Nobody knows why in the middle of the parliamentary summer vacation the Holy Synod insisted in a written form that its stance should be asked for by MPs on major draft bills, concerning the life, health, morality, education, cultural heritage of the people, as well as the health and social status of the clergy, the status of religions, taxes, property law issues etc.  According to the synod the practice of asking for its stances over the past 15 years has been rather neglected, as seen recently in relation with the draft bill on preschool and school education. However, the synod voiced its stance to the public on February 18. The public began to comment that actually the church board aimed at its eventual participation in politics. Just one day before that Plovdiv’s Metropolitan Nikolay had declared his personal intention to get involved in politics, as the latter had entered into a satanic heresy.

The Synod stirred similar type of criticism end-April, when it decided the name of the former PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha to be mentioned as a Bulgarian tsar in all the liturgies, the way the canon required. The politicians not only reacted, but it was a sharp response. Leader of the Reformist Bloc Radan Kanev warned that “the ridiculous inauguration of a former premier” was not a coincidence, but meant inadmissible interference of the church into this country’s home and foreign politics. President Rossen Plevneliev expressed his hope that the synod would reconsider its decision, in order for the Christians not to be divided into royalists and republicans and Simeon himself refused to be mentioned as a tsar of the Bulgarians in liturgies. It was made clear that the Synod’s decision had been taken after Plovdiv’s Metropolitan Nikolay had insisted. The decision hadn’t also been unanimous, but had faced opposition.

Theologian Dilyan Nikolchev said for the BNR that the latest statements of the Synod were an inadmissible political demonstration, as the law said that religious communities and institutions could not be used for political purposes. Sources from the Synod claim that it won’t voice to the public a decision on the case before September. The Synod has not been surprised, as Nikolay has always been known for being able to defend two diametrically different stances with the same persuasiveness. That is true – years ago he didn’t want the former premier to be invited to any church congregations, while later on he insisted on his name’s mentioning as a tsar. Now he supports one of the candidates for a Plovdiv mayor’s position, but years ago he didn’t approve the candidacy of Father Boyan Saraev for a mayor of Kardzhali, saying that “the priest is a warrior of Christ and his service is not devoted to providing welfare to people”.

The public might see the address of the church to the authorities not as a claim for participation in the political power, but for a better cooperation with the secular institutions. Or is it an attempt to be reminded that the Christian church has the particular constitutional status of a traditional religion in Bulgaria. The same article /13/ of the Constitution however reads that “religious institutions cannot be used for any political purposes”.

The reaction of the political authority has been delayed for over a week now and it will be hypotheses only till September or so…  At the same time one gets the feeling on something strange going on inside the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev