KASTK1IN 



Iff 



were in v.irius languages, as modern Buss, 



h, I'ulixli, Swedish, und many 

 rs. 



long-pending Bulgarian Church qucs- 

 tinti t'mmd at, la->l its solution by a finu:in, 

 wliidi was communicated to the Greek patriur- 

 on tho lOtli of March. Tho linnan con- 

 .-K-ven paragraphs), which arc substan- 

 tially u* follows : 



ARTICLE 1. Provides for tho establishment of sep- 

 iim-li-ailministrutiou tor the. Bulgarians, which 

 (tlmll I'D railed tlie Kxarehato of tho Bulgarian!*. 

 . Tue chief of the Bulgarian metropolitans 

 ^ the title of exnrch, and presides over the 

 .in t-yin>d. AUT. 3. The exarch a* well as the 

 liUlrij>s shall be elected in accordance with the regu- 

 lati'>:is liitliorto observed ; tho election of the exarch 

 to bo confirmed by tho oecumenical patriarchs. ART. 

 4. The exarch receives his appointment by the Suh- 

 arto previous to his consecration, and is bound 

 to say prayer for the Patriarch whenever he holds 

 service. ABT. 5. Stipulates the formalities to 

 be observed in supplicating for the appointment (in- 

 stallation) by the Sublime Porte. ART. 6. In all 

 ra of a spiritual nature, the exarch has to con- 

 sult with the Patriarch. ABT. 7. The new Bulgarian 

 '.:, like the churches of Roumania, Greece, and 

 Senna, obtains the holy oil (ohristna) from the patri- 

 archate. ABT. 8. The authority of a bishop does 

 not extend beyond his diocese. ABT. 9. The Bul- 

 garian Church and the bishopric (Metochion) in the 

 1'h.uiar are subject to the exarch, who may tempo- 

 rarily reside in Metochion. During this temporary 

 rrsi.ii'nco he must observe the same rules ana regu- 

 -. which 'have been established for the Patriarch 

 o:' .li-rusolem during his residence in the Phanar. 

 AUT. 10. The Bulgarian Exarchate comprises fourteen 

 dioceses : Kustscnuk, Silistria, Schumla, Tirnovo, 

 Sophia, Widdin, Nisch. Slivno, Veles, Samakovo, 

 Kiistondie, Vratza, Lofdja, and Pirut. One-half ot 

 the cities of Varna, Anchialu, Mesembria, Sizeboli, 

 and of twenty villages on the Black Sea, are reserved 

 for the Greeks. Philippople has been divided into 

 two equal halves, one of which, together with the 

 suburbs, is retained by the Greeks, while the other 

 half and the quarter of Ptinaghia belong to the Bul- 

 garians. Whenever proof is adduced that two-thirds 

 of the inhabitants or a diocese are Bulgarians, such 

 diocese shall be transferred to the exarchate. ART. 

 11. All Bulgarian monasteries which are under the 

 patriarchate at the present time shall remain 80 in 

 future. 



Soon after the publication of this firman, the 

 (liveks demanded of the Patriarch that he 

 should either reject it or hand in his resigna- 

 tion. Their indignation at this solution of the 

 question at issue was beyond all bounds, and 

 was increased by their own conviction that, 

 had they made some reasonable concessions in 

 duo time, the difficulty might have been avoid- 

 ed altogether. For the party who had based 

 their plans for a restoration of a Greek em- 

 pire on the unity of the Church this was a 

 re blow, their hopes in the future founda- 

 tion of a Greek empire extending to the banks 

 oi' tho Danube being thus entirely annihilated. 

 That the reestablishment of a separate Bulga- 

 rian Church, analogous to the Servian, Rou- 

 manian, and Hellenic Churches, was not in con- 

 tradiction with the canons of the Church, 

 even the most orthodox opponents of tho 

 measure were forced to concede. But they all 

 blamed the latter part of Article 10. which en- 



titles two-thirds of the population of a dintriet 

 t l.iiin ati extension of the exarchate. Thin, it 

 was thought, would be a fruitful source of bitter 

 fouds ! he two nationalities, and would 



contribute not a little to enhance their mutual 

 dislike and jealousy. The Bulgarians, on the 

 other hand, sent a special deputation to Aali 

 Pacha, the Turkish minister, to express their 

 gratitude for the firman. The Patriarch, in 

 tho month of April, convened the synod and 

 the national council, who resolved to reject tho 

 firman as being in conflict with the canons of 

 tho Church. They were of opinion that an 

 oecumenical council would have to be sum- 

 moned. The Patriarch, in accordance with 

 the above resolution, officially announced to 

 the Sublime Porte his rejection of the firman 

 concerning the Bulgarian Church question, 

 contending that the Sublime P >rto had no 

 ri^ht to modify the legal position of the 

 Church. On the 19th of April, the Grand- 

 Vizier replied to the Patriarch that the Sub- 

 lime Porte had all due respect and considera- 

 tion for the rights of the patriarchate, but 

 that, as the firman did not in any way trespass 

 upon those rights, it should be maintained. 

 He protested against the charge that the Sub- 

 lime Porte had in any instance abandoned the 

 old established principle of non-interference 

 in the religious affairs of all the subjects of the 

 Ottoman empire not adhering to the Church 

 of the faithful. The solution of the conflict as 

 given by the firman could not possibly be con- 

 strued into such an intervention. On the con- 

 trary, it did not contain any thing but what 

 tho Sublime Porte had considered to be the 

 views of his Holiness on the subject, with such 

 slight modifications as had been proposed by 

 the mixed commission appointed some time 

 ago by the Porte and by the two contending 

 parties. In accordance with this conviction, 

 he would beg leave to notify his Holiness that 

 the finnan should he upheld and executed to 

 its full extent. 



To this the Patriarch replied : 



To his Highness tk Grand- Vizier : 



Your Highness has been pleased to transmit to the 

 patriarchate at the hands of Messrs. Christaki Efendi 

 Sagraphos and Kara-Teodor tho imperial firman on 

 parchment, which solved the Bulgarian Church 

 question after it has now been pending for tho last 

 ten years. The patriarchate, always conscious of its 

 duty toward the master appointed by God to rule His 

 peoples, has at all times remained foreign to the 

 thought that the decisions of the august sovereigns 

 in all political questions should not be respected and 

 strictly obeyed. The Oriental Church has always 

 willingly and respectfully obeyed her lawful sover- 

 eigns, while the latter have always respected tho do- 

 juuiii which is exclusively under the administration 

 of the Church. The Sultans of glorious memory, as 

 well as their present successor (whose power may be 

 invincible), havo always drawn a distinct line be- 

 tween civil and ecclesiastical authority ; they recog- 

 nized the rights, privileges, and immunities, of the 

 latter, and guaranteed them by Hatty-Hooraayooms. 

 They never allowed an infringement of the original 

 rights of the Church, which for five centuries has 

 lu-cii under the immediate protection of the imperial 

 throne. Your Highness ! if the firuian had not been 



