It is known that in 2011, of the 15 metropolitans serving on the Bulgarian Holy Synod, 13 had been collaborators with the Bulgarian State Security service, one had been an agent of the KGB, and only one had no connection to those structures because of his young age. Despite the expressions of repentance offered by a small number of former informants, nothing has changed.

Archimandrite Nikanor of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, abbot of the Monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian, said this in an interview with LF.

According to him, the Kremlin continues to dictate every step taken by the Bulgarian Church to this day.

“During the Soviet Union, the KGB worked to divide society in Western countries. All of those uniformed specialists remained in place after its collapse. There was a brief pause during the Yeltsin years, but later they became indispensable once again. This time, however, they were no longer operating under the banner of the world proletarian revolution, but beneath church banners,” the archimandrite stressed.

He also noted that the Church in Bulgaria would ultimately do whatever Moscow instructed.

“The state lacks expertise in strictly canonical matters. There used to be a church department within the security services, but it was closed long ago, and its functions were assumed by the Russian department. If such expertise still existed within the state institutions, President Radev would have received sound advice regarding sanctions against Patriarch Kirill. Instead, after consulting Patriarch Daniil, he faced the first wave of public protest and the contempt of his Western partners. Of course, the Church has the necessary mechanisms, but it will still do whatever the Kremlin orders,” Nikanor stressed.