The article, based on archival materials, examines the history of unsuccessful attempts by the leadership of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the first post-war years to restore and continue the ecumenical contacts interrupted during World War II. The article covers the activities of the Bulgarian Exarch Stefan (Shokov) and Professor Stefan Zankov; the efforts of the Bulgarian communist government to cut the ecumenical contacts of the Church; the pressure by the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarch Alexii I, Metropolitan Nikolai of Krutitsy) on Exarch Stefan to stop relations with ecumenical organizations.

Keywords: ecumenical movement, World Council of Churches, Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Exarch Stefan, Stefan Zankov, Patriarch of Moscow Alexii I, Bulgarian Communist Party.

ECUMENICAL relations were central to the international activities of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC) during the interwar period. However, this aspect of its history has not yet been systematically investigated. In this case, the source of our knowledge is primarily the texts of the main Bulgarian participant of the ecumenical movement pro-

The article was written with the support of the organization "Interuniversity Center for Scientific Research" Prof. Balan" " (Sofia).

Kalkandzhieva D. Bolgarskaya pravoslavnaya tserkva i ekumenicheskoe dvizhenie posle Vtoroi mirovoi voyni [The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Movement after the Second World War]. 2017. N 1. pp. 64-80.

Kalkandjieva, Daniela (2017) "Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Movement after the Second World War", Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom 35(1): 64-80.

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Professor Protopresbyter Stefan Tsankov 1. At the same time, new materials and research appeared after the fall of communism. One of the first steps was the publication of documents on the ecumenical activities of Metropolitan Stefan (Shokov) of Sofia, who was Exarch of Bulgaria in 1945-1948.2 Rusalena Panjekova also provided the first systematic description of Stephen's participation in major ecumenical conferences between the two wars.3 Finally, in 2016, R. Radic and P. Rotmets published an article on the role of ecumenical organizations in interwar relations between the Bulgarian and Serbian Churches.4
At the same time, we know almost nothing about the changes in communication between the BOC and ecumenical organizations that took place in the second half of the 1940s, when the results of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War radically changed the political situation not only in Bulgaria, but also around the world. In this article, we will address this period based on existing publications and archival materials.

The Communist coup in Bulgaria on 9 September 1944 led to dramatic changes in the internal life and external activities of the BOC. Having come to power as a member of the Fatherland Front, a coalition of anti - fascist parties, the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP) avoided direct attacks on religion. This attitude corresponded to the softening of Soviet religious policy during wartime, as well as the sensitivity of the Western Allies to everything related to religious freedom. This was also due to Bulgaria's unresolved international status as a former ally of Nazi Germany. Therefore, in the first years of its rule, the BCP avoided-

1. Цанков С. Международното положение на Българската православна църква след освобождението на България // Годишник на Софийския университет - Богословски факултет. Т. Х. 1932/33. София, 1933. С. 1-130; Цанков С. Българската църква от Освобождението до настояще време // Годишник на Софийския университет - Богословски факултет Т. XVI. 1938/39. Sofia, 1939: 1-372, 192-195.

2. Екзарх Стефан I Български. Documentary collection / ed. Lizbet Lyubenova. Sofia: Otvoreno obshchestvo Club, 2003.

3. Пенджекова Р. Личността и делото на Екзарх Стефан в Българската историческа памет. Sofia, 2007. pp. 44-55.

4. Radić, R., Rohtmets, P. (2016) "The Process of Religious and Political Rapprochement between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in 1920s and 1930s - An International Ecumenical Perspective", Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe 36(1): 42-89.

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a number of actions that would cause rejection by Western democracies and restrictions on religious life were introduced in the form of secular legislation that established the religious rights of the individual.5 At the same time, the communist leaders pursued a foreign policy aimed at eliminating Bulgaria's post-war international isolation.

At the same time, the Communists helped solve the most acute institutional problems of the BOC. At home, they allowed the election of a new Bulgarian Exarch, the first after a 30 - year hiatus, 6 and Metropolitan Stefan of Sofia was enthroned on January 21, 1945.7 In parallel, the BCP used its contacts with the Kremlin to help the BOC overcome the schism of 1870: indeed, on February 22 of the same year, it was terminated by the Patriarch of Constantinople, who granted the Bulgarian Orthodox Church churches have autocephaly 8. The settlement of the canonical status of the BOC allowed it not only to restore Eucharistic communion with all Orthodox churches, but also to interact with them on an equal footing.

