Bennett Briggs

Bulgaria, the oldest country in Europe, has a population of roughly 7.4 million people. Besides the predominant Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC), there are 115 registered religious groups in Bulgaria.

The country’s constitution indicates that they are a secular state with religious freedom guaranteed for all. Orthodoxy however, is designated as the “traditional” religion and is exempt from the court registration process, which is required for all other religious groups. Also, of the 3 million Levs ($2.02 million) budgeted for registered religious groups each year, 2.3 million Levs ($1.55 million) or about 77% is allocated to the BOC. This should not however be disturbing, seeing as more than three-quarters of Bulgarians (roughly 76%) are members of the BOC. In 927 A.D., the Bulgarian Orthodox Church gained autocephalous status and now has 12 dioceses and over 2,000 priests in the Country. Sunni Muslims are the second-largest religion in Bulgaria with about 10% of the population. About 12% of the people do not have a religious preference or declined to state their beliefs, and the remaining 2% is made up of Catholics, Armenian Christians, Jews, Evangelical Protestants, and others.

While Bulgaria is supportive of religious freedom, some Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslim communities have had minor problems obtaining construction permits for new prayer houses and Mosques throughout the country. For example, in Sofia, the local government withheld permission for plans to build a second Mosque in the city even though the existing one was so small that worshippers had to pray outside on the sidewalk during Friday and holiday prayers.