site.btaBulgarian Patriarch and Atlantic Council of Bulgaria Clash over Idea for Renaming St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Patriarch Daniil, the head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and the Atlantic Council of Bulgaria (ACB) have clashed over an idea for renaming the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia. The Patriarch said in an interview on National Radio late last week that the proponents of the renaming are not familiar with the matter and that a possible renaming would go against the will of the donors who helped build it. Reacting to that on Sunday, ACB put out a statement urging Patriarch Daniil to apologize for his remark in the radio interview, in which he suggested that those who want the name of the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral to be changed are "kinless."  

ACB said it is unacceptable for a church leader to use the word "kinless" to describe a large segment of society. "Never before in the 70-year-long history of the institution of the Patriarch in modern Bulgaria has its prelate taken the liberty of issuing such a public affront to people who do not share his view on a given matter," the organization said.

The St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, one of the symbols of the Bulgarian capital, was conceived as a sign of gratitude to Russia for liberating Bulgaria from Ottoman Turkish rule in 1878. It was consecrated in 1924, forty-two years after its construction began. The cathedral is dedicated to Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (1221-1263), a prince who played an important role in Russia's medieval history.

Patriarch Daniil made the controversial remark in a Bulgarian National Radio interview on December 13. Asked to comment on calls to rename the patriarchal cathedral, which have resurfaced in connection with the centenary of its consecration, Daniil said: "I think this is a big misunderstanding. The people who have the idea don't know what they are talking about. And I am convinced that it comes from non-ecclesiastical circles." He noted that virtually the whole Bulgarian nation responded to the authorities' request to donate funding for the project at the time. "And I ask, do we, their heirs, respect the will and the efforts of the donors for this church? Do we ever think about that? What are we? Shall we call ourselves kinless?"

The controversy about the name of the cathedral has resonated over the decades. Some say Alexander Nevsky was a Russian conqueror and an enemy of Europe.