80 years ago, the importance of Russian-Bulgarian historical and spiritual ties was affirmed through the inter-church interaction of the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches, which is considered through the real embodiment of state religious policy in life through valuable archival materials, on the basis of which to objectively understand modern Bulgarian church history with the setting of historical-didactic or socio-political tasks, namely, through the letters of All-Russian Patriarch Alexey I (Sergey Vladimirovich Simansky), sent to the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) under the Council of People’s Commissars/Council of Ministers of the USSR, published by the State Archives of the Russian Federation in the “Russian Political Encyclopedia”, which offer precisely a modern interpretation of the historical facts about Exarch Stefan Bulgarian.
Patriarch Alexey I, as evident from his published correspondence with G. G. Karpov, was in a confidential relationship with him. In the spring of 1949. the head of the propaganda and agitation department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks Dmitry Shepilov reported to Stalin on the results of the inspection of Karpov’s work as head of the Council, in particular the following: “<…> The inspection also established that the Chairman of the Council, Comrade Karpov, annually presents gifts to the higher clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church at the expense of public funds. Such gifts were made in 1944, and then the same thing was repeated year after year by Comrade Karpov. In 1947, Patriarch Alexey was presented with: 15 meters of brocade, a silver cup and a malachite box for his birthday and name day, worth a total of 14,552 rubles; Metropolitan Nikolai – 10 meters of brocade and a painting worth a total of 6,585 rubles; Protopresbyter Kolchitsky – 12 meters of brocade worth 890 rubles. In 1948, gifts to these persons were spent 11,574 rubles. In 1949, Comrade Karpov bought a television set worth 4,000 rubles as a gift to Patriarch Alexey for his name day, February 25.
In turn, Comrade Karpov in 1944-1947. received paintings, a box and a carpet as a gift from Patriarch Alexey”. The practice of presenting gifts to the higher clergy was initiated by the Council in 1944 and was coordinated with the Administration of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR and personally authorized by Vyacheslav Molotov. In August 1951, Council member I. I. Ivanov filed a report against Karpov to the CPSU Central Committee, reporting that the chairman was exchanging gifts with the patriarch.
Tracing the life path of the Soviet political figure and major general of the NKGB, we find that his closeness to the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church also influenced him spiritually, even turning him into its protector at a time of intensified atheistic state policy in the USSR. During Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaign, the chairman of the Council Georgy Karpov took a contradictory position: he wrote reports to the CPSU Central Committee on measures to restrict religious organizations and at the same time sends instructional materials to the commissars of local councils on the inadmissibility of administrative pressure to reduce the number of clergy and believers. For example, in March 1959, Karpov sent instructions to the commissars, in which he condemned their participation in “individual work” with believers, activities “to identify children and youth in churches” and “the practice of local authorities holding workers’ meetings on the closure of churches” . In June 1959, signed by Karpov, the commissar sent a letter on the closure of parishes, in which the chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church emphasized that it was necessary to close only parishes “where services have not been held for a long time and a small number of believers remain in the communities”. At the same time, Karpov noted that “this work cannot be carried out campaigning, through administrative pressure” and reminded that it was forbidden to close churches without the consent of the Council. Karpov regularly submitted materials to the Central Committee of the CPSU both on the illegal activities of churchmen and on the facts of “rude management” by local authorities. In 1959-1960, Karpov unsuccessfully sought a meeting with N. S. Khrushchev and E. A. Furtseva, and on February 6, 1960, by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On Comrades Karpov and Kuroyedov,” Karpov was removed from the post of chairman of the council without giving a reason.
After the resignation of Exarch Stefan (September 6, 1948) and the coup against him by the synodic members in Sofia and his removal from the exarchical and metropolitan thrones, his refusal to leave the capital created serious problems for the Holy Synod and the government, who were looking for ways to accelerate his deportation.
