List of patriarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church

The following is a list of patriarchs of All Bulgaria, heads of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church was recognized as an autocephalous archbishopric in 870. In 918 or 919 the Bulgarian monarch Simeon I ( 893–927) summoned a church council to raise the Bulgarian Archbishopric to a completely independent patriarchate. With the Byzantine–Bulgarian Treaty of 927, which affirmed the victory of the First Bulgarian Empire over the Byzantine Empire in the War of 913–927, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople recognized the Bulgarian Patriarchate.

List Title Primate Portrait Birth name Reign SeatArchbishops of Bulgaria (870–918)Archbishop Joseph 870– 877Drastar/Pliska George 877– 893 Gregory PresbyterJohn the Exarch (?) 893–s. 917 Drastar/Preslav Leontius 917– 918/919 PreslavPatriarchs of Bulgaria (918/919–1018) Patriarch Leontius 918/919–927 Preslav Patriarch Demetrius 927– 930Drastar/PreslavPatriarch Sergius 931– 940 Gregory 940– 944 Damian 944– 972 Preslav/Drastar, Sredets Germanus 972– 990 Sredets, Voden, Moglena, Prespa Nicolaus 991– 1000 Prespa (?) Philip 1000– 1015Ohrid David John of Debar 1015–1018After the fall of the First Bulgarian Empire under Byzantine domination in 1018 the Church was deprived of its patriarchal title and reduced to the rank of an autocephalous Archbishopric of Ohrid; in 1767 it was put under the tutelage of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.A separate Bulgarian Church was created with the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1186.Archbishops of Bulgaria (1186–1235) Primate Basil I 1186–1232Tarnovo Primate Saint Joachim I 1232–1246Patriarchs of Bulgaria (1235–1394) Patriarch Saint Joachim I 1235–1246TarnovoPatriarch Vissarion 1246 Basil II 1246– 1254 Basil III 1254–1263 Joachim II 1263–1272 Ignatius 1272–1277 Saint Macarius 1277–1284 Joachim III 1284–1300 Dorotheus 1300– 1315 Romanus 1315– 1325 Theodosius I 1325–1337 Joannicius I 1337– 1340 Symeon 1341–1348 Theodosius II 1348–1363 Joannicius II 1363–1375 Saint Euthymius 1375–1394Exarchs of the Bulgarians (1872–1915) Exarch Hilarion Ivan Ivanov 12 February 1872 – 16 February 1872Constantinople, Ottoman EmpireExarch Anthim I Atanas Mihaylov Chalakov 16 February 1872 – 14 April 1877Joseph ILazar Yovchev24 April 1877 – 20 June 1915 Sofia, BulgariaVicars – Chairmen of the (1915–1945)Metropolitan Petar Popstefanov Ivanov Popov 1915 – 20 June 1918Sofia Vasil Mihaiylov June 1918 – 22 October 1921 Marin Penchov Pelov 22 October 1921 – 28 March 1928 Clement Grigoriy Ivanov Shivachev 28 March 1928 – 3 May 1930 Nikola Dimitrov Karaabov 4 May 1930 – 15 October 1944 Stefan I Stoyan Popgeorgiev Shokov 16 October 1944 – 21 January 1945Exarch of the Bulgarians (1945–1948) Exarch Stefan I Stoyan Popgeorgiev Shokov 21 January 1945 – 6 September 1948 SofiaVicars – Chairmen of the (1948–1953)Metropolitan Dimitar Todorov Chavdarov 8 November 1948 – 4 January 1949Sofia Alexandar Raykov Ankov 4 January 1949 – 3 January 1951 Cyril Konstantin Markov Konstantinov 3 January 1951 – 10 May 1953Patriarchs of Bulgaria (1953–present) Patriarch Cyril Konstantin Markov Konstantinov 10 May 1953 – 7 March 1971SofiaPatriarch Maxim Marin Naydenov Minkov 4 July 1971 – 6 November 2012 Neophyte Simeon Nikolov Dimitrov 24 February 2013 – 13 March 2024 Daniil Atanas Trendafilov Nikolov 30 June 2024 – present

Timeline since 1953 This is a graphical timeline of the patriarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church since 1953. They are listed in order of first assuming office.

The following chart lists the patriarchs by lifespan, with the years outside of their tenure in blue.

List of patriarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church

Bron en licentie