Orthodoxy in Bulgaria

Orthodoxy in Bulgaria

The Eastern Orthodox Church in Bulgaria has deep roots, dating back to the 5th and 7th centuries, when the Slavs and the Bulgars, respectively, were converted to Christianity with adopting it by the First Bulgarian Empire from the Byzantine Empire. Prior to that date, Christianity had spread in the area during the Roman and early Byzantine times. After the Great Schism, the Bulgarians remained faithful to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

As of the last census (2001) most of the inhabitants (82.6%) are Orthodox, almost all of which are at least nominally, members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the national church. The church has 13 dioceses in Bulgaria, and another 2 in Europe and America.

See also