On September 30, 1948, the Synod sent a letter to the All-Russian Patriarch Alexey, informing him of the resignation of Exarch Stefan and sending him copies of the entire correspondence on the matter. This action of the Synod probably aimed to get ahead of Exarch Stefan, who insisted that he would seek the arbitration of the Moscow Patriarchate, having previously enlightened the Russian Patriarch about what had happened.
On October 20, Alexey I sent Karpov a “letter on Bulgarian affairs with annexes to it”, assuring him that the next day they would personally talk about this issue, and until then asked him to familiarize himself with the materials.
The next document 363 in the collection is already the annex itself, also dated 20.10.1948:
“To the Chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR G.G. Karpov
I consider it my duty to bring to your attention the results of the meeting and conversation with the former Exarch of Bulgaria Metropolitan Stefan of the Protopresbyter Nikolai Kolchitsky, who was seconded to Sofia to participate in the congress of the democratic clergy.
Metropolitan Stefan, dismissed by the Synod of the Bulgarian Church from the position of Exarch and from the Sofia Cathedral, as a result of a conflict with members of the Synod, according to his own statement that he was resigning from the position of Exarch – Chairman of the Synod, in a conversation with the father Protopresbyter, firstly, admits that under the influence of his irritation, thoughtlessly, not considering the consequences, he submitted to the Synod an application for his resignation from the position of Exarch, which was taken advantage of by his ill-wishers – members of the Synod and they decreed that he be dismissed simultaneously from the Exarchate position and from title of Metropolitan of Sofia. After that, Metropolitan Stefan also complained that he was suffering for the Russian Church because he had fulfilled its wish and participated in the Moscow Council against ecumenism; and now the Russian Church had left him without protection. O. the protopresbyter explained to him that we had only fragmentary information about his resignation and that, in this way, the Russian Church could not carry out his protection, and in what could such protection be manifested? In general, how can the Russian Church interfere in the affairs of a Church, albeit fraternal, but not its own? Along with the assurance that he had suffered because of his refusal of ecumenism, the exarch announced that the main figure of the ecumenical movement, the rector of the Alexander Nevsky Council in Sofia, protopresbyter Tsankov, in order to justify himself before the central body of ecumenism for the fact that the exarch, on behalf of the Bulgarian Church, joined the resolution of the Moscow Council against participation in the ecumenical movement, stated that this was precisely why he had suffered, and the Synod dismissed him from the position of exarch – head of the Bulgarian Church, and generally voted for his complete resignation.
It is necessary to note that the Central Council of Ecumenism had earlier promised to send large sums of money to the Bulgarian Church and its clergy, and then, after Tsankov’s application, although assistance was given, it was in a greatly reduced amount (material for vestments for the entire clergy was received).
Such a situation has arisen in Sofia that there is no hope of changing the Synod’s decision, especially since the government has also sent a response to the Synod’s report on what has been done – a document stating: “Just as the Synod unanimously accepted the resignation of the exarch, so the government unanimously accepts it.”
Metropolitan Stefan has expressed suspicion that the Bulgarian government had dealings with our government regarding the approval of the Synodal decree on his resignation and received a sanction from it for unconditional recognition of the illegal, in his words, decree of the Synod.
Metropolitan Stefan has initiated a whole file on his case to prove the incorrectness of the Synod’s decree: he wrote to the members of the Synod in full, and to the Deputy Chairman of the Synod, Metropolitan Mihail, and to G. M. Dimitrov, and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kolarov, asking for protection from the illegal decree of the Synod, since in his application for renunciation of the exarchate he did not write that he was renouncing the position of Metropolitan of Sofia, and, moreover, he relies on the government to orient itself in his conflict with the members of the Synod and to take his side.
According to Fr. Protopresbyter Metropolitan Stefan has sent me both his correspondence with the Synod and the ministers, and a letter “as the Primate of the Greatest Orthodox Church and the Patron of the Slavic Orthodox Churches,” asking “to respond to his request…and to enter into my sacred rights to investigate this case as the supreme arbitrator in our dispute with the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Church.”
