Local media in Edirne are reporting a scandal in the Bulgarian church "St. George" in Edirne. The reason - the Greek clergy wanted to perform a service in Greek, while the hundreds of Bulgarians in the church wanted the service to be in Bulgarian.
According to "Bati Express", the scandal happened when the Greek metropolitan, who was supposed to lead the service in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, located in the Edirne district of Kiyik, insisted that it be held in Greek. The metropolitan was sent by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.
However, hundreds of Bulgarians present in the church opposed the Greek clergyman. A scandal broke out, as Bulgarian citizens insisted that in the Bulgarian church, the services should be held in Bulgarian, and not in Greek, which they do not understand.
St. George’s Day is also the patronal holiday of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church "St. George" in the Edirne district of Kiyik, and hundreds of Bulgarians arrived especially for the holiday, local media noted.
The scandal caused a very strong response among the Orthodox Bulgarian community in Istanbul, and the topic was also covered by other media outlets such as "Habertürk", "Yeni Birlik" and others.
"On behalf of the Istanbul Bulgarian community, we came to Edirne today to hold the traditional service. We are the parish and the owners of this church /including the church of St. Constantine and Helena in Edirne/. However, upon our arrival, we were informed by priests sent by the Greek Metropolitan of Edirne that we would not be able to hold services in Bulgarian. Instead, we were told that the services would be held with Greek priests. We did not accept this. Because this is a Bulgarian church and we believe that the services should be held in Bulgarian," said Dimitri Yotef, chairman of the board of trustees of the Foundation of Orthodox Churches of the Bulgarian Exarchate in Istanbul and the community of Bulgarians in Constantinople.
"Therefore, as the Foundation of Orthodox Bulgarians, we have made the following decision. As of today, we are closing our church for services until the issue of services being held in Bulgarian is resolved. At the same time, we have decided to prohibit the Metropolitan of Edirne from entering the church until permission is granted for services in Bulgarian. Of course, it will be open for visits. People can come and pray, light candles. There is no obstacle to this. However, services will not be held outside," Yotef added, quoted by local media.
According to him, the decision applies to both churches in the city of Edirne.
"Honestly, this decision should have been made years ago. We experienced great sorrow after the death of the late Father Alexander Çıkaruk. He was very valuable to us. After his death, we were subjected to strong pressure from the Metropolitan for the last three years. That is why we met with the board of directors today and came to the point of making this decision," he added.
Edirne'deki kilise ayininde Bulgarca-Yunanca dil tartışması:
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Official Bulgarian representatives were also in the church for today's service.
"Today, a very unpleasant incident occurred in our church, which you all witnessed. We can call it an unexpected situation, but it must also be said that this is a continuation of a long-standing problem. Because we have been facing the same difficulties for a long time. His Holiness the Metropolitan imposed a restriction on holding services in the Bulgarian language. In the Republic of Turkey, however, services and worship in every church or place of worship are held in the language of the respective community. The Republic of Turkey is a state that equally protects the rights of different peoples, different denominations and religious groups. However, I must regretfully state that His Holiness the Metropolitan did not understand our sensitivity on this issue. He may be of Greek origin, but the issue here is the language, culture and the right of the community to practice its faith in its own language," said the Bulgarian Consul General in Edirne Radoslava Kafedjiyska to the Edirne media.
After quite long and heated disputes and mostly because of the insistent demands of Bulgarian citizens in defense of their right to offer their prayers in Bulgarian, a prayer was read in Bulgarian.
The scandals surrounding the Bulgarian churches in Edirne are mainly related to attempts to interfere with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, bans on worship in Bulgarian, and disputes over the management of the churches. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has been criticized for actions aimed at imposing a Greek presence, including through services in Greek, say experts familiar with the problem.
In the Bulgarian churches in Istanbul, "St. Stephen" and "St. John of Rila" in the Bulgarian Exarchate, the service is held in Bulgarian, with the only exception being a visit by the Ecumenical Patriarch, when prayers are offered in Greek.
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Media coverage in Bulgaria: Bulgarian National Television, Bulgarian News Agency, Nova TV, BTV.