At first glance, after the elimination of the schism, there was no need for the BOC to participate in ecumenical organizations9, but Exarch Stefan and Prof. Stefan Tsankov believed that their church should continue ecumenical contacts. They recalled the persecution of ecumenical organizations and their employees by the Nazis and insisted that the involvement of the BOC in ecumenical activities would serve the rehabilitation of victims of fascism and, in general, the post - war reconciliation process. In this case, they shared the Department's point of view

5. Between September 1944 and February 1947, the BOC was forced to stop its school activities. Its charitable institutions, as well as most of its land and economic structures, were nationalized. Her birth and marriage certificates are no longer valid.

6. Калканджиева Д. Българската православна църква и държавата, 1944-1953. Sofia: Albatros Publ., 1997, pp. 30-39.

7. After the death of Exarch Joseph in 1915 and until January 1945, the BOC was headed by an elected vice-president of the Holy Synod.

8. For more information, see: Kalkandjieva, D. (2014) The Russian Orthodox Church, 1917-1948: From Decline to Resurrection, pp. 273-274. London: Routledge.

9. During the interwar period, the BOC's ecumenical contacts were aimed, among other things, at overcoming its isolation in the Orthodox world by developing relations with other Orthodox Churches within the framework of ecumenical cooperation, in which the latter were involved. - Editor's note.

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for the Reconciliation of Christian Churches, established after the war at the Ecumenical Institute in Geneva. They also revived the Bulgarian National Council, a local branch of the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through Churches, which was suspended by the Bulgarian pro-fascist governments.10
This trend was fueled by the Liaison Committee of the Lutheran World Convention, which launched a campaign of relief and reconciliation in post-war Europe. On July 30, 1945, the Committee informed the Bulgarian Diplomatic Mission in Stockholm that the Scandinavian Lutheran churches, together with the American ones, had created a special Stockholm committee to provide post-war assistance to European Christians.11 In this regard, information was requested about the needs of BOC 12. At the same time, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, made the same request to the Synod of St. Sophia, while simultaneously providing the BOC with material assistance from the Church of England. These gestures were gratefully received by the Bulgarian hierarchs, who responded by providing a description of the damage caused during the war, indicating the necessary means to compensate for it.13 At that time, the BOC leaders believed that the visit of Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Krutitsky to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in June 1945 was a step towards the entry of the Russian Orthodox Church into the ecumenical movement.14 On this occasion, the Church Bulletin published statements by ecumenical figures who welcomed the future participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the movement 15. Also, after your trip

10. Centralen Drzhaven Archiv-Sofia (CDA). F. 264k. Op. 6. A. E. 1386. L. 6. The Council was established in 1920; its leadership included representatives of the BOC, the local community of the Armenian Church and the Bulgarian Evangelical Church. The Soviet was dissolved in 1941 in accordance with the Nazi law on national Defense and revived in early 1945.

11.Archbishop Erling Eidem of Uppsala (Sweden) became Honorary President of the Stockholm Committee. Member countries: Sweden, USA, Denmark, Finland and Norway.

12. Letter from the Lutheran World Convention Liaison Committee to the Bulgarian king's legation in Stockholm, July 30, 1945 / / Archive of the Church Historical and Archival Institute (ACIAI). F. 2. Op. 4.

13. Letter of Professor Stefan Tsankov to exarch Stefan, January 4, 1946.

14. Църковен вестник, бр. 1-2, януари 1946.

15. Ibid., br 11-12, 27 March 1946.

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to Moscow in 1945. Exarch Stefan informed the Synod that they were interested in his opinion on the possible ecumenical involvement of the Russian Orthodox Church16.