Taking into account the fraternal relations that have been established between Metropolitan Stefan and me as the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and in general with our Church and its representatives, as a result of our numerous meetings and communications in recent years, in which, not without the participation of the Russian Church, the removal of the schism from the Bulgarian Church by the Patriarch of Constantinople took place, and also the fact that Metropolitan Stefan has always openly expressed his special love for the Russian people and for everything Russian, – for me personally it is inconvenient to remain completely aloof from the sad fate and near-exile that has befallen Metropolitan Stefan, since he has been offered to leave the borders of the Sofia Metropolis, but at the same time to take up his defense, realizing the hopelessness of such defense, is not possible, especially since the other side, the Synod, firm in its decision, does not seek any interference in this matter.
After receiving his aforementioned letter and documents, I sent him a telegram with the following content: “I have received your letter and the attached documents, I will write to Your Beatitude. With unwavering brotherly love. Patriarch Alexey.”
My response to him could only be one of sympathy with the clarification that, given the circumstances (which is also evident from the forwarded correspondence), it is impossible to change the situation.
I do not know whether it would be convenient in this letter to suggest to him that he move to the Pochaev Lavra, where he would be assured of peace, comfort and spiritual satisfaction in the services of the Lavra.
Simultaneously with what was received through Fr. Kolchitsky letter from Metropolitan Stefan I received from the Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Synod, Metropolitan Mikhail, the attached copy of the letter dated September 30 of this year, to which I propose that the following response be given: “Your message of September 30 was received by me only on October 18. Expressing regret for the withdrawal from church affairs of His Beatitude Metropolitan Stefan, I send to Your Eminence and the Holy Synod sincere wishes for God’s help and fruitful work for the good of the Holy Church and the Orthodox believing people of fraternal Bulgaria. I also thank Your Eminence and the members of the Synod for the warm welcome and attention to our delegation in the person of Protopresbyter Kolchitsky and Priest Zernov. Alexey, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia” (F. R-6991, op. 1, d. 419, l. 70-73). Finally, Patriarch Alexey asks for instructions on all of the above regarding his future contacts, both with Metropolitan Stefan and with the Synod of the Bulgarian Church.
The resolution of Gen. Karpov is written on a separate sheet (F. R-6991, op. 1, d. 419, l. 70-73): “Resolution: To Dr. Utkin, Dr. Karpovich. In file. Today, 20/X, all (three) documents have been sent by me in copies to Dr. Molotov and Dr. Voroshilov for receiving instructions on the answers of the Patriarch. Karpov. 20/X.”
The Chairman of the Council considers it possible to allow the Patriarch to send a telegram to the Deputy Chairman of the Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Mikhail, as well as to allow the sending to Metropolitan Stefan of a letter of “condolence” with the addition that the Synod of the ROC and the Soviet government have no relation to the removal of Stefan from the post of Exarch and Metropolitan of Sofia, which addition is explained by the fact that “Metropolitan Stefan and other metropolitans told in Sofia that the resignation of Exarch Stefan was coordinated by the Bulgarian government with the Soviet government” – to this report note Dr. Molotov puts a resolution that he does not object.
On November 11, Patriarch Alexey again reminds Karpov that he is in debt to Metropolitan Stefan, because he has not yet responded to his letter. Karpov replied only on 26.11., asking to be excused for the delay, and also giving instructions to Metropolitan Stefan to send a telegram or letter of condolence, in which, however, it must be stated that, firstly, Alexey cannot change the situation, since Metropolitan Stefan himself submitted his resignation and since the issue was coordinated by the Synod with the Bulgarian government, and secondly, that the Russian Church cannot interfere in the affairs of other churches, in particular, to review a decision of the Bulgarian Synod. The letter or telegram must state that the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, and even more so the Soviet government, have no bearing on the decision on the issue of Stefan’s resignation. As for the proposal for accommodation in the Pochaev Lavra, it should not be made for the time being, since Stefan himself had not made such a request to date.
