PRESIDENT Georgi Purvanov made a plea for church unity on September 17, the Day of Sofia, even as celebrations on the day exposed the bitter animosities between Patriarch Maxim's Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Alternative Synod that opposes it.

The Orthodox church in Bulgaria is split between the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, headed by Patriarch Maxim, and the Alternative Synod, which split off in 1992 after the start of a campaign to oust Maxim, whose appointment in 1983 they reject. The Alternative Synod claims that he was appointed with the collusion of Bulgaria's then-communist regime.

The day this year had a particular significance because it was the first time that Maxim's synod made use of the capital's Saint Sofia church for a high-profile ceremony since the controversial police action in July which saw Alternative Synod churches seized and given to Maxim's church. The action was taken in terms of a 2002 law that gives special recognition to Maxim's church. Before the July confiscation, Saint Sofia church was used as the headquarters of the Alternative Synod. Since the confiscation, Alternative Synod priests have been conducting services, including masses, weddings and funerals, in the square outside the church walls.

Purvanov attended a ceremony with Maxim inside the Saint Sofia church, accompanying him afterwards for talks in the nearby headquarters of the Holy Synod.

As the head of state and head of the church walked together through the crowd, surrounded by a strong security presence, a large crowd of protesters shouted: "Maxim! Red garbage!"

In further symbolism of the church split, the flag of the city of Sofia was raised after being blessed in a ceremony by leaders of the Alternative Synod.

Permission for the Alternative Synod's outdoor ceremony had been given by Sofia mayor Stefan Sofianski, who is also the leader of the country's centre-right Union of Free Democrats, one of the anti-communist parties. By contrast, Purvanov is a former leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, one of the parties that voted in Parliament to approve the 2002 law on religious denominations.

But Sofianski insisted to reporters that he made no distinction among priests and churches. He had been asked for permission to conduct a religious ceremony and had given it.

"I do not know which is the true church. I go to church to talk to God, and the priests are not important," he said in remarks broadcast by national television stations.

Purvanov told reporters that if Bulgaria was a law-abiding country, all laws should be followed.

He called for more effort on the part of all statesmen, politicians and church leaders to resolve the schism in the Orthodox church.

However, he said, those with a "material interest" in the dispute would not want it stopped.

This is understood to be a reference to the fact that the church property that was seized from the Alternative Synod includes a number of lucrative rent-earning sites. With the property already held by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is added to the property handed over to it by the state in July, it is reliably understood to be worth about a billion leva.

Purvanov told reporters that those who were sincere Christians wanted a united church.

"Here I am and you can see where I stand," he said.

Meanwhile, in its International Religious Freedom Report 2004, released on September 16, the US state department said that the Bulgarian Government was in practice restricting the religious freedom rights of some "non-traditional" groups.

The Bulgarian population and some local authorities showed hostility to Protestants and foreign missionaries, according to the report.

The report said that the restrictions on religious freedom towards some non-traditional groups were manifested mainly "in a registration process that is selective, slow and non-transparent".

The report said the US embassy, as part of its overall policy to promote human rights, remained "closely engaged" with the Government, religious officials, and NGOs concerning the 2002 law on religious denominations, with various religious groups concerning the restitution of properties confiscated during Bulgaria's communist era, and with Muslim leaders regarding Islamic extremism.

- Staff Reporter