site.btaGovernment Approves BGN 928,000 Allocation to Help Upgrade Bulgarian Chapel in London to Full-scale Church

The government approved a BGN 928,188 allocation from the Council of Ministers 2024 budget to support an expansion of the chapel on the premises of the Bulgarian Embassy in London, which will be upgraded to a full-scale church dedicated to St John of Rila, the government press service reported on Wednesday.

The upgrade started in November 2023. The new allocation will hopefully help complete the project by 2025.

The large Bulgarian community in the UK will thus acquire its own functioning church. The availability of a full-scale Bulgarian Orthodox house of worship is crucial because, at present, Bulgarian believers in the UK have no choice but to visit Russian, Serbian or Greek Orthodox churches, where they may come under foreign political influences, the press release said.