On 25.11. the patriarch sent to the Council for the Affairs of the ROC the draft of his letter to the former Exarch Stefan, from where it was forwarded to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs V. A. Zorin, who approved it with minor amendments in one of the paragraphs: “The Russian Church, as you yourself, His Beatitude Vladyko, understand, cannot interfere in the affairs of another Church and, in particular, as in this case, to review the decision of the Bulgarian Synod. I can also assure you, Vladyko, that, as far as I know, our government has no relation to the decision on your question, and, undoubtedly, for him, as well as for our Synod and for me personally, all this was unexpected.”
On 6 January 1949, Metropolitan Paisii of Vrachanski wrote to Patriarch Alexey to inform him of the election of three new members of the Bulgarian St. Synod, as well as for being proclaimed the Vice-Chairman of the Holy Synod and governing the Sofia Diocese. At the same time, he expresses deep gratitude to the Russian Orthodox Church and the Moscow Patriarch for “assistance in the rapid resolution of the… issue of the schism”, for the assistance in the restoration of the temples destroyed after the bombings, for the visit of Alexey I in 1946, etc. The above letter, preserved in the Soviet archives, the Moscow Patriarch sent to Karpov on February 18 of this year and sent for approval his draft response to a telegram to the Vice-Chairman of the Bulgarian Holy Synod. Synod: “I greet Your Eminence with the election, I prayerfully wish you God’s help in the high feat. The Russian Orthodox Church in unchanging love relates to the fraternal Bulgarian Church, calling on its clergy and the Bulgarian people of one faith the heavenly help and the blessing of the Chief Shepherd Christ”.
The Bulgarian Holy Synod, after the coup against Exarch Stefan, attacked him with accusations of financial abuse and demands for explanations from the former Exarch about the exact spending of the loan from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1947 and from the treasury of the Exarchate Viceroyalty in Constantinople in 1945, as evident from the minutes of the full synodic sessions from October-November 1948. These synodic intrigues apparently continued in the following year, forcing B. exarch to seek the mediation of Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) for help from Moscow, as evidenced by his letter to the Russian Patriarch of July 15, 1949 (received in Moscow on July 29, 1949): Your Holiness, beloved in Christ, Your Holiness Vladyka! I am sending you a copy and the original of the letter from Exarch Stefan. Added to all the troubles of the exarch was the circumstance that on June 30 of this year he was served with a decree of the financial inspection, obliging him to pay into the treasury of the Sofia Diocese the amount that you deigned to provide him in 1947 in the form of a long-term and interest-free loan. He was also told that the financial inspection would release him from liability if he could prove that this sum of 30 million leva was not a long-term and interest-free loan, but a donation to him. He urgently begs you to help him and protect him from the concerns of the financial inspection. The exarch said to me personally that he had spent only 4 million of these thirty million for his personal needs. In his letter, the exarch also indicated that the newly appointed Bulgarian ambassador to Moscow, Stella Blagoeva, who knows Metropolitan Nikolai Krutitsky well from the Slavic Committee in Moscow, could convey to Sofia on behalf of the latter a wish for more careful treatment and care for the exarch’s health.
But in addition to this letter, the Exarch sent another lengthy letter before that, dated June 24 of this year. The center of gravity of this letter was that you, with your advocacy before the Prime Minister Georgi Dimitrov, now deceased, would assist him in providing the Exarch with the opportunity to improve his health by being treated in the mineral waters in Bulgaria, for which he needs permission and a car for temporary use. In addition, he places hope in this letter that after the conversation with you, the late Prime Minister Georgi Dimitrov will also assist in his return to the Sofia Cathedral. I am attaching the diagnosis of his illnesses sent by the Exarch.
While I was in May in the village of Hisarya, the Exarch asked me to send Archimandrite Panteleimon to him, who visited him and told me that the Exarch was in an oppressed and depressed state of mind.
