The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has long tried to conceal the degree of its commitment to the Russian Orthodox Church, the peak of which came with the election of the pro-Russian Patriarch Daniil. Despite attempts to balance between the ROC and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, its internal beliefs do not allow it to conceal its preferences. The BOC exerted pressure on Bulgarian institutions in order not to support sanctions against the Russian Patriarch Kirill. Patriarch Daniil also makes efforts to present his position as neutral, concealing his obvious preference for the Moscow Patriarchate at the expense of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. But there comes a time when such "strategic" duplicity can no longer be maintained.
It is no coincidence that Archimandrite Nikanor publicly declared his support for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, recognized as autocephalous by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This act can hardly be viewed only as a theological position. It is also an open disagreement with the course that Patriarch Daniil is following in relation to Moscow - a course that, according to his critics, increasingly coincides with the interests of the Kremlin.
The growing tension in the BOC is hardly accidental. It is likely to deepen as the war develops, especially if the initiative on the battlefield and the political support of the West continue to shift in favor of Ukraine. In such a situation, the Kremlin has less and less need for cautious, veiled support and more and more need for clearly stated loyalty. Which it demands from the BOC and the Bulgarian government, and this puts them in a "borderline" position.
In this sense, Archimandrite Nikanor's statement does not simply express a different opinion - it accelerates the process of inevitable differentiation. If the leadership of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church continues to place relations with the Moscow Patriarchate above the unity of the Orthodox world around the Ecumenical Patriarchate and above its own independence, internal opposition will be difficult to avoid.
Because the war in Ukraine has long been fought not only with weapons. It is also fought for influence over institutions, including churches. In such times, the space for ambiguity quickly narrows, and the choice of side gradually becomes inevitable.
* The title is from FACTS