List of patriarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church

File:Coat of arms of BPC.png

Emblem of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church

The following is a list of patriarchs of All Bulgaria, heads of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church was recognized as an autocephalous archbishopric in 870. In 918 or 919 the Bulgarian monarch Simeon I (r.  893–927) summoned a church council to raise the Bulgarian Archbishopric to a completely independent patriarchate. With the Byzantine–Bulgarian Treaty of 927, which affirmed the Bulgarian victory over the Byzantine Empire in the War of 913–927, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople recognized the Bulgarian Patriarchate.

List

Title	Primate	Portrait	Birth name	Reign	Seat
Archbishops of Bulgaria (870–918)
Archbishop	Joseph	File:No image.png		870–c. 877	Drastar/Pliska
Archbishop	George	File:No image.png		c. 877–c. 893	Drastar/Pliska
Archbishop	Gregory Presbyter John the Exarch (?)	File:No image.png		c. 893–s. 917	Drastar/Preslav
Archbishop	Leontius	File:No image.png		c. 917–c. 918/919	Preslav
Patriarchs of Bulgaria (918/919–1018)
Patriarch uncanonical; not recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople	Leontius	File:No image.png		c. 918/919–927	Preslav
Patriarch canonical; recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople	Demetrius	File:No image.png		c. 927–c. 930	Drastar/Preslav
Patriarch	Sergius	File:No image.png		c. 931–c. 940	Drastar/Preslav
Patriarch	Gregory	File:No image.png		c. 940–c. 944	Drastar/Preslav
Patriarch	Damian	File:No image.png		c. 944–c. 972	Preslav/Drastar, Sredets
Patriarch	Germanus	File:No image.png		c. 972–c. 990	Sredets, Voden, Moglena, Prespa
Patriarch	Nicolaus	File:No image.png		c. 991–c. 1000	Prespa (?)
Patriarch	Philip	File:No image.png		c. 1000–c. 1015	Ohrid
Patriarch	David	File:No image.png	John of Debar	c. 1015–1018	Ohrid
After the fall of the First Bulgarian Empire under Byzantine domination in 1018 the Church was deprived of its patriarchal title and reduced to the rank of an autocephalous Archbishopric of Ohrid; in 1767 it was put under the tutelage of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. A separate Bulgarian Church was created with the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1186.
Archbishops of Bulgaria (1186–1235)
Primate title was canonically recognized by Pope Innocent III in 1204	Basil I	File:No image.png		1186–1232	Tarnovo
Primate	Saint Joachim I	File:No image.png		1232–1246	Tarnovo
Patriarchs of Bulgaria (1235–1394)
Patriarch title was canonically recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs in 1235	Saint Joachim I	File:No image.png		1235–1246	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Vissarion	File:No image.png		c. 1246	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Basil II	File:No image.png		1246–c. 1254	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Basil III	File:No image.png		c. 1254–1263	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Joachim II	File:No image.png		1263–1272	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Ignatius	File:No image.png		1272–1277	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Saint Macarius	File:No image.png		1277–1284	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Joachim III	File:No image.png		1284–1300	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Dorotheus	File:No image.png		1300–c. 1315	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Romanus	File:No image.png		c. 1315–c. 1325	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Theodosius I	File:No image.png		c. 1325–1337	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Joannicius I	File:No image.png		1337–c. 1340	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Symeon	File:No image.png		c. 1341–1348	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Theodosius II	File:No image.png		1348–1363	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Joannicius II	File:No image.png		1363–1375	Tarnovo
Patriarch	Saint Euthymius	File:Saint-Evtimiy-of-Tarnovo-statue.jpg		1375–1394	Tarnovo
Exarchs of the Bulgarians (1872–1915)
Exarch title was granted by a decree (firman) of Sultan Abdulaziz, promulgated on 28 February 1870. Unrecognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople	Ilarion	File:Ilarion Lovcanski.jpg	Ivan Ivanov	12 February 1872 – 16 February 1872	Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Exarch	Anthim I	File:Antim I (1816-1888).jpg	Atanas Mihaylov Chalakov	16 February 1872 – 14 April 1877	Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Exarch	Joseph I	File:Yosif I.jpg	Lazar Yovchev	24 April 1877 – 20 June 1915	Constantinople, Ottoman Empire Sofia, Bulgaria
Vicars – Chairmen of the Holy Synod (1915–1945)
Metropolitan	Parthenius	File:BASA 56К-1-23-1 Partenii Sofiiski.jpg	Petar Popstefanov Ivanov Popov	1915 – 20 June 1918	Sofia
Metropolitan	Vasilius	File:No image.png	Vasil Mihaiylov	June 1918 – 22 October 1921	Sofia
Metropolitan	Maxim	File:BASA 1318K-1-5972-8 Plovdivski mitropolit Maxim-1938.jpg	Marin Penchov Pelov	22 October 1921 – 28 March 1928	Sofia
Metropolitan	Clement	File:Grigoriy Shivachev - Clement of Vratsa.jpg	Grigoriy Ivanov Shivachev	28 March 1928 – 3 May 1930	Sofia
Metropolitan	Neophyte	File:Неофит Видински.jpg	Nikola Dimitrov Karaabov	4 May 1930 – 15 October 1944	Sofia
Metropolitan	Stefan I	File:Стефан (Шоков).jpg	Stoyan Popgeorgiev Shokov	16 October 1944 – 21 January 1945	Sofia
Exarch of the Bulgarians (1945–1948)
Exarch canonical; recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople	Stefan I	File:Стефан (Шоков).jpg	Stoyan Popgeorgiev Shokov	21 January 1945 – 6 September 1948	Sofia
Vicars – Chairmen of the Holy Synod (1948–1953)
Metropolitan	Michael	File:BASA 945K-1-105 Mihail Dorostolo-Chervenski,1931.jpg	Dimitar Todorov Chavdarov	8 November 1948 – 4 January 1949	Sofia
Metropolitan	Paisius	File:Paisiy Vrachanski.jpg	Alexandar Raykov Ankov	4 January 1949 – 3 January 1951	Sofia
Metropolitan	Cyril	File:BASA 1318K-1-5949-11 Patriarch Kiril young.jpg	Konstantin Markov Konstantinov	3 January 1951 – 10 May 1953	Sofia
Patriarchs of Bulgaria (1953–present)
Patriarch title was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople	Cyril	File:BASA-1318K-1-5972-12-Cyril of Bulgaria.jpg	Konstantin Markov Konstantinov	10 May 1953 – 7 March 1971	Sofia
Patriarch	Maxim	File:Maxim of Bulgaria.jpg	Marin Naydenov Minkov	4 July 1971 – 6 November 2012	Sofia
Patriarch	Neophyte	File:Neophyte of Bulgaria.jpg	Simeon Nikolov Dimitrov	24 February 2013 – 13 March 2024	Sofia
Patriarch	Daniil	File:Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria.jpg	Atanas Trendafilov Nikolov	30 June 2024 – present	Sofia

See also

• Patriarch of All Bulgaria
• Bulgarian Orthodox Church
• Bulgarian Exarchate

Sources

• Златарски (Zlatarski), Васил (Vasil) (1972) [1927]. История на българската държава през средните векове. Том I. История на Първото българско царство. (History of the Bulgarian state in the Middle Ages. Volume I. History of the First Bulgarian Empire.) (in български) (2 ed.). София (Sofia): Наука и изкуство (Nauka i izkustvo). OCLC 67080314.