Patriarch Neophyte has reposed

Memory eternal!

Bulgarian Church calls for abortion ban, religious education in schools, no sex education

The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has called for an overhaul of the government’s National Strategy for the Child 2019-2030, arguing for a ban on abortion and for compulsory religious education in schools and the removal of sex education from the curriculum.

The strategy was posted on the government’s strategy.by website for comments from January until February 8. The Synod published their comments on the patriarchate’s website which were then added to the governmental website, reports the Sofia Globe.

In taking the Orthodox stand against abortion, the Synod said that banning such murder would allow for society and children in particular to have a full chance at existence and “blessed progress,” giving society the chance to overcome its demographic crisis.
Abortion is “unworthy of the Bulgarian nation,” the bishops’ statement reads.

The bishops also called for religious education in schools, saying:

Religious education in kindergartens and schools educates not only the minds but also the hearts of the smallest members of our society, which means that religious activities (in particular: Orthodox Christianity) reveal to children the sacred secret of this, that man is created in the image of God, and that to educate means to develop not only intellectually, but also to be perfected in faith, hope, love, charity and godliness. This is and should be the highest goal of any education, of any education-form, that man should be likened to the image of his Creator,

 

The Synod also voiced its opposition to the teaching of sex education in schools, calling for students to instead learn about true love, and not “sexuality that is taken out of the context of love,” and that abstinence is the best contraceptive. Such education should not be left in the hands of those who push an LGBT agenda, the bishops write.

“Children’s rights, parents’ rights, and the protection of the traditional family have a direct bearing on national security, state prosperity and eternal salvation in God,” the bishops also said.

The bishops also addressed issues of child violence and drug abuse, protecting parental rights, and the elimination of familial policies imported from outside Bulgaria that are impractical for Bulgarian society.

Source

Bulgarian Church to LGBTBBQ 'instead of marching, repent and go to church'

The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has expressed its attitude towards the upcoming LGBT parade in Sofia, calling on the members of the LGBT community to renounce their sins. 

The parade is scheduled for June 9.

In its statement, posted on the Bulgarian Church’s official site, the Synod declares that its position towards sin remains unchanged. 

Rather than engaging in pride parades, the hierarchs have called for piety and a renunciation of sin and its demonstrations. 

“Taking into account free will, the Holy Orthodox Church again appeals to its children, brothers, and sisters, and lovingly reminds them that freedom is responsibility, and that the truly free man, if he so desires, can free himself from sin with God’s help in the bosom of the Holy Orthodox Church,” the Synod’s statement reads. 

“Every human soul is more valuable than the entire world,” the Synod’s message concludes, “therefore, the Synod recalls that God does not desire the death of a sinner, but that the wicked turn from his way and live (Ezek. 33:11).” 

The entire Orthodox Church, and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has consistently stood against sexual deviancy manifested outside the bounds of the marriage between one man and one woman. In response to the 2016 LGBT parade, His Holiness Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria wrote that, while showing “a pastor's care, responsibility, and love” for homosexual people, the Church is determined to oppose “attempts to show a sinful tendency as a norm in our society, as an occasion for pride and an example to follow.” 

“Modern society, torn from its Christian roots, in its effort to be tolerant and humane, substitutes the understanding of core values like love and freedom and calls homosexuality by morally neutral expressions such as ‘sexual minority’ or ‘different sexual orientation,’” the patriarch wrote, “But to love a person, to appreciate and respect them, does not mean to be indifferent to what path they are treading: true or false, a path to salvation or destruction, to life or death.” 

The Georgian Patriarchate recently announced that it will hold a procession in honor of family purity and mass weddings throughout Tbilisi on May 17, the day named “The Day of Family Holiness and Honor for Parents” by His Holiness Patriarch-Catholicos Ilia II, as a counter to the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on the same day. 

The Moldovan Orthodox Church also recently called upon the government to ban an LGBT march in the capital city of Chișinău. 

From here.

The Bulgarians on the Creten Council: 'No.'

The official declaration of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

It's pretty brutal.

Bulgarian Orthodox Church: "The Council in Crete is neither Great, nor Holy, nor Pan-Orthodox"

Oh my.

Bulgarian Orthodox Church withdraws from Pan-Orthodox Council in Crete

The governing body of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod, signalled on June 1 its withdrawal from the Pan-Orthodox Council to be held in Crete from June 16 to 26.