1949 July 2/15. Archbishop Seraphim. »
Regardless of the fact that at the synodic session of November 15, 1948 in Sofia, the issue related to the letter of the Russian Patriarch to the Bulgarian Synod regarding the latter’s request for a loan of 30 million leva was considered, as in Alexey’s letter the following was said: «To the letter of Your Eminences of October 6, 1948, I consider it my duty to respond that our Church granted His Beatitude Metropolitan Stefan, the former Exarch of Bulgaria, 30 million leva as a long-term interest-free loan for the needs of the Bulgarian Church, to be spent at his direct discretion. Therefore, on our part, there is no need to give any instructions about the exact purpose of the loan, as well as about the method of its use. As soon as he received the letter of Archbishop Seraphim of Sofia on July 29, 1949, the Russian Patriarch forwarded it the next day, together with the attachments, to G. Karpov, as well as a draft response favorable to the former Bulgarian Exarch. He also expressed his desire to help the exarch in “this unexpected difficulty for him”, while at the same time providing the Bulgarian Synod with a satisfactory explanation that would free him from the need to seek the return of the loan money, and in a postscript Alexey I added: “It would be good to send a response to Archbishop Seraphim today, since his letter has been traveling for two weeks…” On August 3, the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR “for information” a copy of the letter of the former Bulgarian exarch to Archbishop Seraphim, in which he asked for his intercession before Patriarch Alexey to release him from the need to submit a report to the Bulgarian Synod on the spending of the 30 million leva received for the needs of the Bulgarian Church. Patriarch Alexey replied, after consultation with the authorities, to Archbishop Seraphim as follows: The act of surrender in 1947 to the former Exarch of the 30 million leva, formally dressed up as a long-term loan; in essence it was a donation, since our Church, entering into the situation of the Bulgarian Church, had the intention to help it as much as possible. The Moscow Patriarchate considers the Bulgarian Church to be free from the need to pay this amount, granted to the former Exarch M. Stefan at his full disposal for spending, according to his personal discretion. “
The personality of His Beatitude Metropolitan Stefan appears in the correspondence of the Moscow Patriarch only in 1955, when Alexey I wrote on Jan. 25 to G. G. Karpov that he had received a characteristic letter from M(i)tropolitan Stefan, in response to a letter sent to him by Patriarch Kirill, but in order not to spread on sensitive topics, he sent a short telegram: “I have received, I greet you with the Holidays, with heartfelt wishes for the mercy of God in the new year. P(atriarch) Alexey”. [next to the text of the telegram is a note: “Permitted. Karpov”].
In his letter to the Moscow Patriarch of 23 Dec. 1954, Metropolitan Stefan (Shokov) writes again about the fact that he was dismissed from the post of Exarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and from 8 September 1948 was in a “special” situation. Metropolitan Stefan also reports that his requests for a change of residence – “at least to Plovdiv, if my settlement in Sofia or near Sofia is undesirable” – remain unanswered: “…I continue to reside in the same village, in the same unsanitary home, in the same conditions of shortage: a tavern cellar, a beer warehouse … and most importantly: too far from the holy temple and from the possibility of receiving prompt medical assistance and medical care in general.” Metropolitan Stefan further shares his intention to turn to the Ecumenical Patriarch for help: “So far, as long as my health allowed, I have endured, but now, when I experience serious and dangerous illnesses, my spiritual duty compels me to cry out: SOS [SOS]. With the help of our Heavenly Chief Shepherd, I hope to be freed from my infirmities and, confessing before the Holy Ecumenical Apostolic Church, I entrust my fate to its evangelical, ecclesiastical and canonical righteousness. Naturally, before undertaking this, I will seek the appropriate permission from the government, because up to now, except for you, I have not turned to anyone else outside the borders of my Fatherland. But, Your Holiness, I have no more strength to endure, and to die like a dog is madness and a sin before God and the people.” On January 26, 1955. Karpov sent a translation of the letter