site.btaSupreme Administrative Court Rules St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral Remains Orthodox Church Property

Supreme Administrative Court Rules St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral Remains Orthodox Church Property

Sofia, December 23 (BTA) - The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) ruled on Wednesday that the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral remains the property of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
   
A three-member SAC panel has found that the appeals of Strahil Kerelov and Vesselin Stankov are unfounded. According to the court, the decision of the Council of Ministers to hand over the Cathedral to the Church does not concern relations of which the two appellants are part of.
   
On December 3, SAC gave the green light to a case of the Buditel Cultural and Historical Association against the decision of the government to transfer the ownership of the Cathedral to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The ownership of the Cathedral, built in 1912, has been unclear for years, due to the lack of title documents.

On October 1, 2014, an agreement was reached between the interim government and the Synod that the Holy Synod would institute a right in riem regarding the Crypt of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in favour of the Culture Ministry. The Crypt houses the Museum of Christian Art, which possesses icons of high value. The right in riem will be instituted for an initial period of 25 years, in line with the rights of the Church, but will actually be termless.

The judgment of the three-member panel is not final and is liable to appeal before a five-member panel within seven days.