Strictly speaking, the Holy Synod demanded the postponement of the council unless its various demands were met, but given that this is unlikely to happen, the Synod’s decision effectively amounts to withdrawal.

The Pan-Orthodox Council has been planned as the first such gathering in about 1000 years, but has been beset by controversies – one of the most significant ones being the fact that it is being held in Crete, not in Istanbul, seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch. The move was made under Russian pressure because of the tensions between Moscow and Ankara.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, where senior figures are strongly influenced by their Russian Orthodox co-religionist church figures, said that it would not participate if Bulgarian proposals for “thematic and organisational changes” to the planned council were not taken account of and respected.

The Holy Synod said that at its June 1 meeting, it had held “extensive discussions” on issues related to the convening of the Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in June.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s leaders found a number of pretexts to call for the postponement of the Pan-Orthodox Council meeting and to say that unless the council was postponed, the church would not participate.

The Holy Synod listed six objections...

Read the rest here.
HT: Byzantine Texas

Three cheers for the Bulgarians!

Patriarchate of Bulgaria: On the Pan-Orthodox Synod and the Appearance of Heresy as a Gift from God so that Orthodoxy can be proclaimed.

 The Church of Christ is not of this world but is founded by the Holy Trinity so that she might serve in the world; that she may be penetrated with the truth of Christ, that she may sanctify and lead one back again to God. In this sense, the Church coexists with all phenomena in different epochs of human history, including also that of the pluralism of opinion, one of the characteristic scars of the time in which we live. This pluralism, however, is not inherent in the Orthodox faith and in its dogmatics, just as diversity of opinion is not intrinsic to God, in Whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning (John 1:17).

Certainly, the Holy Orthodox Church does not deny freedom of human thought, but attempts to direct this freedom in a salvific direction. This way, in connection with confirmed and true Church teaching, many personal theological opinions arise—for example, the teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa on the "garments of skin," the interpretation of St. Filaret (Drozdov) on the petition "For the peace of the whole world, the well-being of the Holy Churches of God and the union of all," the position of Fr. Sergey Bulgakov on the "feminine principle" ("Sofia") in God. Over time, mass heretical communities are also appearing and are frequently privileged through political protection. But this cannot, in some way, weaken or violate the holiness of the Church and her uniqueness, neither can it deny her creed, her sacred tradition, and her holy scripture.

Today the entire Orthodox world is excited about the upcoming Holy and Great Council, which is planned for June 2016 on the island of Crete. Various expectations and positions, apprehensions and hopes, are being expressed.

Right now the community of the Church is exchanging and discussing a host of letters, petitions, documents, and epistles. Everyone is expressing his view in accord with his internal feelings. But in as much as no person is infallible, and in as much as none of us is more great or wiser than the teachings of the Church that have been confirmed in the Ecumenical Councils throughout the centuries, personal bias should give priority to the true, eternal, ubiquitous, and unanimous confession of the Orthodox faith.

This is essential for all of us in as much as it is not theoretical theology, theological "diplomacy," or the cultural and social activity in the Church that are the means for the eternal salvation of our souls, but our trueness before God, humility, faithful love, and life in His Spirit and His truth, in Him Himself, Who is absolute Truth. It is not possible for any of our particular, variable, and self-servingly adjustable "truths" to save our lives.

It has always been a gift of grace for the Church when heresies appear and intensify, in as much as she has thereupon formulated and reconfirmed the pure teachings of holy Orthodoxy. Such is the case today—different heresies and sects, including the heresy of ecumenism, allow the Church to express its unchanged and principled position through its archpastors, pastors, theologians, and laity, which is just as beneficial for us, Orthodox, as it is for the non-Orthodox.

Read the rest here.

Bulgarian Orthodox Church Restores Liturgical Commemoration of Czar Simeon II

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s governing body, the Holy Synod, has decided to include a blessing for Simeon Saxe-Coburg as “His Majesty Simeon II, Tsar of the Bulgarians” in public and private worship.

The proposal was made to the Holy Synod by Nikolai, Metropolitan of Plovdiv.

Born in 1937, Saxe-Coburg became king of Bulgaria in 1943 after the sudden death of his father, Boris III.

