On the Persecution of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria

October 15, 2025

From: Saint Gregory Palamas Monastery 

Dear Clergy, Faithful, and Friends,

Εὐλογεῖτε! May God bless you!

Last Friday, October 10, the Bulgarian Appellate Court reached a decision [link below] (also reported here: [link below]) to “deregister and liquidate” the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria, under the oversight of His Eminence, Metropolitan Fotiy of Triaditsa, as a response to its supposed threat to “national security,” “sovereignty,” “public order,” and “morality”—outrageous and incendiary charges made by politicians, ecclesiastical representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria himself.

The registration of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria (“OCOCB”), with which the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece maintains full ecclesiastical relations as a Sister Church, was itself the outcome of twelve years of legal struggle, complicated by seemingly endless bureaucratic roadblocks, hurdles, and delays, obviously sponsored by those sympathetic to the (New Calendar) Bulgarian Patriarchate or, perhaps, simply hostile toward religion in general.

The reversal of the registration of the OCOCB, following special Parliamentary acts prompted by protests from the official Bulgarian Orthodox Church and its supporters, constitutes a denial of the basic constitutional rights of the OCOCB, as judged by no less than the European Court of Human Rights and by the Supreme Court of Cassation of Bulgaria itself! Please see the appended statement from the legal counsel of the OCOCB for a more precise explanation of the case.

The OCOCB separated from the state-sanctioned Bulgarian Orthodox Church on account of the latter’s involvement in irresponsible syncretistic ecumenism and a concomitant abandonment of the Orthodox Church’s traditional festal (Julian) Calendar with the adoption of the New (Gregorian) Calendar in 1968. It was convinced that the innovating Bulgarian Orthodox Church was losing the “salt” of its Orthodox confession by these moves, and present circumstances vindicate that conviction: instead of Christian love, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church heaps slander and vilification on the OCOCB; rather than respect the constitutionally-guaranteed religious and minority rights of the OCOCB, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church seeks its extermination.

At the end of last Saturday evening’s Vigil Service and one day after the Appellate Court’s verdict, Metropolitan Fotiy informed his faithful of this disappointing and momentous decision. With poise, courage, and yet an obvious heaviness of heart, he consoled his faithful, counseling them to maintain their Christian composure and, above all, not to succumb to the temptation to respond to their accusers in kind. Accusations, condemnations, anger, bitterness, and hatred were all absolutely unacceptable responses, His Eminence told his flock. Instead, they must follow their Lord by loving, blessing, and praying for all, including their would-be enemies. His Eminence’s tone and demeanor conveyed his message as convincingly as his words themselves.

Let the objective and discerning viewers of this contest judge for themselves who are the lambs and who are the wolves.

I ask our faithful to pray for our Bulgarian brethren, that the Lord will strengthen them for their contest, enlighten their legal counsel, and, if at all possible, provide them with a passage through this trial, that they may continue their labors for the preservation of Orthodoxy, the salvation of their souls, and the glory of God.

I also ask those who have useful contacts with government officials to inform them of this matter, asking them to express their concern to the State Department, the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington (copied in this email), and relevant watchdog agencies.

Your Humble Servant,

† Bishop Auxentios of Etna and Portland

 

Link for announcement of the court decision: https://www.bta.bg/en/news/985592-appellate-court-initiates-liquidation-deregistration-of-old-calendar-orthodox-c

and https://spzh.eu/en/news/88499-in-bulgaria-court-rules-to-liquidate-old-calendar-orthodox-church

 

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[Statement from the OCOCB’s legal counsel:]

 

In December, 2024, the Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation granted registration to the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria (OCOCB) overturning a longstanding interpretation of the law that allowed the country’s official church to be the sole Orthodox entity. The OCOCB‘s registration as a religious denomination conferred status as a legal entity, enabling it to own property, enter into contracts, provide insurance for its clergy, build churches, employ staff, open bank accounts, establish medical facilities, social and educational institutions, etc. The Supreme Court’s decision was a proper implementation of an earlier judgment by the European Court of Human Rights, [1] which found that the denial of registration to the OCOCB for more than a decade constituted an undue restriction of its religious freedoms. Consequently, the Bulgarian state was mandated to grant its registration.

The registration of the OCOCB resulted in an immediate backlash orchestrated by the official church, involving political parties from the Parliament, the president, the prime minister, the chief prosecutor, and the media. 

The OCOCB was accused of being a threat to national security, sovereignty, public order, and morality, and of misleading the public by unlawfully presenting itself as “Orthodox,” a designation which, they claim, belongs solely to the official Bulgarian Patriarchate. These accusations constitute an unacceptable act of public harassment against the OCOCB and Her faithful.

To reverse the effects of the Supreme Court’s decision, the Bulgarian Parliament was quick to enact changes to the Religious Denominations Act, [2] explicitly restricting the use of the term "Orthodox" to the country’s official church and providing for the deprivation of legal status for any religious organizations not in compliance.

The amendments to the Religious Denominations Act drastically restrict religious freedom. By means of theological argumentation that is wholly inappropriate for a nominally secular state governed by the rule of law, the Act determines that the creeds of "Orthodoxy" can be legitimately expressed and practiced within only one religious institution.

As prescribed by these legislative amendments, the OCOCB suffered a lawsuit brought on by the government’s directorate on religious denominations and the public prosecutor, seeking its deregistration. The court of first instance refused to deprive the OCOCB of its legal status, citing the preeminence of the Bulgarian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights over the new and contravening provisions of the Religious Denominations Act. However, on October 10, 2025, the appeal court overturned the first-instance decision and granted the actions brought by the government’s directorate on religious denominations and the public prosecutor. The deregistration of the OCOCB is imminent.

These measures directly contravene the principles of religious freedom and pluralism enshrined in both the Bulgarian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. They represent a deliberate attempt to reverse the effects of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment, undermining the Court’s authority and the rule of law.

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[1] Judgment of 20 April 2021, application No. 56751/13, Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar Church and Others v Bulgaria

[2] Amended on 31 January 2025