Catholic Church in Bulgaria concerned over new religion law

The Catholic minority in the country may be prohibited from receiving any foreign financial assistance

Boyan Georgiev (Photo by stock.adobe.com)

Published May 25, 2018

Bulgaria is planning to change its laws on religion in a bid to limit the influence of certain Muslim countries but the proposed changes include prohibiting foreign financing for all religions, a major concern for the tiny Catholic Church that depends on foreign aid.

Responding to the rise of radical Islam, particularly in southern Bulgaria, a Nationalist Party parliamentarian has proposed changes to the laws governing religion previously adopted during the 2000s.

The lawmaker also met with the leaders of the three large major political parties (Citizens for European Development in Bulgaria or GERB) and the opposition (Bulgarian Socialist Party or PSB, and the Rights and Liberties Party or DPC) to prepare a new draft law.

However, this was done "without any consultation," according to Father Daniel Gillier, a French Assumptionist stationed in Plovdiv.

The new draft law, which was presented to the single parliamentary chamber on May 4, is yet to be discussed.

But the Bulgarian Catholic Church is already concerned over the consequences that the forthcoming changes may involve.

Foreign financing for minority religions to be prohibited

In effect, the proposed changes provide for government financing of religious faiths that can claim membership of more than 1 percent of the population to the level of five euros per believer.

On the other hand, "foreign financing of all religions will be prohibited without prior approval of the Directorate of Religions," Bishop Christo Projkov, the Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarch of Sofia for Byzantine Slavic Catholic Bulgarians and president of the Bulgarian bishops' conference, told Italian Catholic agency SIR.

According to the most recent census, 60 percent of Bulgaria's inhabitants are Orthodox while 8 percent are Muslim, including both Sunni and Shia. However, Catholics represent only 0.66 percent of the population totaling around 60,000 people and Protestants only 0.87 percent.

"The government has always tried to be tolerant of religious minorities," said Bishop Projkov, "but this tolerance will be greatly compromised if the draft law is not amended."

In fact, the Catholic minority in Bulgaria, which is spread over three dioceses, two of which are Latin and one Byzantine Slavic, may be prohibited from receiving any foreign financial assistance.

"Without foreign aid, we will find it difficult to survive," said Father Gillier.

Risk of division among faiths

In addition, the new law risks "creating a division between faiths that have been present in Bulgaria for centuries because government funding will go only to the Orthodox Church and to Muslims," said Bishop Projkov.

"Aid to the various religions may also have a ceiling of 7 million euros based on the number of believers," Father Gillier said.

Moreover, for religions with fewer than 1 percent of the population, including the Catholic Church, it will no longer be possible to open schools or to allow a visiting foreigner to preach unless accompanied by a Bulgarian.

"We don't even know if a foreigner who has stayed in Bulgaria for a long period will be able to preach," said Father Gillier, who has lived there for 24 years.

Anticipating pressure from the European Union

The Catholic Church therefore plans to propose several modifications to the draft new law.

"Given that the three major parties have agreed to present this law, any challenge to it can only come from elsewhere," said Father Gillier.

"We hope that the European Union will find a way to exercise pressure for changes in the text," he said.