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Analysis of the News:
The Ecumenical Patriarchate, through its metropolitan in Adrianople, is restricting the whishes of the Bulgarian worshipers to conduct services in Bulgarian language. These actions of the Patriarchate could be interpreted as a continuation of the old policy of limiting the Bulgarian cultural and ethnical presence in its diocese
Historical Context: The Bulgarian Exarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarchate
To understand the current conflict, we must go back to the 19th century and the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate (1870). Until that moment, Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire were under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople. Due to pressure from the Greek clergy and attempts at Hellenization of the Bulgarian population, Bulgarians began a struggle for ecclesiastical independence. After long negotiations and a sultan’s decree, the Bulgarian Exarchate was established, which received the right to manage its own eparchies and serve in the Bulgarian language.
This process, however, was extremely painful and led to the so-called Bulgarian schism, which lasted for decades. The Patriarchate categorically refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Exarchate and undertook a number of measures to limit its influence. In many mixed regions (mainly in Macedonia and Thrace), open clashes occurred between supporters of the two institutions.
After the Liberation of Bulgaria (1878) and especially after the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), when much of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia and Thrace remained outside the borders of Bulgaria, the question of the ecclesiastical affiliation of these lands remained extremely sensitive. The Patriarchate continued to claim canonical authority over them, which often led to conflicts with local Bulgarian communities.
Contemporary Dimensions
Although officially the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is no longer in schism with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the two churches maintain fraternal relations, historical wounds and suspicions still exist. The case in Edirne shows that these old tensions can be reactivated even today.
From the point of view of ecclesiastical diplomacy, there are several important points:
1. Canonical Territories: The Ecumenical Patriarchate traditionally defends its jurisdiction over all Orthodox Christians in Turkey, regardless of their ethnic origin. From this perspective, it may justify its actions in Edirne by the fact that the city is within its diocese. It should be borne in mind that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has also not given its consent to regular services in Greek in some settlements along the southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast, where small Greek communities remain (heirs to the once quite numerous Greek population along the coast). And actually the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew requested this, but this has not been happening for many years.
2. Ethnophyletism: Although officially condemned, ethnophyletism (the mixing of national and ecclesiastical identity) still plays a role in the relations between the local Orthodox Churches. The Patriarchate probably fears that if it allows the Bulgarian community in Thrace to freely develop its ecclesiastical activity, this could be perceived as a step towards the "Bulgarization" of the region. In a sense, the struggle for worship services in a given language can also be seen as an attempt to mark ethnic, national, cultural, or historical territory. For the Greeks (who are the majority of the Orthodox flock of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Turkey), the city of Edirne is Adrianople, and for the Bulgarians it is Odrin, and of course this matters.
3. Political Factors: Turkey is a secular state, but its attitude toward religious minorities is a sensitive issue. The Patriarchate may seek to demonstrate loyalty to the Turkish authorities by restricting the activities of foreign church structures on its territory. The Greeks and the Bulgarians are two of the officially recognized minorities in the country, both under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Fener, but we do not know what the interests of the Turkish state might be in this case. Major questions rise:
- Does Turkey have an interest in tension between the two communities, and hence between Bulgaria and Greece? It should be borne in mind that a century ago, Kemalist Turkey created its own Orthodox Church, which is not recognized by the other local churches, but has aspirations for the properties and temples of the Universal Church and has managed to acquire several of them. So the interests of the Turkish state-believer also include encouraging opposition between, among other things, the small Orthodox ethnic groups in it.
- Is it a coincidence that the news was covered in detail in the Bulgarian media? And with the explicit mention of Patriarch Bartholomew in the reports, although it is not known that he ordered a liturgy in Greek, and the information so far clearly points to the metropolitan. The publication of such news in the media can be interpreted as part of the information war that often accompanies church conflicts, as well as the hidden interests of some countries. The goal may be to mobilize public opinion and create a certain attitude towards the intended opponent. But Cui bono? What if pro-Russian circles in Bulgaria inspired the quarrel (or at least its media coverage) in order to attack Patriarch Bartholomew, whom the Russian Orthodox Church perceives as an enemy, in order to discredit him in Bulgarian society?
Conclusion
The case in Edirne is indicative of the fact that despite formal reconciliation, the historical contradictions between the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate have not yet been fully overcome. The conflict has both religious and political dimensions and will probably be resolved through a combination of diplomatic efforts, compromises, and pressure from the international community.
