The Greek Church Controlled Education in Bulgaria Before the Exarchate

Before the Bulgarian Exarchate was established, the Greek Church was the only Orthodox Church recognized by the Turkish government.

In Turkey, all education was run by the churches, so Greeks controlled the education of Bulgarians. The Turkish government treated Bulgarians as if they were Greeks, and the Greeks encouraged this, as it suited their plans.

The Revival of the Bulgarian Exarchate

After a long struggle, the Bulgarian Exarchate was revived and recognized by the Turks. But, the Greek Patriarch declared the Bulgarian Church to be schismatic (separated from the main Church) and excommunicated it Sightseeing Turkey.

The Difficult Situation for Bulgarians in Greek and Serbian Territories

This explains why Bulgarians in Greek and Serbian Macedonia faced such bitter conditions. In these areas:

Their churches and schools were taken away.

They were not allowed to learn in their own language.

They could only receive religious services from priests who viewed them as schismatics.

Bulgaria’s Efforts to Help Bulgarians Outside Its Borders

Even though the Treaty of Berlin gave Bulgaria only part of Macedonia, the country did a lot to support Bulgarians living in the parts of Macedonia that were separated from it.

This shows how deeply Bulgaria was involved in the lives of its people in these areas and helps explain why there are now over 160,000 refugees from these regions in Bulgaria. These refugees fled from their supposed “liberators” who treated them badly.

Bulgarian Exarchate in 1911

In 1911, the Bulgarian Exarchate had:

Churches

Chapels

Metropolitan Bishops

Priests

Schools

Teachers

Scholars

The following data shows the number of these institutions in Macedonia and Thrace, areas that were later assigned to Greece and Serbia by the Treaty of Bucharest.