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RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN BULGARIA: HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION

Religious Tolerance as a Subject of Development . Locke's Toleration Letters"(1689) restrictions for Catholics French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789) freedom of religion as a civil rightUN Declaration of Human Rights (1948) FR as a fundamental right. Separation of Church

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RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN BULGARIA: HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION

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    1. RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN BULGARIA: HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE & CONTEMPORARY SITUATION Daniela Kalkandjieva Sofia University, Bulgaria

    2. Religious Tolerance as a Subject of Development Locke’s “Toleration Letters”(1689) – restrictions for Catholics French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789) – freedom of religion as a civil right UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948) – FR as a fundamental right

    3. Separation of Church & State as a Guarantee for FR American Wall of Separation – does not affect the public sphere French laďcité – affects the presence of religion in the public sphere, but respects the private one Communist separation of church and state – suppressed religion in both spheres

    4. The Bulgarian Case No conditions for true religious tolerance & freedom of religion until 1989 Monopoly or domination of one or anther religion (Christianity/Islam) or irreligious worldview Its currently state of religious tolerance reflects the historical experience of Bulgarians

    5. The Ottoman Experience Orthodox Christianity lost its monopoly as the state religion and became a tolerated one Experience of religious diversity The Millet model of co-existing of nationalities that did not share the same historical, religious and cultural background The community of Orthodox Bulgarians co-existed with different religion, not with different Christian denominations (Post-Reformist Western Europe)

    6. Western vs. Ottoman Toleration Western – result of religious wars & peace treaties (Peace of Westphalia 1648) and state (secular) legislation. From a toleration of religious communities to legal guarantees for the individual rights of believers Ottoman – Orthodox people – subjected and without negotiating their status, but were granted internal religious autonomy (Millet system) Ottoman toleration: community-based (includes specific social status, taxes, church structures and the CP’s leadership); weak normative/legal grounds and dependent on the good will of the Ottoman authorities

    7. The Ethno-Religious grounds of the Bulgarian Nation Advent of nationalism – from religion-based millets to ethno-religious millets Bulgarian Exarchate – legitimatization of the Bulgarian nation as an ethno-religious entity (conversion to Orthodoxy as a reunion with the nation) Pressure and forcible conversions of non-Orthodox Bulgarians - Catholics, Protestants and Pomaks (cumulative effect – in 1912/13, 1930s &1970s,in comparison with the Muslims of Turkish and Roma origin. Intolerance on ethnic grounds (Turks, Jews, Roma) - against Turkish nationalism in the 1930s; - fighting the “fifth column” (Turks and Jews) during the Cold War - the renaming of Muslim Roma (1960s); the Renaming of Bg. Turks (1980s)

    8. Tolerance to Religious Minorities BOC’s tolerance to Armenians, White Russian refugees, Jews BOC about Jews (1943-1944) … the principle of racism cannot be justified from the Christian Doctrine … The racist principle, according to which certain members of society must be persecuted and expelled, restricted and deprived of rights just on the grounds of belonging to a particular race, the Jewish on in this case, also cannot be justified from the point of view of the Christian moral code. (Holy Synod’s address to the Bulgarian Prime-Minister, 5 April 1943) 1986 – the Synod and the Chief Mufti Office declared before the US Ambassador to Sofia that the freedom of religion is not subject of restrictions by the regime.

    9. Bulgarian Legislation & Religious Tolerance (1879-1946) Tarnovo Constitution (1879) Community-based recognition (autonomous administration – Art. 39 for BOC & Art. 42 & - for rel. minorities; often supported by international and bilateral treaties and conventions, e.g. Berlin Treaty or in 1909, 1913, 1925 with Turkey Emphasis on the collective religious rights and explicit recognition of the freedom of religion in the case of non-Orthodox believers (Art. 40), but not for the Orthodox ones: Orthodoxy is dominant (Art. 37) and of the dynasty (Art. 38)

    10. Bulgarian Legislation & Religious Tolerance Under Communism Reducing the autonomy of rel. institutions (civil marriage 1946, ban on rel. instruction in school) 1944-1947 Dimitrov’s Constitution (1947) pushed religion out of public areas where it had played traditional role for centuries Marriage, family and children under the protection of the state (76, 77) school & education – exceptional sphere of state control (79)

    11. From collective to individual religious rights (1947) Introduced the separation of church & state (78.2), but no guarantees for religious autonomy & end of the domination of Orthodoxy FR - No privileges on rel. grounds; no propaganda of rel. hatred (73) Introduced the freedom of consciousness (78.1) 1947 – second plan policy of religious restrictions in the case of BOC, Catholic and Protestant churches (end of the external connections of the Bulgarian religious organizations with those abroad (WCC, Vatican…); Armenians, Jews and Muslims – ethnic treatment 1949 – Law on Religious Denominations (1949)

    12. The Constitution of the “triumphant socialism” (1971) education declared to be “based on the achievements of the contemporary science and on Marx-Lenin’s ideology” (Art. 45.3) Compulsory upbringing of the youth in communist spirit (Art. 39) The freedom of religion was replaced with the freedom of religious rituals as well as of antireligious propaganda (Art. 53.1) Open attacks against religion in the private sphere (of renaming of Pomaks in 1972-1974) Towards a homogenous nation, attacks against the ethnic minorities rather than to the religious minorities .

    13. Constitution (1991) & FR Restored role of religion in the public space with emphasis on the individual rights The change of religion is guaranteed (37.1) “The practicing of any religion should be unrestricted.” (13.1) BUT FR “shall not be used against the national security, public order, people’s health and the freedoms of other citizens”(37.2) Rel. institutions and communities, and rel. beliefs shall not be used to political ends (13.4) Ban on organizations inciting racial, ethnic and religious enmity (44.2) Rel. belief cannot serve as grounds for the exemptions from the execution of obligations, prescribed by the Constitution and law (58.2)

    14. Community Rights vs. Individual Rights “Eastern Orthodox Christianity shall be considered the traditional religion in the Republic of Bulgaria.” (13.3) “The traditional nature of Eastern Orthodoxy expresses its cultural and historical role for the Bulgarian state, as well as its present significance for the state life and especially by its impact on the system of official holidays.” (Const. Court 18.02.1998)

    15. New Law on Religious Denominations (2002) (1) The traditional denomination in Republic of Bulgaria is Eastern Orthodoxy. It has a historical role for the Bulgarian State and is of actual importance for the state life. Its voice and representative is the autocephalous Bulgarian Orthodox Church that under the name ‘Patriarchate’ is the [legitimate] successor of the Bulgarian Exarchate and is a member of the United, Holy, Ecumenical and Apostolic Church. It is governed by the Holy Synod and represented by the Bulgarian Patriarch, who also is the Metropolitan of Sofia. (2) The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is a judicial entity. Its structure and government are established by its statutes. (Art. 10)

    16. Consequences & Questions Interreligious tensions (tax exemptions, evangelical churches) Intrareligious relations (Alternative Synod, ECHR) The principle of freedom of religion proved its efficiency in the defense of the religious rights on individual grounds but its neglect to religion as a community phenomenon limits its ability to guarantee religious tolerance in multi-religious societies. If religious community matters than can we make use of the millet model or some of its elements to solve the problems in the field of religious tolerance?

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