However, the enthusiasm of the Bulgarian ecumenists was soon dampened by the new rulers. In February 1946, Stefan Tsankov's participation in several ecumenical conferences in Geneva was disrupted by the Communist functionary Racho Angelov, who delayed the delivery of official invitations.17 Although Bogoslov obtained permission to travel abroad from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Police Department, the Joint Control Commission in Sofia refused to issue him an appropriate passport.18 Meanwhile, Greek participants in ecumenical conferences took advantage of Tsankov's absence to tarnish the image of the BOC. Their accusations of Bulgarians torturing Greek Christians and burying their priests alive during the war years, during the occupation of Northern Greece, were repeated in the Western media - Internationale Kirchliche Zeitshrift (Switzerland) and Le monde illustré (France).19. The situation was reminiscent of the events of 1921, when Exarch Stefan, then Bishop of Markianopolis, was forced to interrupt his visit to Yugoslavia under pressure from Serbs protesting against Bulgaria's entry into the League of Nations, and after publications portraying his compatriots as war criminals.20
To stop this anti-Bulgarian campaign, Stefan Tsankov suggested that the Holy Synod conduct a special study and find out: "When and by whom were Greek churches destroyed or damaged?"; " When and by whom were Greek liturgical books looted?"; "Did Bulgarians kill Greek hierarchs, priests and monks and burn them in churches Greek Christians who were driven there?"; "Were Greek priests removed

16. Protocol No. 34 Sv. Synod in full composition, July 19, 1945 / / CDA. F. 791. Op. 1. A. E. 73.

17. Racho Angelov was a senior functionary of the BKP, who participated in many anti-religious events. For example, in January 1946, he banned religious lessons in public schools, which dealt a serious blow to the educational activities of the BOC.

18. Letter of Professor Stefan Tsankov to Exarch Stefan, June 24, 1946.

19. Ibid.

20. Radić, R., Rohtmets, P. "The Process of Religious and Political Rapprochement between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in 1920s and 1930s - An International Ecumenical Perspective", p. 68.

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from the ministry, and if so, why and when?" The information collected was sent to the World Alliance for the Promotion of International Friendship through Churches and various ecumenical periodicals.21 In November 1946, the Synod of Sofia was notified that the Bulgarian report would be published by the Ecumenical Council of Churches.22
At the same time, Stefan Tsankov, unable to defend the position of the BOC at international ecumenical forums, published four articles in the Church Bulletin under the general title "On the All-Christian Ecumenical Front" 23. He argued that the post-war revival of the ecumenical movement, previously suppressed by fascist regimes, is a sign of the democratization of the world. In this regard, he drew particular attention to the efforts of the ecumenical movement to achieve lasting peace and ensure religious freedom around the world24. In addition, the Bulgarian theologian emphasized the dual importance of ecumenism for the Orthodox churches: it allows them not only to establish contacts with Western Christianity, but also to strengthen inter-Orthodox ties. On this basis, he concluded that the BOC should continue to cooperate with the ecumenical movement and take an active part in the post-war revival of the Ecumenical Council of Churches.25
In July 1946. The Ecumenical Council of Churches and the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through Churches have organized a new conference in London. This time Stefan Tsankov was invited by Dr. V. A. Visser'th Hooft, the first Secretary General of the WCC. He also received a second invitation from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. Both expressed the hope that their letters would ensure that the invitees would receive appropriate permits and passports. Cro-

21. Letter of Professor Stefan Tsankov to Exarch Stefan, June 19, 1946.

22. Protocol of the Holy Synod in its entirety No. 33, November 11, 1946. Until the Amsterdam Conference of 1948, the WCC was referred to in official correspondence as the Ecumenical Council of Churches.

23. Църковен вестник, бр. 9-10, 10 март 1946 г.; бр. 13-14, 6 април 1946 г.; бр. 15-16, 18 април 1946; бр 17-18, 8 май 1946.

24. Ibid., pp. 17-18, 8 May 1946.

25. Ibid., pp. 9-10, 10 March 1946.

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Moreover, the invitation from the World Alliance explicitly stated that Stefan Tsankov is the best representative of this organization in the Balkans. It was also said that the participation of Greek Professor Hamilcar Alivizatos would affect the interests of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Romania. This warning did not take effect. The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry did not allow Tsankov to participate in the conference 26. However, he did not give up and began to look for workarounds with the help of Exarch Stefan. As a result, the latter asked the Joint Control Commission to issue a foreign passport for the Bulgarian professor to travel to Switzerland for scientific purposes.27 He also won the Synod's support to instruct Tsankov to use his friendly ties with ecumenical leaders to stop attacks from the Greeks. 28 However, these attempts were ultimately unsuccessful.

