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164 years ago in Constantinople the Bulgarian Church proclaimed  its independence

Metropolitan Hilarion of Makariopolis (1812-1875).
Photo: Archive

On 3 April 1860, during the solemn Easter service in the Bulgarian St Stephen's Church in Istanbul, Metropolitan Hilarion of Makariopolis intentionally did not mention the name of the Ecumenical Greek Patriarch. Instead of the name of Patriarch Cyril VII, he said "blessed be Sultan Abdul Majid and all Orthodox bishops" - a formula that can only be uttered by the primate of an autocephalous church. 

With this act, the Bulgarian ecclesiastical community in the capital of the Ottoman Empire proclaimed that it did not recognise the spiritual authority of the Fener Greek Patriarchate and declared the independence of the Bulgarian Church. 

After 10 years of diplomatic manoeuvring, this act of disobedience at Easter ended with the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate. It was much later, in 1945, that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was recognised as equal to the other churches. 

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