site.btaProsecutors Appeal Court's Refusal to Cancel Registration of Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria

Sofia City Prosecution Office announced Thursday that it has submitted an interlocutory appeal against a refusal by the Sofia City Court to cancel the registration of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria. In the appeal, prosecutors argue that the court incorrectly dismissed the application of amendments to the Religious Denominations Act (in force as of February 4, 2025), wrongly concluding that the changes violate the European Convention on Human Rights and infringe on constitutionally protected freedoms - namely, freedom of association and religion.

Under the amended law, all religious organizations in Bulgaria must update their registration if their names include the word "Orthodox" or similar terms. This requirement stems from Article 10, Paragraph 1 of the law, which states that Eastern Orthodoxy is the traditional religion in Bulgaria. The Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria did not meet the deadline for compliance and failed to amend its charter accordingly.

As a result, both the Sofia City Prosecution Office and the Religious Denominations Directorate at the Council of Ministers filed motions to terminate the church’s registration and initiate liquidation proceedings. The prosecution's appeal challenges the lower court’s reasoning that the legal amendments contradict the Bulgarian Constitution. According to prosecutors, if the court believed the amendments were unconstitutional, it should have referred the matter to the Constitutional Court.

The appeal further notes that each state has the discretion to regulate religious organizations in a way that balances national interests with individual rights, a principle supported by the European Convention on Human Rights. While the right to peaceful assembly and association - including membership in religious and professional organizations—is protected, it may be lawfully restricted under national legislation to safeguard public security, morals, or the rights and freedoms of others.

The appeal has been submitted to the Sofia Court of Appeal, requesting it to overturn the lower court’s decision and grant the motions filed by the Religious Denominations Directorate and the prosecution.

Decades-long legal battle

The Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria (OCOCB) traces its beginnings to 1968, when the Bulgarian Orthodox Church decided to switch from the Julian Calendar to the Revised Julian Calendar. Some of the clergy and adherents of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church disagreed with the abandonment of the Julian Calendar. There were also divergences over other doctrinal and canonical points, as well as with respect to the degree of autonomy of the church vis-a-vis the communist regime. As a result, the "Old Calendarists", mostly centred on a convent in Knyazhevo (on the outskirts of Sofia) disaffiliated themselves from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, which in turn disavowed them.

In 1993 the OCOCB applied for registration to the Religious Denominations Directorate. The request was left without a formal reply. By 2013 that church had 24 priests and about 2,000 adherents. In the absence of legal personality, it could not erect or own places of worship and was unable to receive donations, formally employ its clergy, or carry on business related to its religious practices.

In February 2012 the Sofia City Court refused to register the OCOCB, holding that the applicant church could not have a name identical to that of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church or use its assets, and it was beyond doubt that its name was identical.

The OCOCB appealed that refusal of registration, submitting that the Religious Denominations Act prohibited the simultaneous registration of religious denominations with truly identical names but did not bar the registration of more than one religious community from the same denomination and arguing that many Evangelical, Baptist and other churches from one and the same denomination had already been registered. The Sofia Appellate Court upheld that refusal on April 23, 2012. In a final ruling of March 29, 2013, the Supreme Court of Cassation refused to admit the appeal for examination.

The OCOCB then applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) which, by a judgment dated April 20, 2021, held that the right of the applicant church's adherents to freedom of religion and to an effective remedy had been violated. The ECtHR awarded the applicant EUR 20,180 in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages and costs and expenses.

In November 2022, the Sofia City Court again refused an application for registration of the OCOCB, and in February 2023 the Sofia Appellate Court left that refusal standing.

Acting on a cassation appeal against the intermediate-appellate-review judgment, the Supreme Court of Cassation held on December 16, 2024 that the expression "Old Calendar" included in the name is sufficiently distinctive of the newly established religious institution and also expresses the differences of the religious community with respect to the religious feasts. The Court rejected the argument that recognition by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate and the rest of the local Eastern Orthodox churches can be inferred as a condition for the registration of another Eastern Orthodox religious institution. The Supreme Court judgment states that a registration of the cassation appellant could not possibly affect any rights of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate and its adherents. "That religious institution, while existing for centuries, has undoubtedly shared in the consolidation of Bulgarian national spirit and statehood and at present brings together the majority of Orthodox Christians in this country. It is monolithic and authoritative and enjoys the exclusive respect of institutions and society. At the same time, the requested registration is for a small religious community which has existed for 30 years and does not lay any claims to the internal organization and the assets of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate," the Court concluded, effecting the entry of a religious institution named "Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria" into the Register of Religious Denominations with the Sofia City Court. 

The decision was deplored by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, as well as the executive and legislative power branches, and as a result of that, in January 2025, Parliament adopted conclusively revisions to the Religious Denominations Act, which define the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate as the sole representative of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The bill was backed by 186 MPs in the 240-seat legislature. The support came from all parliamentary groups, with one MP from Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria voting "against". The amendment does not allow registration of another denomination containing in its name the word "Orthodox" or related words.