Bulgarian Church Tensions Hits the Roof

A massive brass chandelier, a human-sized wooden cross, several icons printed on glossy paper and a large Bulgarian flag are all that remain in the possession of more than a hundred Orthodox priests, after police expelled them from church buildings last week.

Hidden under a striped white-and-green tent, the objects now form part of an improvised altar on a large square in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.

The priests, followers of Inokentiy, head of an "alternative" Bulgarian Orthodox Church that rivals the official establishment, are encamped on the square with their followers.

The area, directly opposite the official church's synod building, served last Sunday as a venue for several weddings, at which the expelled priests officiated under open skies after being denied the use of their old premises.

Twenty white street benches have been installed for the use of those attending services, along with two portable lavatories. Another tent acts as a bedroom for the clergy.

Bulgaria's holy wars escalated sharply last week, after Patriarch Maxim, head of the official church, scored a strategic legal victory in a long-running conflict over ownership of church property.

A ruling by the republic's chief prosecutor in Maxim's favour resulted in a police raid on July 21, turning over more than 200 buildings to Maxim's synod that had been used by Inokentiy's followers.

The operation started early in the morning and was conducted simultaneously in most of the disputed buildings, in some places disrupting morning services.

Anna-Maria, 15, one of the few young people on the square, said her brother watched the raid on their family's church, St Uspenie Bogorodichno. "My brother went to church to light a candle and saw the police coming," she said.

"Later I joined about 30 people standing in front of the building, trying to protect it. But we couldn't do anything.

"We saw the police beat the pastor even though he behaved peacefully. They knocked him on the ground - five of them - and beat him until they broke his nose."

The struggle for this church was violent, according to several witnesses. After one man with a knife threatened suicide, forcing police to step back, others in the crowd removed the weapon from the man's hand, allowing the police to proceed with the operation.

The man was arrested with the parish priest and two others. Though all were released soon, Fr Hristo Pisarev went to a hospital to certify that his nose had been broken and several teeth knocked out in the affray.

The events have caused outrage among many Bulgarians, including people who are not members of either church. Intellectuals, politicians and journalists condemned both the police and the chief prosecutor for ordering the action and the government for allowing it.

Justice Minister Anton Stankov said the government could not interfere with a ruling by the chief prosecutor made in accordance to a law adopted by parliament, in this case, the Religions Act of December 2002.

The root of Bulgaria's modern church wars date back to the Communist era, when the church was made subservient to the state.

According to Hristo Matanov, historian at Sofia University, the church was closely controlled by the Communist Party and the secret police, the Committee for State Security, known by its acronym KDS.

The government deliberately appointed church officials known to be corrupt or discredited in order to be able to blackmail them. Maxim's critics say he was also appointed under these criteria.

After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, many of the church faithful in Bulgaria attacked Maxim as a remnant of the communist era and demanded his replacement.

In 1992, a government commission on religion pronounced Maxim illegitimate and installed Pimen, a declared non-communist, as new head of the church.

But Maxim refused to accept the ruling and the Orthodox Church effectively split into two, with both sides refusing to talk to the other.

Pimen's synod gradually grew and by 2004 held over 200 churches, about one-sixth of the total in Bulgaria.

The acrimony worsened, with rebel clergy besieging some monasteries and groups of black-clad monks throwing stones at each other to the bemusement of on-lookers.

There are no theological differences between the two synods. The dispute is not even distinctly political, though Maxim, as a communist-era appointee, is seen as left of centre, while his rivals tilt to the right.

In 1999, Pimen died and was replaced by Inokentiy, but the tension continued to worsen. In 2002, members of Maxim's wing were even convicted or murdering a priest from the "alternative" synod in a property dispute over the St Panteleymon monastery near Bansko, south of Sofia.

The Religions Act of 2002 required all religious institutions to register with the courts with the exception of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. But the law did not rule on whether this church was rightfully headed by Maxim, or any other.

The latest legal ruling, depriving the alternative church of its premises, seems unlikely to calm the dispute. Inokentiy's clergy routinely describe Maxim as the antichrist, distribute cartoons of him shown as a Soviet Russian general, wearing a red star, and say kissing his hand would be tantamount to kissing "the hand of Moscow".

They have hung a banner declaring "Get the Communists out of the Church" over their camp opposite Maxim's synod and reiterate that they will never accept Maxim as head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Maxim's followers are equally trenchant. Denouncing Inokentiy's clergy for what they say is the illegal occupation of their property, they charge their rivals with links to crime.

Ivan Zhelev, director of the government's religions directorate, has tended to take the side of Maxim's church. Recently, he claimed only 30 of the 200 buildings in the rebel church's possession were used for services. He said they were holding the rest for the purposes of financial gain.

The claims of either side are hard to prove in court. After the state returned the Bulgarian Orthodox Church its independence in the Nineties, it renounced any right to intervene or interfere in the church's financial or property affairs.

With no right to inspect church accounts, Hristo Matanov says, the church became subject to rumours that it was a vehicle for money-laundering and other illegal financial operations.

"The truth is that there is no reliable source for this kind of information and however likely these accusations might look, there is no way to prove them," Manatov said.

The minority of Bulgarians who attend church are largely uninterested in the arguments over property. "These churches were built by the people and should serve the people," said teenage Anna-Maria. "Maxim was certainly not the people's choice."

Even without a roof over their heads, the alternative church followers remain determined to continue the struggle, whatever the decision of the country's highest legal authority.

"We have appealed against the decision of the chief prosecutor, though I don't believe he will independently revisit his ruling," said Fr Kamen Barakov, an outspoken rebel priest.

"I have better hopes from pressure by society. We certainly are not going to step back. A referendum might be the only solution."

Albena Shkodrova is a regular IWPR contributor.