The Paris Peace Treaty, signed on February 10, 1947, allowed the BCP to eliminate the political opposition in the country, consolidate its power, and openly proclaim Bulgaria's orientation towards the Soviet Union and its domestic and foreign policy. Anticipating the limitations of its international contacts, the BOC Synod voted on April 1, 1947, to continue participating in the ecumenical movement.29 However, two weeks later, Ecclesiastical Bulletin published an article suggesting distancing themselves from ecumenical organizations and pointing out that Orthodox Churches in Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia had not sent representatives to any ecumenical conferences since the war.30 At the same time, the Bulgarian government banned Exarch Stefan from participating in a conference organized by the London branch of the Ecumenical Association International

26. It is noteworthy that until 31 March 1946 the Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs was Prof. Petko Ogainov is an Anglophile who supported ecumenical initiatives of the Orthodox Church. In the next government of the Fatherland Front (March 31 - November 23, 1946), the communist Georgi Kulishev became Minister of Foreign Affairs.

27. Letter of Professor Stefan Tsankov to Exarch Stefan, June 23, 1946.

28. Protocol of the Holy Synod in full Composition No. 27, July 4, 1946. Op 1. A. E. 76.

29. Protocol of the Holy Synod in full Composition No. 15, April 1, 1947. Op 1. A. E. 78.

30. Църковен вестник, бр. 15-16, 18 април 1946 г.

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Fellowship of Reconciliation, which was scheduled to take place on July 18-24 at the Ecumenical Institute in Chateau de Bossey, near Geneva. The forum was intended to explore the specific needs of Christian churches whose buildings were damaged during the war and discuss the contribution of world Christianity to the reconstruction of post-war peace.31 Under pressure from the regime, Stefan was forced to decline the invitation, apologizing for not being able to send a delegate.32 In June, the Sofia Synod rejected another proposal to send Bulgarian theological students to a youth ecumenical conference.33
To some extent, these refusals were influenced by the Russian Orthodox Church in the USSR. In April 1947, Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow accompanied his Easter greetings to Exarch Stephen with warnings "about the practical hostility of non-Orthodoxy, which turns the holy missionary work into anti-Orthodox propaganda that is alien to Christ's commandment, sometimes difficult to distinguish from political action." 34 Alexy believed that Western Christians supported the ecumenical movement in the hope of finding a true spiritual life in it, but At the same time, he expressed doubt that ecumenism is a valid path to this goal. He wrote:

The observation of ecumenical paths over a number of years has not yet given our Russian Orthodox Church full confidence in the truth of this path and its conformity to the Orthodox concept of the Church. Our Church does not dare to join the ranks of the ecumenical movement alone, without securing the support of the fraternal Churches, or to object to this movement with a justified, though bitter, refusal.35
31. Letter from the London branch of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation to Exarch Stefan, 24 април 1947 г. // АЦИАИ. Ф. 2. Оп. 4.

32. Letter from Exarch Stefan to the London branch of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, 7 юли 1947 г. // АЦИАИ. Ф. 2. Оп. 4.

33. Protocol of the Holy Synod in full composition No. 20, June 10, 1947 / / Central Library of the Russian Federation 79lk. Op. 1. A. E. 78.

34. Letter of Alexey, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, to the Bulgarian Exarch Stefan, April 8, 1947 (registered by the administration of the Bulgarian Synod under vh. No. 3107, June 6, 1947) / / ATSIAI. F. 2. Op. 4.

35. Ibid.

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Despite this impact, BOC leaders tried to continue their involvement in the ecumenical movement. On October 8, 1947, Stefan Tsankov wrote to Dr. Hutchinson Cockburn of the WCC Department of Reconciliation and Inter-Church Assistance about the needs of the BOC. The letter was sent in continuation of the negotiations conducted by this ecumenical functionary during his visit to Sofia. According to Tsankov, the biggest problem for the BOC was the lack of paper for printing the Bible, the New Testament, the Gospel, liturgical books, as well as religious literature, including periodicals. He also requested basic theological books and studies published abroad, which the Bulgarian Church could not purchase on its own in the absence of financial resources. Tsankov also discussed scholarships for Bulgarian students allocated by the Ecumenical Council. He explained that most of them were not used because of the difficulty of obtaining foreign passports for Bulgarian citizens. At the same time, he mentions three possible fellows: Boyan Piperov, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Theology, Konstantin Tsyselkov, lecturer at Plovdiv Seminary, and Dimitar Pishmanov, employee of the Bulgarian Orthodox Youth Council (this organization was a member of the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through Churches). According to Tsankov, these theologians had a chance to get Swiss visas. He is also discussing the restoration of the hall in the residence of the Metropolitan of Sofia, which was the most convenient place for holding religious conferences, but was severely damaged during wartime air raids. At the same time, he recalls that Dr. Cockburn saw this place during his visit to Sofia and promised financial assistance for its restoration. Finally, Tsankov asks for literature, films, and projection devices for the Sunday school that the BOC planned to organize in its premises after the ban on religious instruction in public schools.36
Meanwhile, Exarch Stefan took parallel steps to convince the regime of the need for the BOC to participate in the ecumenical movement. On October 27, 1947, he wrote a letter to Kimon Georgiev, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Religious Affairs, in which-

