Bulgarian Government & Patriarch Continues Persecution of the Bulgarian Old Calendarist

STATEMENT OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF THE BULGARIAN ORTHODOX OLD CALENDAR CHURCH

Honorable clergy, beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord!

As we have already reported, on April 17, 2025, the Prosecutor's Office and the Directorate of Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers submitted a petition to the Sofia City Court requesting the initiation of proceedings for the liquidation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar Church as a legal entity.

Cathedral of the Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar Church, Sofia, Bulgaria

By decision of July 10, 2025, the Sofia City Court rejected the petition of the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office to initiate proceedings for the liquidation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar Church.

On July 22, 2025, the Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal with the Sofia Court of Appeals, demanding that the decision of the Sofia City Court be overturned and that the petition of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Directorate of Religious Affairs to annul the registration of the legal entity — the religious community (denomination) "Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar Church" — be granted, as well as to begin liquidation proceedings.

A court review of the appeal by the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office is forthcoming (at this time, the Directorate of Religious Affairs has not submitted a separate appeal), as well as of the counterarguments we have submitted in our defense, in order for a ruling to be made on them.

We ask all those who trust in God's Providence to pray for our Church! May the Most Holy Theotokos preserve us under Her protection!

From the Chancery of the Hierarchal Synod

of the Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar Church