Alfa, Macedonia: Bulgaria makes priests policemen who struggle with Macedonian Orthodox Church

FOCUS News Agency
Southeast Europe and Balkans
9/12/2011

Skopje. The Bulgarian church was full of informers, comments the Macedonian television station Alfa.

Emigrants’ newspaper Bulgaria Today published an article by Georgi Hristov, the author of the book “The Church in America,” who claims that the Bulgarian secret police recruited priests in order to prevent the Macedonian Orthodox Church from expanding.

“In the 1970s when finding out that the Communist ideology was collapsing, the State Security carried out a large-scale operation and recruited priests from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in order to cheer up the Bulgarian character and oppose Macedonians’ strong desire to go to Macedonian and not Bulgarian churches. According to Hristov an agent nicknamed Boyko occupied the top place in the hierarchy and he is believed to have been a metropolitan bishop from the American eparchy. He was complaining of the growing influence of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, because it enjoyed the support of the Yugoslav diplomacy, which is bigger than the Bulgarian one. Bulgarian Deputy Interior Minister Lyubomir Popov sent them a message from Sofia that the solution should be sought through sparking conflicts,” the television says.

“When you come across Skopje, slap it.” This is the solution to the problem with the Macedonian Orthodox Church, say the Bulgarian authorities.

That’s why the Bulgarian Orthodox Church had to make a list of priests who had to be trained to complete the task – to terminate the strong influence of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. According to the State Security papers, neither money, nor energy had to be saved, Alfa says.

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