36. Letter of Professor Stefan Tsankov to Exarch Stefan, October 8, 1947.

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rom expounded the benefits of such participation. The exarch noted that the Moscow Patriarchate was invited to join the movement. He listed eight non-Catholic Slavic churches in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, and the United States, as well as seven Protestant churches in Hungary, Romania, Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania that are members of the movement. Stefan did not fail to emphasize the loyal attitude of the Ecumenical Council in Geneva to the Slavic churches and peoples during the war. Then he pointed out the attempts of Greek ecumenical figures to defame Bulgaria and its Orthodox Church. Stefan recalled the initiative of the St. Sophia Synod to make an open appeal to Christian churches around the world in defense of the Bulgarian state and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In this regard, Stefan stressed the importance of the BOC's participation in post-war ecumenical forums and informed the Government that he had received an invitation to the third World Ecumenical Conference in Amsterdam, scheduled for the summer of 1948. He also expressed concern that the "Greek churches", namely the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and the Churches of Greece and Cyprus, will use this forum to launch a new anti-Bulgarian campaign. Finally, the Exarch discussed the intention of the Ecumenical Council of Churches to send a special delegation to Sofia in November 1947. For negotiations on the BOC's participation in the Amsterdam Forum. In this regard, he asked the Foreign Ministry to issue entry visas to the members of the delegation 37.

Ecumenical contacts of the BOC were not welcomed by the Directorate of Faiths, which at that time was headed by Communist functionary Dimitar Iliev. In his opinion, the visits to Bulgaria of representatives of the Geneva Council of Churches - Cockburn, Hewlett Johnson (Dean of the Archdiocese of Canterbury), Paul Garber (Bishop of the Methodist Church in Central and South-Eastern Europe) and Gene Nussbaum (Secretary General of the international organization for the Defense of Religious freedom) - were extremely dangerous for the country. He believed that the Ecumenical Council was a de facto Anglo-American organization that, "along the so-called religious line (except for

37. The delegation consisted of Bishop Ragervey of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands, Alfons Koechlin, President of the Federation of Swiss Churches and simultaneously Vice-President of the WCC, Viser't Hooft, General Secretary of the WCC, and Niels Ehrenstrom, Director of the WCC Research Department. Letter of Exarch Stefan to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, October 27, 1947.

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In the post-war period, Russia is now working to bring as many countries as possible into the imperialist camp led by the United States. The danger of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church joining the Ecumenical Council in Geneva exists mainly due to the connections of some of our church leaders with this ecumenical Council, which the Government is well aware of."38. He therefore considered it his main task to break all ties between the Bulgarian hierarchs and the ecumenical movement.

Despite the efforts of the Directorate of Faiths to restrict ecumenical contacts of the BOC, Exarch Stephen accepted the invitation of Anglicans to attend the Lambeth Ecumenical Conference.39 Since this forum coincided with the Pan-Orthodox Conference in Moscow, in which he had already agreed to participate, Stephen decided to send Metropolitan Paisius of Vrachan to England.40 At the same time, he tried to convince the Patriarch of Moscow that the Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian Churches should take part in the upcoming Lambeth and Amsterdam conferences. He argued that such participation would not allow the Greeks to speak on behalf of all Orthodoxy. He also pointed out the intention of the Romanian Orthodox Church to participate in both conferences. 41 His plan didn't work out. In April, Stefan received a letter from Patriarch Alexy advising the BOC to distance itself from Protestant churches, 42 and pointing out that the participation of 130 Christian churches would not make the Amsterdam Forum "all-church". Alexy believed that the participation of several Orthodox churches in the Amsterdam Forum is not an example to follow. In this regard, he expressed concern about the ecumenical view of the Church.