of the Exarch to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR V. M. Molotov, writing in the accompanying letter: “Receiving such letters is undesirable and they sometimes put Patriarch Alexey in a difficult position, maintaining good relations with the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Church Kirill. But this cannot be avoided. My advice is, based on the nature of Stefan’s letter, that it would be desirable for our Soviet embassy in Sofia to acquaint Dr. V. Chervenkov with the contents of the aforementioned letter.” The former Bulgarian Exarch did not receive support from the Moscow Patriarchate in response to his request from the beginning of 1955, and it seems that his intention to turn to the Ecumenical Patriarchate did not receive permission from the Bulgarian communist government or simply because of the complicated international situation over the “Cyprus question” and the anti-Greek demonstrations in Constantinople on September 6, when 29 Orthodox churches were looted, 14 of them – completely destroyed, including two ancient churches from the Byzantine era, and two metropolitans were injured. Thus, on October 5, Grandfather Stefan sent a new letter to the Russian Patriarch with a request to repay his debt to Switzerland for medicines in the amount of 3,500 Swiss francs, and in return he offered to return the Panagia, which Patriarch Alexey had given him years ago. Moved by this outcry, his brother in Moscow wrote on 25.10.1955 to Gen. Karpov that he was ready to send this money, which was a little over 700 dollars, and expressed his desire to respond to the letter from Bulgaria as soon as possible. On 31 Oct. A copy of the exarch’s letter was forwarded to the head of the 4th European Department of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, M. V. Zimyanin. In the accompanying letter, Karpov gave instructions: “The Council, sending you a copy of Metropolitan Stefan’s letter, considers it necessary to bring the contents of the attached letter to the attention of the Bulgarian comrades. Patriarch Alexey should refrain from providing assistance to Stefan, but should reply that it is not necessary to return the Panagia.”
Bibliography in Russian and Bulgarian:
1.Одинцов М. М. Русская православная церковь накануне и в эпоху сталинского социализма. 1917—1953 гг., М.: Политическая энциклопедия, 2014. = Odintsov M. M. Russian Orthodox Church before and during the era of Stalinist socialism. 1917-1953, Moscow: Political Encyclopedia, 2014.
Пенджекова, Р. Личността и делото на екзарх Стефан в българската историческа памет. Смолян: Изд. „Отзвук прес“, 2007, 352 с. = Pendzhekova, R. The personality and work of Exarch Stefan in the Bulgarian historical memory. Smolyan: Ed. “Otzvuk Press”, 2007, 352 p.
2.Письма патриарха Алексия I в Совет по делам Русской православной церкви при Совете народных комиссаров — Совете министров СССР. 1945–1953 гг. (ISBN 978-5-8243-1259-1), т. 1, 2009, 847 с. = Letters of Patriarch Alexy I in the Council of Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of People’s Commissars — Council of Ministers of the USSR. 1945–1953 (ISBN 978-5-8243-1259-1), vol. 1, 2009, 847 p.
3.Письма патриарха Алексия I в Совет по делам Русской православной церкви при Совете народных комиссаров — Совете министров СССР. 1954–1970 гг. (ISBN 978-5-8243-1389-5), т. 2, 2010, 671 с. = Letters of Patriarch Alexy I in the Council of Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of People’s Commissars — Council of Ministers of the USSR. 1954–1970 (ISBN 978-5-8243-1389-5), vol. 2, 2010, 671 p.
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5.Екзарх Стефан I Български – Документален сборник, В. Търново, 2003 = Exarch Stefan I Bulgarian – Documentary Collection, V. Tarnovo, 2003.
6.Шкаровский М. В. Русская православная церковь и советское государство в 1943—1964 годах. От «перемирия» к новой войне (недоступная ссылка), СПб., 1995. = Shkarovsky M. C. The Russian Orthodox Church and the Soviet State in 1943-1964. From “truce” to a new war (inaccessible link), St. Petersburg, 1995.
First publication in Bulgarian: Gramatikov, Petar. Inter-church interaction and the international agenda in the letters of Patriarch Alexy I (80 years since the lifting of the schism over the Bulgarian Orthodox Church), part 2. – In: Collection “Thought, Word, Text”, 100 Years of Theological Science in Bulgaria. 15 Years of Theology (Plovdiv), volume 23 (28) new series 2025 (ISSN 2815-2816), Plovdiv University Publishing House “Paisiy Hilendarski”, Plovdiv, 2025, pp. 85-97.
