site.btaOne in Two Bulgarians Trust the Church

Nearly every second Bulgarian trusts the Church, according to a Gallup International Balkans poll released on Thursday. The survey, conducted for the Bulgarian National Television between March 28 and April 5, 2024, among 805 adults, found that 49.7% of the respondents trust the Church as an institution, 34.1% do not, and the remaining 16.2% did not answer.

The sample is representative of the adult population of the country. One per cent of the total sample equals about 54,000 people.

The Church is among Bulgaria's institutions that tend to enjoy high trust among the public. These attitudes have remained stable in recent years, with trust ranging between 40 and 50%.

The relatively positive attitudes toward the Church as an institution cannot be equated with attitudes toward religions in general or belief in God. A global survey conducted between August and October 2022 by Gallup International showed that Bulgarians are moderately religious, with 53% of them describing themselves as religious, compared to a global average of 61% and an EU average of 43%.