38. TSDA. F. 165. Op. 3. A. e. 128. L. 8-18.

39. Protocols of the Holy Synod in full Composition No. 13, March 24, 1948 and No. 29, April 23, 1948 / / Central Library of the Russian Orthodox Church No. 791k. Op. 1. A. E. 79. The first invitation came from Bishop S. Douglas Horsley of Gibraltar, who was a guest of the Bulgarian Synod at the beginning of 1948, the second "from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher."

40. Protocol of the Holy Synod in full composition No. 29, April 23, 1948 / / Central Library of the Russian Federation 791k. Op. 1. A. E. 79.

41. Letter of Exarch Stefan to Patriarch Alexy of Moscow, March 1, 1948.

42. Letter of Patriarch Alexy to Exarch Stefan, March 18, 1948 (registered in the Bulgarian Synod on April 8, 1948) / / CDA. f. 1318k. Op. 1. A. e. 2428.L. 3-8.

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unity. According to Alexy, the Orthodox have a different understanding of unity. He called out:

But we know that Orthodoxy recognizes only one unity - on the path to the kingdom of God; the desire of humanity for unity in worldly life, for deepening into the materialistic principles of earthly life, in its economic and social system-is rejected by Orthodox people who strive for "one thing for need" 43.

Moreover, the Moscow Patriarch did not share Stephen's point of view, according to which non-Orthodox Christian denominations honestly call for church unity and the implementation of Christian moral norms in life. The Patriarch also disagreed with Stephen's statement that in the last decade the ecumenical movement has paid more attention to the sacred and liturgical features of the Orthodox Church. According to Alexy, the decisions of ecumenical conferences since the late 1930s do not indicate any recognition of the authority of Orthodoxy. In this regard, he stressed that Orthodox churches are not afraid of being" swallowed up " by Protestantism.44 From Alexy's point of view, Orthodoxy does not need respect or sympathy from non-Orthodox people. At the same time, he stressed the importance of the future Moscow Conference, at which all Orthodox Churches will have the opportunity to discuss the ecumenical movement and come to a common position on the attitude towards it. He also noted that the Pan-Orthodox Meeting will discuss the role of Anglicans in the ecumenical movement and the negative attitude of the Catholic Church towards ecumenism.

In May 1948, the Bulgarian government explicitly requested that St. The Synod decided to break off relations with the Ecumenical Council in Geneva for the reason that it " pursues political goals: the struggle against communism and Bolshevism, and therefore the participation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in this movement will set it against the Bulgarian state, people and government, as well as the Soviet state and people, and will encourage the Bulgarian Church to be anti-state and anti-national figure-

43. Letter of Exarch Stefan to Patriarch Alexy of Moscow, March 1, 1948.

44. Ibid.

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public relations"45. Under such pressure, the Synod in Sofia decided not to participate in the Amsterdam Conference. At the same time, this decision does not explicitly state that the BOC is severing its ties with the ecumenical movement. In fact, Exarch Stefan continued to resist this anti-ecumenical policy even during the Moscow Pan-Orthodox Conference (July 8-18, 1948). He went to Moscow without having prepared a report on ecumenism in advance, as requested by the inviting party. 46 On July 10, Stefan made an attempt to find a middle way by giving an oral speech. However, after that, Metropolitan Nicholas of Krutitsky asked him to write an appeal to the World Council of Churches, in which he was to brand the service of the Catholic Church and the ecumenical movement to Anglo-American imperialism. According to declassified archival documents, the Exarch made several attempts to reject this "request". One of the members of the Bulgarian delegation reports that during the conference Stefan had several heart attacks, so he had to be given injections to return to normal 47. In the end, the Bulgarian Exarch supported the Moscow resolutions against the ecumenical movement.

However, upon his return to Sofia, Stephen did everything possible to delay their discussion and approval in the Holy Synod, and also postponed their publication in the Church Bulletin. He believed that in the absence of official recognition of the Moscow decisions, the BOC would be able to continue its relations with the ecumenical movement. This hope was fueled by an earlier letter from Patriarch Alexy, in which he pointed out the difference between the Pan-Orthodox council and the planned meeting in Moscow. According to this document, if the decisions of the former are binding on all Orthodox churches, then the decisions of the latter "will be followed only by those who agree with it, and, moreover, if the episcopate of the church agrees with its primate." In the same letter, the Moscow Patriarch also promised that " Sova-

45. Protocol of the Holy Synod in full composition No. 32, June 1, 1948 / / Central Library of the Russian Federation 791k. Op. 1. A. E. 79.

