Author ORCID Identifier
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6909-8016
Abstract
The article examines the adoption and implementation of Soviet models in Bulgarian state policy toward the Bulgarian Orthodox Church following the communist takeover on September 9, 1944. Situating the Bulgarian case within a broader comparative framework, the study traces key continuities between Soviet church–state relations after the October Revolution of 1917—particularly as was institutionalized during the Stalinist period—and their subsequent application in Bulgaria. Drawing on extensive archival materials from Bulgarian and Russian repositories, the article demonstrates that all major decisions concerning the Church were closely coordinated with, and often directly approved by, Moscow. Beyond repression and legal restriction, the analysis highlights mechanisms of economic marginalization, administrative control, engineered schisms, and the instrumentalization of ecclesiastical authority for domestic and international political purposes. At the same time, the study shows that the effectiveness of this Soviet template was facilitated by pre-existing social, intellectual, and ecclesiastical vulnerabilities within Bulgarian society and the Church itself. By examining the interaction between external imposition and internal preconditions, the article contributes to a more nuanced understanding of church–state relations under communism and the long-term impact of totalitarian governance on religious life in Eastern Europe.
Recommended Citation
Karavaltchev, Ventzislav Gueorgiev
(2026)
"The Soviet Template and Its Application: Bulgarian State Policy Toward The Bulgarian Orthodox Church After 1944,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 46
:
Iss.
3
, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2229.2806
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol46/iss3/2