Identity of Three Bulgarian Christian Communities in Sofia

Abstract

This article focuses on the history and identity of three Bulgarian Christian communities from the second part of 20th c. until today. The article presents the results of ethnographic explorations between 2010 and 2020 carried out on a comparative basis among three Bulgarian Christian denominations in Sofia. The case of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church shows that believers might be desrcibed as ‘believing and belonging, without behaving’ (PRC 2017b). Under the Soviet regime, members of the Bulgarian Catholic Church managed to maintain their religious identity due to their interconfessional links. Their religious identity was strengthened by their witnessing repressed priests, monks and selfless members of the laity. Modern Bulgarian Christians have multiple identities, but prioritize their ethnic identity, followed respectively by their identities as religious in general terms and finally specific confessional identities.