Bulgarian Exarchate

The Bulgarian Exarchate (Bulgarian: Българска екзархия Bâlgarska ekzarkhia) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953.

The Exarchate (a de facto autocephaly) was unilaterally (without the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch) promulgated on May 23 1872, in the Bulgarian church in Constantinople in pursuance of the March 12 1870 firman of Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire.

The foundation of the Exarchate was the direct result of the struggle of the Bulgarian Orthodox against the domination of the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople in the 1850s and 1860s; the secession from the Patriarchate was officially condemned by the Council in Constantinople in September 1872 as schismatic.

Read more about Bulgarian Exarchate:  National Awakening, Struggle For Autonomy, Establishment of The Bulgarian Exarchate, Bulgarian Schism, Territory of The Bulgarian Exarchate

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