Author ORCID Identifier
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3009-9411
Abstract
After the First Pan-Orthodox Conference on the island of Rhodes (1961), the relations between the Orthodox Church and the Old Catholic Church were increasingly activated and strengthened, with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church taking an active part, which has a established tradition in this direction, mainly because of the activity of Prof. protopresbyter Stefan Tsankov between the two world wars. His work was continued by other theologians as representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the negotiations with the Old Catholics for unification, which were held in various forums. In the course of proposed article, their names and activities are discussed in detail. Between the 60s and 80s years of the 20th century, these negotiations were extremely intense. But despite these activities and the work done by the meetings of the Mixed Theological Commission from 1975 to 1987, the negotiations with the Old Catholics did not lead to the desired union. On the contrary, the differences remain, we could even say, they further deepen, but the hope for the union of Orthodox and Old Catholics continues to exist to this day, testimony to which is the working group established for this purpose by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Utrecht Archdiocese. Its work is expected to give new impetus to the discussion on the unification of the two churches.
Recommended Citation
Yovchev, Ivan
(2024)
"Bulgarian Orthodox Theologians as Participants in the Negotiations for Church Unification with the Old Catholic Church in the Second Half of the 20th Century – according to archival sources and research,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 44
:
Iss.
9
, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2229.2555
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol44/iss9/6