Download Christianity in our lands

WE ALL CAME HERE FROM
SOMEWHERE…
COMENIUS Multilateral school
partnerships
Religious diversity in Europe
Religions in Bulgaria
Bulgarian Orthodox 85%,
Muslim 13%,
Jewish 0.8%,
Roman Catholic 0.5%,
Uniate Catholic 0.2%,
Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other %0.5
Bulgaria is free country for practising one's own
religion.
By population percentage: christians are in first
position, the 2nd is Islam.
Then comes other smaller ones like: Jews
Budhist practisioners is very very small
(negligible)
In 865 AD Bulgarian khan Boris converted Slavs
and Bulgarians to Christianity. From this year on he
fought for independent Bulgarian church and by the
Glagolic alphabet brought here by the scholars of
Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarians could
understand in their own language the Christian
belief. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church got
autonomous in 927 AD which makes it the oldest
Slavic autocephalous church in the world. The
Close relations between the Byzantine empire and
Bulgaria led to similar cultural development based
on the common faith.
Ethnic groups: Bulgarian 85%, Turk 9%, other 6%
ISLAM IN BULGARIA
CHRISTIANITY IN OUR LANDS
Muslims are the second largest religious group in
Bulgaria. Most of them are Turks but there are also
Bulgarian Muslims and Tatars. When the Ottoman
empire conquered the Balkan monarchies XIV-XV
C AD Ottoman Turks from Anatolia came and
settled on the Balkans.
Most of the Muslims are Sunni but there are also
Shia Muslims in Bulgaria.
Paul the apostle was the first to establish a
Christian church in the Balkans. In III- IV C Ad,
there were Christian communities in all important
Balkan cities. The Eastern Roman Empire (or
Byzantium empire) Started to sent priests to
Christianize the Slavs, Goths, and other tribes
which settled on its territory.
BULGARIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
ROMAN CATHOLIOC CHURCH
When Bulgarians were converted to Christianity,
Boris I wanted an independent Bulgarian church
and when the Byzantine empire refused to provide
such, the Bulgarian prince started negotiations with
the Pope of Rome. After all Bulgaria remained
Orthodox Christian. New Catholic communities
were established by Franciscan monks in XV C AD.
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In XVII-XVIII C AD they used to be very active.
In 1688 The Catholics from Chprovtsi rebelled
against the Ottoman empire. They became
refugees and settled in Banat (now in Serbia,
Hungary, Romania).
TOLERANCE
Through fun games children in Momchilgrad (small
town in Rodopa mountain mostly with Islamic
population) learn about each other’s cultural
identity in their free time.
PROTESTANTS
In the beginning of XIX C AD Protestant
missionaries from USA and Britain came to
Bulgaria to gain followers for the protestant
church they belonged to. That is how the first
Bulgarian
Protestant
communities
were
established. Throughout XIX and XX C AD
different Protestant denominations like Lutherans,
Evangelists, Baptists etc. found their followers in
our country. New foreign Protestant schools were
established. Today there are many Protestant
communities in Bulgaria and their number
continues to grow.
JUDAISTS
Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions
in the world. It recognizes the Old Testament of
the Bible
Jews used to live in these lands from the time
when the Balkans were part of the Roman Empire.
These Jews are called Romaniotes, there aren’t
any left of them here nowadays because they
merged with the other two groups who came to
live in Bulgaria- Sephardic (Jews from Spain) and
Ashkenazi( Jews from Germany)]
Today the number of Bulgarian Jews is very
small.
As Islam is the second largest religion in the world
after Christianity and a monotheistic faith that
originated in the Middle East, it holds many beliefs
and practices in common with Judaism and
Christianity. Judaism, Islam and Christianity are
collectively known as “Abrahamic religions”
because they trace their history to the covenant God
made with Abraham in the Hebrew Bible.
A major task for all people
is to
remove bitterness, prejudice and ignorance, which
stand
in
the
way
of
good
interfaith relations. We need to affirm the values
that enable us to work together for a more just and
peaceful world. If we can together make that
commitment, we shall be faithful members of our
religion, good citizens of our country and good
citizens of the world.
122nd Primary school, Sofia, September. 2011
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