Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria
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| Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 29, 1914 (age 92) |
Patriarch Maxim (Bulgarian: Патриарх Максим) (born Marin Minkov, October 29, 1914, Oreshak) is the current head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
He was the second of two children of Nayden Minkov Rachev, but very little is known about his parents' background. He was educated only in his native mountain village of Oreshak but from his late childhood he became a novice monk in the Troyan Monastery and then studied Orthodox Theology at Sofia University. He took Holy Orders in 1941 and became a bishop in the diocese of Branit fifteen years later.
In 1960 he was elected Metropolitan of Lovech on October 30, 1960, and during this time, despite the atmosphere of persecution under Todor Zhivkov, Maxim was able to win enough favour with the Politburo to be a certainty for election as Patriarch on July 4, 1971 after Patriarch Cyril died.
His long reign as Patriarch has been fraught with great trouble - even after the collapse of Communism less than 1% of Orthodox in Bulgaria attend church on a regular basis.[citation needed] In 2004, many of Bulgaria's priests turned against Maxim when it was revealed he had closely collaborated with the Communist regime. However, Maxim was able to take control of the parishes in which those priests were operating and has at least temporarily prevented any schismatic threats within the Church.
| The Current Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs |
| Ancient Patriarchates |
|---|
| Bartholomew I (Cons.) | Theodoros II (Alex.) | Ignatius IV (Hazim) (Ant.) | Theophilos III (Jeru.) |
| Autocephalous Churches |
| Alexius II (RU) | Ilia II (GE) | Pavle (RS) | Teoctist (RO) | Maxim (BG) Chrysostomos II (CY) | Christodoulos (GR) | Sawa (PL) | Anastasios (AL) | Christopher (CZ/SK) |
| Preceded by Cyril |
Patriarch of Bulgaria 1971— |
Succeeded by incumbent |
