Evangelical Protest Against New Religious Law in Bulgaria

November 15, 2018 by Cup&Cross
Filed under Featured, Missions, News

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Christian Greetings,

On November 11, 2018 all evangelical protestant churches in Bulgaria, along with representatives of the Catholic Church and other Christian communities, joined together before the Bulgarian Parliament in the capital Sofia in an open protest against a new religious law. The government restrictions imposed by this new religious bill, which will be voted soon is outlined below. Also included with this email is the open letter by the president of the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance to evangelical organization around the globe for their prayers and support.

(1) Funding which does not originate from Bulgaria will become illegal

(2) All sermons / messages must be preached in Bulgarian only. Using other languages in a sermon will be illegal (as funny as this may sound though it is now a serious legal matter, the bill makes no provisions for the Pentecostal faith the practice of which includes speaking in other tongues)

(3) Preachers / speakers must have mandatory Bulgarian education (exact level of education is not specified in the bill)

(4) Sermons cannot be against any legally established formulations i.e. governmental issues, political establishment, gender and lifestyle definitions. Preaching against other faiths will be considered extreme/fanatic characterization

(5) Buildings, except specifically registered for liturgical purposes (i.e. temple, sanctuary, etc.), cannot be used for church services. Church services cannot be held in homes or private properties

(6) Minors (individuals under the age of 18) cannot be evangelized / proselytized

(7) New church registration cannot be obtained legally through a court any longer. They will be a subject of local municipalities only after approval from the government Directorate of Religious Affairs and must have a minimal membership of 300 people

(8) Open air events are subject to points (3), (4) and (6) above. They can be held only on special holidays after an explicit permit from the local government. The use of sound systems is explicitly forbidden

(9) Government subsidizing for pastoral salaries remains unclear for faith confessions under 1% of the general population. Currently, all evangelical denominations in Bulgaria do not add to even 1% of the population

(10) If the legal provision is accepted on November 16, 2018, it will include fines under the new law as following: 5,000-10,000 Euros for first offense, 10,000-20,000 Euros for second offense, of buildings and banning of the entire denomination.

Sincerely,

Dony K. Donev, D.Min.