Priests and laypeople called on the Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to take a stand in defense of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

A group of clergy and laypersons sent an open letter to Patriarch Daniel and the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC), in which they insist on an official statement regarding the escalation of repression against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). According to the publication “24 Hours, ” the authors of the letter emphasize that the upcoming court hearing in Kyiv on July 2 could lead to the complete legal dissolution of the canonical Church in Ukraine.

In their appeal, the believers express their disagreement with the “politically correct silence” of the Bulgarian Patriarchate, which has continued since 2023. In their view, the actions of the Ukrainian authorities, supported by the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, are aimed at delegitimizing the canonical Church in favor of alternative structures. The authors compare the current situation to historical periods of state repression against religion and insist that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church must not remain indifferent, especially given that some of the believers in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are Bessarabian Bulgarians.

The letter emphasizes the unity of the Body of Christ, quoting Scripture: “If one member suffers, all members suffer with it.” The authors of the petition express hope that the leadership of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church will overcome its internal passivity and defend the freedom of conscience and the right to religious practice of its Orthodox brothers, thereby averting the danger of a universal schism caused by political temptations.

As a reminder, we previously reported that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Bulgarian government took a united stance against the possible imposition of European Union sanctions against Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.