalous church, which he remained until his death in 1971, when Maxim (1914–2012) was elected as his successor.[13]
At the same time, during the period of full implementation of Stalinism, religiosity was in fact restricted, and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church became a tool of the interests of the communists in domestic and foreign politics.[13] After the establishment of the communist republic, a number of Orthodox Christian priests were arrested and tried by "people's courts"; some of them were condemned to life imprisoned or to death.[13] Also some Catholic priests and Protestant pastors were accused of espionage for foreign powers and other political crimes.[13] From 1945, only civil marriage was recognised by the state, religious activities were banned in the armed forces, so were prayers and religion classes in schools, while all restrictions on atheism and free thinking were removed.[14] Georgi Dimitrov's Constitution of 1947, which followed Stalin's Constitution of the Soviet Union of 1936, proclaimed freedom of religion and worship and the separation of religion and state; Todor Zhivkov's Constitution of 1971 declared freedom of both religious rites and antireligious activities, and the principles of both constitutions were reinforced with a 1949 Law on Religious Denominations.[14] The law blandly proclaimed atheism as the dominant view supported by the state.[14]
In general, communist Bulgaria, while taking the Soviet Union as a model, never imitated
1990–21st century — contemporary Bulgaria
After the end of the communist rule in Bulgaria in 1990, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church had the opportunity to recover from spiritual and institutional stagnation.[15] However, already weakened, it experienced serious problems both within itself and in its relationship with society: its ecclesiastical hierarchy did not renew itself after communism and therefore was seen as a continuation of the communist bureaucracy, and within society heated debates broke out about its involvement with the erstwhile regime; moreover, in 1992 part of the clergy claimed that the election of Patriarch Maxim was invalid as he was in fact installed by the communists.[15] The clergy thus divided itself into two factions: the Holy Synod led by Maxim, and another synod headed by Pimen of Nevrokop, whom in 1996 was elected by a schismatic council as a rival Patriarch.[15]
Islam recovered better than the Bulgarian Orthodox Church after the communist period, because the harsher persecutions to which Muslims were subjected ultimately strengthened their faith, so that in contemporary Bulgaria the activities of Muslims have become more visible and pronounced, politically active, and Islamic organisations have multiplied.
The transformation of Bulgarian society after the fall of communism has also led to the spread of
Freedom of religion in the 2020s
In 2023, the country was scored 3 out of 4 for religious freedom;[21] some local authorities have prohibited proselytizing by minority groups.
Religions and life stances
Christianity
According to the official census of the year 2021, Christianity was the dominant religion of Bulgaria adhered to by 64.7% of the population.[1] Almost all Christians in Bulgaria are Eastern Orthodox, incorporated by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, which was the religious belonging of 62.7% of the population in 2021.[1] Eastern Orthodox Christianity is declared as being the "traditional religion" of Bulgaria in the country's constitution.[22] In Bulgaria there are also Catholics, Protestants, and a small community of Armenians, followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church.[1]
However, Christianity has been on the decline since the early 1990s, the number of Bulgarian Christians having decreased in both absolute number and percentage from around 7,3 million or 86.6% of the population in the census of 1992 to 4,2 million, or the aforementioned 64.7%, in 2021; most of the decline has been in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (from 7,2 million or 85.7% in 1992, to 4,1 million or the aforementioned 62.7% in 2021).[1] Armenian Apostolics have also decreased; they were a few tens of thousands in the 1920s and are about five thousand today.[1] On the other hand, over the same period the number of believers in other small Christian denominations present in the country has been stable or has increased moderately: Catholics have remained between forty and fifty thousand or 0.6% of the population, while Protestants and other non-Catholic and non-Orthodox Christians have grown from twenty thousand believers or 0.3% in 1992 to around eighty thousand or 1.3% in 2021.[1]
Protestantism in Bulgaria is represented by two different streams: older denominations that were established in the country in the 20th century, the most stable of which are
Islam
Islam is the second largest religion in Bulgaria, adhered to by 9.8% of the population, or about six hundred thousand people, according to the census of 2021.
Other religions, unaffiliated, and neither religiously nor irreligiously identified people
According to the census of 2021, there were minorities of
A peculiar new religious movement that is indigenous to Bulgaria itself and has experienced a strong revival since the 1990s is
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Official census data provided by the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria:
- "Religious demography in the censuses of 1887, 1905, 1926, 1946, 1992, 2001 and 2011". Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
- "2001 Census: Population by districts and religious groups". Archived from the original on 23 February 2017.
- "Преброяване 2011: Население по местоживеене, възраст и вероизповедание" [2011 Census: Population by place of residence, age and religion]. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018.
- "Преброяване 2021: Етнокултурна характеристика на населението" [2021 Census: Ethnocultural characteristics of the population] (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 November 2022.
- ^ a b Seligman 2014, p. 83.
- ^ Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 271; Seligman 2014, p. 83.
- ^ Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 268; Ghodsee 2009, p. 93.
- ^ Djankov 2014, p. 145.
- ^ "Constitution of Bulgaria". National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 258.
- ^ a b Nikolova 2019, p. 194.
- ^ Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 259.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 260.
- ^ a b c d e Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 261.
- ^ a b c d e Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 263.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 265.
- ^ a b c d e Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 266.
- ^ a b c d Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 268.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 271.
- ^ a b Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, pp. 272–273.
- ^ a b Dulov 2013, pp. 195–212.
- ^ Nikolova 2019, pp. 193–194, 197–200.
- ^ Nikolova 2019, pp. 201–202.
- ^ Freedom House website, retrieved 2023-08-08
- ^ Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 272.
- ^ a b c d e Genov & Kalkandjieva 2007, p. 273.
- ^ Dulov 2013, p. 204.
- ^ a b Dulov 2013, pp. 206–207.
- ^ Dulov 2013, p. 206.
- ^ Dulov 2013, pp. 207–208.
Sources
- ISBN 9780881326987.
- Dulov, Vladimir (2013). "Bulgarian Society and Diversity of Pagan and Neopagan Themes". In Aitamurto, Kaarina; Simpson, Scott (eds.). Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe. Durham: Acumen. pp. 195–212. ISBN 9781844656622.
- Genov, Roumen; Kalkandjieva, Daniela (2007). "Religion and Irreligion in Bulgaria: How Religious are the Bulgarians?". In Carvalho, Joaquim (ed.). Religion and Power in Europe: Conflict and Convergence. Plus Publishing. pp. 257–278. ISBN 9788884924643.
- ISBN 9783727813269.
- ISBN 9781400831357.
- Nikolova, Antoaneta (2019). Premises for the Penetration of Eastern Thought in Bulgaria (PDF). 4th International e-Conference on Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. Belgrade, Serbia: Center for Open Access in Science. pp. 193–204. ISBN 9788681294031. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 June 2022.
- Seligman, Adam B. (2014). Religious Education and the Challenge of Pluralism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199359486.