Bulgaria

Unity makes strength

Religion in Bulgaria has been dominated by Christianity since its adoption as the state religion in 865. The dominant form of the religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity within the fold of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. During the Ottoman rule of the Balkans, Sunni Islam spread in the territories of Bulgaria, and it remains a significant minority today. The Catholic Church has roots in the country since the Middle Ages, and Protestantism arrived in the 19th century. In the latest years, there has been a decline of both the historic religions of Bulgaria-Orthodox Christianity and Islam, which shrank respectively from 86% in 1992 to 84% in 2001 to 61% in 2011 and from 13% in 1992 to 12% in 2001 to 8% in 2011. In the 2011 census, the question about the religious affiliation became optional, and thus 21.8% of the total population didn't answer. Until the census of 1992, Bulgarians were obliged to declare the historic religious belonging of their parents or ancestors, while since 2001 people were allowed to declare personal belief in a religion or unbelief in any religion . After the end of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946–1990), the revival of Islam was stronger than Orthodox Christianity.[3] The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has seen the most serious decline from 2001 onwards. The church's credibility has been undermined since the 1990s by its collaboration with the erstwhile Communist regime,[4] fully revealed with the opening of the state's secret archives in 2012, according to which eighty percent of the clergy were members of the secret police. The Constitution of Bulgaria designates Orthodox Christianity as the "traditional" religion of the country but guarantees the free exercise of any religion. Bulgaria has not experienced any significant ethnic or religious confrontation, unlike the case in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The religious communities in the country coexist peacefully. In fact, the capital Sofia is known for its so-called Square of Religious Tolerance; the St Nedelya Church, St Joseph Cathedral, Banya Bashi Mosque and Sofia Synagogue are located within metres of each other in the very centre of the city.