46. Отчет за участието на българската църковна делегация в Московското всеправославно съвещание до директора на изповеданията Димитър Илиев [вероятно, составлен свящ. Kliment Dimitrov, a member of the BKP and a member of the same delegation in July-September 1948] / / CDA. F. 1318k. Op. 1. A. E. 2318.

47. Ibid.

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the meeting will not make decisions for those churches who will not be present, and the freedom of those present will not be restricted by the will of the majority."48
In order to stop this resistance, the Bulgarian Communist government tried to use the "Priestly Union", whose governing body was in the hands of clerics - members of the BCP 49. On August 12, 1948, the Union decided to take measures to implement the Moscow resolutions. His statement was motivated by a certain vision of the international political and religious situation, which was expressed as follows: :

1. ...Indeed, the world today is in an uncertain and painful state, being divided into two camps: on the one hand, the Catholic and Protestant West, and on the other, the Orthodox East...

4. ...Today, the cradle of Protestantism, America, instead of issuing a new call for peace and brotherly love between people and nations, is singing the praises of atomic weapons and trumpeting a new war, a new destruction of human culture and civilization...

6. ... on the other hand, Protestantism, in its proud desire to gain the upper hand and oppose itself to Roman Papism, is making great efforts to win St. John the Baptist over to its side in this struggle. The Orthodox Church, acting mainly through the subterfuge of the ecumenical movement, which is planned in the work of the"World Council of Churches"...

7. ... the difference between Orthodoxy, on the one hand, and Catholicism and Protestantism, on the other, is fundamental and enormous and is connected only with the fact that Catholicism and Protestantism have departed from the true faith and from the true teaching of Christ...

8. ...this difference can only be overcome when the apostates return to the true church of Christ.50
48. Stefan Tsankov's report to His Beatitude Exarch Stefan, March 30, 1948.

49. Огнянов Л. Свещеническият съюз в България (1944-1955) // Религия и църква в България. Sophia: Издателска къща "Гутенберг". 1999. pp. 281-292.

50. TSDA. F. 165. Op. 3. A. E. 47. L. 1-3.

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However, Exarch Stefan did not allow this vision to become the official position of the BOC. Therefore, the Communist government took steps to replace him with a more obedient hierarch. 51 On September 6, 1948, Stefan was removed from the post of Metropolitan of Sofia and Bulgarian Exarch.52 According to the decree of the Council of Ministers, his deposition was intended to strengthen the BOC's commitment to the "camp of peace and democracy", its orientation towards the Moscow Patriarchate, and its distancing from the Ecumenical Council in Geneva.53 At the same time, Stefan Tsankov, another famous Bulgarian ecumenist, was placed under the supervision of state security agencies, and later dismissed from the staff of the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky and dismissed from the post of professor of the Faculty of Theology.54 Finally, at the end of 1948, the Bulgarian Synod gave its blessing to the publication of the Moscow resolutions in the Church Bulletin.55 At the same time, he decided to terminate the BOC's contacts with the ecumenical movement. 56 This state of affairs continued until the Khrushchev detente, when-again under external pressure-the BOC joined the World Council of Churches.

Bibliography / References

Archive materials

ЦДА - Централен държавен архив - София.

F. 1. - The Regency (1943-1946).

F. 165. - Комитет при Министерство на външните работи по въпросите на Българската православна църква и на религиозните култове.

F. 264k. - Министерство на вътрешните работи и народното здраве (МВРНЗ) (1879-1944).

F. 791к - Св. Синод на Българската православна църква.

F. 1318k. - Kirill, Patriarch of Bulgaria (Konstantin Markov Konstantinov) (1901-1971). ACIAI. F. 2. Op. 4.

ATSIAI-Archive of the Church Historical and Archival Institute-Sofia.

51. TSDA. F. 1. Op. 6. A. e. 653. L. 1-9.

52. Калканджиева Д. Българската православна църква и държавата, 1944-1953. С. 210-240.

53. TSDA. F. 165. Op. 3. A. E. 57. L. 1-2.

54. Методиев М. Човек под въпросителна // Християнство и култура. 2013. N 5 (82). pp. 17-28.