Because he was a minor, there was a regency of three. On the communist takeover in Bulgaria at the end of World War 2, a “People’s Court” process was initiated which led to thousands of deaths, including the execution of the regents.

Saxe-Coburg and his family went into exile. A referendum in 1946, under communist rule and with Soviet troops still present in Bulgaria, was said officially to have produced a result of 97 per cent in favour of the abolition of the monarchy.

Read the rest here.
See also the announcement on the website of the BOC, which contrary to the English news story is still up.

Axios!

Axios!

And many years to newly elected Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria.

Online Fighting Over Bulgaria's Next Patriarch

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church may have ancient roots, but the fight over its future is being conducted not only in top church circles but also among lay people in a very modern way – on Facebook.

After the death of Patriarch Maxim on November 6 and the election of a temporary stand-in head of the church on November 10 to oversee the choice of a new Patriarch, the social network has become a hive of activity as detractors and supporters of various metropolitans vie for “likes” and members.

The Metropolitan apparently inspiring the most activity online is Plovdiv’s Nikolai, well-known for his luxury vehicles, stylish wristwatch and controversial redecoration of the St Marina church in Bulgaria’s second city. To say nothing of his hardline views on church matters. At 43, Nikolai is too young by seven years to be eligible for election as Patriarch, but more than one Facebook group seems determined to forestall future elevation for Nikolai. The largest Facebook group against Nikolai had (as of the morning of November 12) 2154 members. A separate, newly-established, group against Nikolai had 191.

Read the rest here.

Sounds like they have been hanging around too many OCA types.

Thousands bid farewell to Patriarch Maxim

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Thousands of people participated in a grand funeral service Friday for Patriarch Maxim, who led the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for a record 41 years that witnessed the collapse of communism and an institutional schism.

Maxim died at age 98 on Tuesday due to heart failure. His funeral drew religious and political leaders, as well as ordinary Bulgarians who recalled him fondly.

Read the rest here.

Memory Eternal

Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria has reposed. He was 98. Memory eternal!

European Court of Human Rights rules in favor of schismatic Bulgarian Orthodox Church

The Strasbourg European Court of Human Rights mandated that Bulgaria must pay EUR 50,000 damages to the so-called 'alternative' or 'Inokentii' church synod.

The decision is a continuation of a prior verdict in June, in which the Court of Human Rights decided that the Bulgarian state has unduly forced Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox to worship under only one church by chasing out clergy from the 'alternative' synod out of temples.

The Strasbourg court mandated in June that the two parties should negotiate damages between themselves, but its decision was snubbed by Bulgarian authorities, with the cabinet taking no decision on the issue.

Cabinet representatives have stated that they see the hundreds of millions of euro claimed by the Inokentii synod as grossly exagerated

The schism in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was started in 1992 when a group of senior clergy headed by Nevrokop metropolitan bishop Pimen decided to split from the rest, claiming that a church headed by allegedly communist-related Patriarch Maxim is illegitimate.

Read the rest here.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church says "No" to endless dilaogue

Sofia, Bulgaria - According to the correspondent of the Ecclesiastic News Agency "Romfea" in Sofia, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Bulgaria decided to not send envoys to the Meeting of the Combined International Theological Committee for the Dialogue between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Church, which is to be held in Cyprus between the 16th and the 23rd of October 2009.

Specifically, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Bulgaria examined the letter-invitation sent by the organizers of the Meeting, and after discussions, decided that representatives of the Bulgarian Church should not participate.

The participation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in this dialogue was characterized as inappropriate by the Holy Synod, who, after carefully analyzing similar meetings and conferences which had taken place in the past, reached the conclusion that such theological dialogues between Orthodox and Catholics had not led to even the slightest settlement between Roman Catholic and Orthodox Dogmatics.

The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Church did express its willingness to discuss other social and humanitarian issues in the future, during such meetings.

It should be noted that similar meetings of the Committee and its sub-committees have taken place in Belgrade, Ravenna, Rome and Ayios Nikolaos in Crete.

Finally, it should also be noted that the last meeting took place on the 27th of September to the 4th of October 2008 in Ayios Nikolaos of Crete, on the subject of "the role of the bishop of Rome in the community of the Church during the 1st Millennium".

Hat tip to Carlos Antonio Palad