site.btaReactions to Supreme Court Judgment on Old Calendar Orthodox Church Registration

After the Supreme Court of Cassation issued a final judgment mid-December to enter the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria (OCOCB) into the Register of Religious Denominations with the Sofia City Court, several political parties and religious institutions reacted to the court's decision.

Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil told reporters on December 29: "According to the rules of the church, there cannot be two Orthodox churches in a single place, within a single canonical territory." He added that the Religious Denominations Act states that Eastern Orthodoxy is the traditional religion in Bulgaria, and the exponent of this denomination is the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate.

The Patriarch shared that he was perplexed by the judgment. He recalled that back in 2012, when registration was attempted, the [Sofia City] Court approached the Religious Denominations Directorate which asked the Holy Synod for an expert opinion. The expert opinion in question argued that no other church but the Bulgarian Orthodox Church could use the word "Orthodox" in its name, and that only the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, rather than self-proclaimed Orthodox communities, could represent Eastern Orthodoxy in Bulgaria. The OCOCB could not therefore pretend to be Orthodox, but there would be no bar to its registration as "Bulgarian Old Calendar Church", without using the word "Orthodox".

On Monday, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate expressed concern over the recent decision by the Supreme Court of Cassation. The Church labelled that decision "as unexpected as it is unfortunate," since it could lead to new divisions within Bulgarian Orthodoxy.

That same day, the Government Information Service issued a press release which stated that the Council of Ministers' Directorate of Religious Affairs has more than once spoken against the registration of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria. The latest expert opinion was issued on August 12, 2022, when it was sent to the Trade Unit of the Sofia City Court. Caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev is of the firm opinion that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is one and indivisible, as its unity is important for society, the release reads further.

Two political parties tabled amendments to the Religious Denominations Act on Monday. GERB's amendment would have the legislation state that the only representative of the traditional religion in the country, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate. Vazrazhdane's bill proposed to have the right to use the term "Bulgarian Orthodox Church" reserved exclusively for the Bulgarian Patriarchate.