55. TSDA. F. 165. Op. 3. A. E. 37. L. 1-2.

56. TSDA. F. 165. Op. 3. A. E. 216. L. 8-12.

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Literature

Екзарх Стефан I Български. Documentary collection / ed. by L. Lyubenov. Sofia: Otvoreno obshchestvo Club, 2003.

Калканджиева Д. Българската православна църква и държавата, 1944-1953. Sofia: Albatros Publ., 1997.

Методиев М. Човек под въпросителна // Християнство и култура. 2013 N 5 (82). pp. 17-28.

Огнянов Л. Свещеническият съюз в България // Религия и църква в България. Sofia: Gutenberg Publishing House, pp. 281-292.

Пенджекова Р. Личността и делото на Екзарх Стефан в Българската историческа памет. Sofia, 2007.

Цанков С. Българската църква от Освобождението до настояще време // Годишник на Софийския университет - Богословски факултет Т. ХVI. 1938/39. Sofia, 1939: 1-372, 192-195.

Цанков С. Международното положение на Българската православна църква след освобождението на България // Годишник на Софийския университет - Богословски факултет. Т. Х. 1932/33. София, 1933. С. 1-130.

Archival materials

Tsentralen d'rzhaven arkhiv - Sofia [Central State Archive - Sofia]

F. 1. - Regentstvo (1943-1946) [Regency (1943-1946)].

F. 165. - Komitet pri Ministerstvo na v'nshnite raboti po v'prosite na B'lgarskata pravoslavna ts'rkva i na religioznite kultove [Committee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Bulgarian Orthodox Church and religious cults].

F. 264k. - Ministerstvo na v'treshnite raboti i narodnoto zdrave (MVRNZ) (1879-1944) [Ministry of Interior and Public Health (MVRNZ) (1879-1944)].

F. 791k - Sv. Sinod na B'lgarskata pravoslavna ts'rkva [St. Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church].

F. 1318k. - Kiril, patriarkh B'lgarski (Konstantin Markov Konstantinov) (1901-1971) [Cyril, Bulgarian patriarch (Konstantin Markov Konstantinov) (1901-1971)].

Literature

Kalkandjieva, D. (2014) The Russian Orthodox Church, 1917-1948: From decline to resurrection. London: Routledge.

Radić, R., Rohtmets, P. (2016) "The Process of Religious and Political Rapprochement between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in 1920s and 1930s - An International Ecumenical Perspective", Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe 36(1): 42-89.

Liubenova, L. (ed.) (2003) Ekzarkh Stefan I B'lgarski. Dokumentalen sbornik [Exarch Stefan I of Bulgaria. Collection of documents]. Sofiia: Klub Otvoreno obshchestvo.

Kalkandjieva, D. (1997) B'lgarskata pravoslavna ts'rkva i d'rzhavata, 1944-1953 [Bulgarian Orthodox Church and State, 1944-1953. Sofiia: Albatros.

Metodiev, M. (2013) "Chovek pod v'prositelna" ["Person under question"], Khristiianstvo i kultura 5(82): 17-28.

Ognianov, L. (1999) "Sveshchenicheskiiat s'iuz v B'lgariia" ["The priesthood Union in Bulgaria"], in Religiia i ts'rkva v B'lgariia, ss. 281-292. Sofia: Izdatelska k"shcha "Gutenberg'.

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Pendzhekova, R. (2007) Lichnostta i deloto na Ekzarkh Stefan v B'lgarskata istoricheska pamet [Personality and doings of Bulgarian Exarch Stefan in Bulgarian historical memory]. Sofia.

Tsankov, S. (1939) "B'lgarskata ts'rkva ot Osvobozhdenieto do nastoiashche vreme" ["Bulgarian Church from Liberation to the present time"], in Godishnik na Sofiiskiia universitet - Bogoslovskifakultet T. KhVI. 1938/зд, ss. 1-372, 192-195. Sofia.

Tsankov, S. (1933) Mezhdunarodnoto polozhenie na B'lgarskata pravoslavna ts'rkva sled osvobozhdenieto na B'lgariia" ["International position of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church after the liberation of Bulgaria"], in Godishnik na Sofiiskiia universitet - Bogoslovski fakultet. T. Kh. 1932/33, ss. 1-130. Sofia.

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