page_title: Bulgarian Exarchate
section_title: Establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate
hierarchical_section_title: Bulgarian Exarchate / Establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate
caption_attribution_description: Български: Ферман на султан Абдул Азис от 28 февруари 1870, с който се обявява учредяването на Българската екзархия Deutsch: de:Ferman vom osmanischen Sultan de:Abd ul Aziz zur Errichtung des de:Bulgarisches Exarchat English: Firman of Sultan Abdülaziz for the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate
context_page_description: The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953.
  The Exarchate was unilaterally promulgated on May 23 [O.S. May 11] 1872, in the Bulgarian church in Constantinople in pursuance of the March 12 [O.S. February 28] 1870 firman of Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire.
  The foundation of the Exarchate was the direct result of the struggle of the Bulgarian Orthodox against the domination of the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople in the 1850s and 1860s. In 1872, the Patriarchate accused the Exarchate that it introduced ethno-national characteristics in the religious organization of the Orthodox Church, and the secession from the Patriarchate was officially condemned by the Council in Constantinople in September 1872 as schismatic. Nevertheless, Bulgarian religious leaders continued to extend the borders of the Exarchate in the Ottoman Empire by conducting plebiscites in areas contested by both Churches.
  In this way, in the struggle for recognition of a separate Church, the modern Bulgarian nation was created under the name Bulgar Millet.
context_section_description: In seeking to calm down the disturbances, the Ottoman government of the Sultan Abdülaziz granted the right to establish an autonomous Bulgarian Exarchate for the dioceses of Bulgaria as well as those, wherein at least two-thirds of Orthodox Christians were willing to join it, by issuing the Sultan's firman promulgated on March 12 [O.S. February 28] 1870. The firman envisaged a broad autonomy of the Exarchate but would leave it under the supreme canonical authority of the Ecumenical See, i.e. not full autocephaly.
  The Exarchate's borders went on to extend over present-day northern Bulgaria (Moesia), most of northern Thrace, as well as over north-eastern Macedonia. After the Christian population of the bishoprics of Skopje and Ohrid voted in 1874  overwhelmingly in favour of joining the Exarchate (Skopje by 91%, Ohrid by 97%) the Bulgarian Exarchate became in control of the whole of Vardar and Pirin Macedonia. The Exarchate was also represented in the whole of Greek Macedonia and the Vilayet of Adrianople by vicars. Thus, the borders of the Exarchate included all Bulgarian districts in the Ottoman Empire.
caption: Firman of Sultan Abdülaziz for the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate.
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