The head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Maxim, has passed away at the age of 98. He held the highest ecclesiastical rank in Bulgaria for 41 years - from 1971 until today. His secular name was Marin Naydenov Minkov. He was born in 1914 in the village of Oreshak, Northern Bulgaria. In his adolescent years he became a novice in the Troyan Monastery. He graduated from the Sofia Ecclesiastical Seminary and the Theological Faculty of Sofia University. In 1941, he became a monk and took the name Maxim, then was ordained hierodeacon (deacon-monk).
Six years later he was ordained archimandrite. From 1947 to 1950, Archimandrite Maxim was a coadjutor bishop at the Dorostol-Cherven bishopric, and from 1950 to 1955 he was representative of the Bulgarian church with the Moscow Patriarchate church. After returning to Bulgaria he was appointed Secretary of the Holy Synod. He held this post until 1960. In the same year he was elected and confirmed as Bishop of Lovech. After the death of Patriarch Kirill he was enthroned as Patriarch. Simultaneously, he also held the post of Bishop of Sofia.
After the democratic changes in Bulgaria in the 1990s, his legitimacy was questioned and this led to a schism in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In 1998, an Ecumenical Council was held in Sofia where the heads of all Orthodox Churches confirmed the canonical election of Patriarch Maxim. Four years later, the new Denominations Act confirmed his canonicity and legitimacy. "Patriarch Maxim preserved the unity and identity of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church”, Varna Bishop Kiril told Focus Agency on the occasion of the Patriarch’s death. “This is his greatest contribution, because he did not retreat, he was not intimidated by all attacks and pressure to which he was subjected. He firmly held the correct line in the development of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and led it to the rescue harbour."
"Patriarch Maxim was a faithful friend of the Russian Church with which he was closely related from the time when he served as a representative of the Bulgarian Patriarchate in Moscow”, Nikolai Balashov, deputy chairman of the Department of External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, told the Russian news agency RIA. “He experienced numerous dramatic changes in the life of his country and all the time preserved his amazing calmness and fidelity to the chosen path."
On the death of the head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the abbot of the Rila Monastery Evlogii said: "Patriarch Maxim was the longest ruling patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church who went through many twists and turns in the life of the church and the state. I can only say that he was an outstanding example for all people as a way of life. We, Christians, should pray to God to calm his soul and we should send him away from this world properly and remember him for his kindness and wisdom."

Edited on articles from mass media

English version: Rossitsa Petcova